Choudhury Makes Maiden England U21s Appearance

- England's Under-21s side open their Toulon Tournament title defence with a victory
- Hamza Choudhury came off the bench as the Young Lions defeated China in Aubagne
- Fellow Leicester City youngster Callum Wright also appears for England's U18s
- A final day victory over Hungary is not enough to stop China from winning the Panda Cup

The Young Lions, 2016 and 2017 champions, needed Tammy Abraham’s late goal to start their title defence with a win after Middlesbrough's Dael Fry had cancelled out Yan Dinghao’s opener.

With the scores level at 1-1, Under-21s manager Aidy Boothroyd called upon Choudhury, who stepped in for injured Foxes team-mate Harvey Barnes last week, to take Jay Da Silva’s place.

On the back of making nine appearances for City, the 20-year-old made an immediate impact on his international debut, breaking up play and giving the Young Lions an attacking outlet in midfield.

In the latter moments at Stade De Lattre, Aubagne, China’s Sun Weizhe was also dismissed by the referee for a heavy challenge on Choudhury just as he broke upfield. 

The Young Lions are back in action on Tuesday when Mexico are the opponents in Salon.

Meanwhile, fellow Fox Callum Wright also featured for England's Under-18s at the Panda Cup over the past week, coming on from the bench against China.

After sitting out Wednesday’s 2-2 draw with Uruguay, the 18-year-old winger was a 55th-minute substitute in Chengdu on Friday as China won 1-0, courtesy of Guo Tianyu’s strike.

On Sunday, meanwhile, Wright was on the bench once more as Nya Kirby fired England to a 1-0 win over Hungary, but that success was not enough to close the gap on eventual winners China.