James Ward-Prowse showed that hard work pays off, earning his first senior England call-up at the age of 22.
The Southampton midfielder has more than 150 senior club appearances under his belt, including more than 120 in the Premier League, and has impressed Gareth Southgate enough to make it into the squad for the upcoming internationals against Germany and Lithuania.
Ward-Prowse was an early starter, making his first team debut at the age of just 16, and scored his first Southampton goal just a couple of weeks after his 17th birthday.
And the set-piece specialist, who joined the club at the age of just eight, always had dreams of an England call-up.
Want proof? Look no further than this video shared by Southampton just hours after the England squad announcement, in which a youthful and timid Ward-Prowse lays out his long-term target of earning a call-up to the Three Lions squad.
Remember this, @Prowsey16? 👀 #saintsfc https://t.co/n1xEKj8xVa
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) March 16, 2017
Ward-Prowse is one of two Southampton players called up by Southgate, off the back of Claude Puel’s team producing two wins and eight goals in their last two Premier League games.
Nathan Redmond, another man with his fair share of Under-21 action under Southgate, has made the squad, which also features Sunderland’s Jermain Defoe for the first time since the striker returned to England from Major League Soccer.
