Everton's jumping Jack Rodwell has been praised as 'beyond his years' by England Under-21 coach Stuart Pearce after his first international goal sent Spain crashing out of the tournament.
Choosing to rotate his squad for the 1-1 draw against Germany, Pearce singled out the young Evertonian for helping his side finish top of group B after scoring in his first start of the tornament.
Rodwell's first half equaliser was enough to cancel out the German opener from Gonzalo Castro who finished well after latching on to Jerome Boateng's through ball from 12 yards.
Having rotated 10 players for the match, Pearce's men went behind against the run of play but Rodwell headed home a Craig Gardner corner on the half hour mark.
Rodwell had another chance before the break, but blasted over from the edge of the area following a good run through the German midfield.
The result put meant England were going one stage further than four years ago but Spain were out of the competition.
After the match Pearce said: "The Jack Rodwell’s of this world look like they can take on anything and he has shown us all he can.
"Jack was beyond his years.
"I told him a few weeks ago that I needed to hear his voice more and I have heard him more and more ever since and good performances like that will come from it.
"He is quiet but very strong mentally. Every day he flourishes more and more.
“He’s a big bonus and brings a lot to the team but I expect that from him.
"It is helpful to rest players and that is what we did and we have nearly a full squad heading into the semi finals next week.
"If we got to the final two years ago we would have been on our knees. This time we go into a semi-final hopefully with 23 fit players.
"We are two years more experienced and that is serving us well and we hope we go one better than the semi-final this time.
"The lads all showed they have momentum and a togetherness, I’m under real pressure to pick a team for the semi-finals now."
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