Stoke: Eve Would Be Youngest International
English Premier League football Stoke City is preparing to celebrate their youngest-ever full international after 16-year-old keeper Dale Eve was called up by Bermuda.
The 6ft 4in goalie is expected to make his debut for Bermuda on Friday [Nov.11] in a World Cup qualifier against Barbados which will take place at 3pm at National Stadium.
”The Bermudian Football Association sent an SOS to Stoke for permission to fly Eve back home as replacement for their two regular goalkeepers,” reported a Saffordshire on-line news outlet this morning.
“Number one choice Freddy Hall was allowed to stay in England to prepare for Northampton’s FA Cup tie against Luton on Saturday, while Tahj Bell is suspended after relieving himself in the corner of Bermuda’s national stadium when warming up during a recent international.”
Mr. Eve has become a popular figure among Stoke supporters since he joined the team’s youth squad at the start of this season.
The website quoted Stoke youth manager Dave Kevan as saying: ”It’s great news for Dale and we were more than happy to let him go to play for his country.
“He was with Derby and going out for trials with one or two other clubs when we signed him in the summer.”
Mr. Eve has a two-year development contract with Stoke City. The former Dandy Town player also attracted interest from Manchester City — which famously signed Bermuda footballing legend Shaun Goater – when he was playing for the Derby youth team.
“He’s a big boy and doing well, but has been playing with our under-16s this season because we also have Daniel Bachmann, who is a year older and has just been called up by Austria’s under-18s.”
Bermuda face back-to-back qualifiers against Barbados during the coming week, but can’t top a four-nation World Cup qualifying group headed by Guyana, with Kenwyne Jones’s Trinidad & Tobago in second.
get em Dale!
BEST OF LUCK DALE.WE ARE PROUD OF YOU