Sessegnon: "We want to win the title"

Ryan Sessegnon and England will kick off their U21 European Championship campaign on Thursday (15:00 CET). The group stage will take place over the coming days, with the knockout rounds to follow in June. Before the action gets underway, the left-back gave an interview to tsg-hoffenheim.de in which he spoke about what the call-up means to him, his brother Steven and his goals for the tournament.

Ryan, you were called up to the England squad for the U21 European Championships. What does the call-up mean to you?

"It is an immense honour to receive a call-up for my country. It's a very important tournament and we have big ambitions with the team."

You brother Steven has also been called up. How much are you looking forward to this experience together?

"It's a very big moment for our family. Two brothers at a high level in the same squad – that's probably very rare. I'm really looking forward to seeing him and playing alongside him."

England are seen as one of the leading contenders. What are your aims?

"The team is unbelievable good. We have extremely strong players in our squad. We of course want to win the title. That's our clear objective and we definitely have the potential to do so."

You'll be up against Portugal, Croatia and Switzerland in Group D. What's your take on your opponents?

"They're strong opponents, and of course we have the necessary respect for them. We have played against them in the recent past and we already know them. But we only focus on ourselves because we know that we are strong enough to beat all the teams."