Year 11 Aldenham students Zico Asare and Xavier Amaechi represented England in the U16s International fixtures against Brazil in Rio recently. This is one of the most prestigious international fixtures for schoolboys. In an exciting game the England team won 4:3 on penalties with Xavier scoring the winning goal. They both agree that “beating Brazil on their own soil really means a lot.” Everything about the trip made it one of the best experiences so far for both players.

The boys say that the team is gelling well as most of them played for the England U15 squad last year when they beat the USA and Italy in the Tournament at St George's Park, the home to England’s 24 national teams. This resulted in them finishing fifth out of 12 teams. They are looking forward to the upcoming U16 Development Tournament which will take place at St George’s Park in February 2017 when they come up against Finland, Italy and Spain.

Zico will be joining Fulham full time and Xavier will go to Arsenal full time next year. They had both joined Fulham at the age of seven before Xavier moved to Arsenal. Good luck to them both as they pursue their dreams of professional football careers.