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Liverpool starlet Rio Ngumoha showed Arne Slot the talent he has at his disposal after scoring a thunderous goal for the England U19s just 81 seconds into the game.
In what was his first goal for the age group on Saturday, Ngumoha made the ultimate impact in the 2026 Euros qualifying match that ended 7-0 in the Young Lions' favour. It was in September that the 17-year-old earned his first call-up to the U19s and has remained in the squad ever since.
After starring for Will Antwi's side in Wednesday's 2-0 win over Lithuania, where he earned an assist, the Reds star was in the starting XI once again and repaid his manager's faith with a scorcher of a finish.
Positioned on his favoured left flank, the winger was double-marked but used his trademark agility to cut inside on his right foot as he unleashed a curling strike in the back of the net, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance to save it.
Ngumoha played the full 90 minutes in the victory where he played alongside fellow Liverpool team-mate Trey Nyoni who got an assist for the third of Jesse Derry's hat-trick. The 18-year-old, who the Reds signed from Leicester City in 2023, was substituted off after 68 minutes.
Following his iconic stoppage-time winner against Newcastle back in August, Ngumoha has struggled to see the pitch for the senior team, with just 29 minutes of Premier League action since his debut.
With just 207 minutes of action in total for the Reds this season, the teenager has far eclipsed that number with the England U19s, where he's already clocked up 375 minutes on the pitch.
Ngumoha may have found game-time recently hard to come by after several cameos in the first few weeks of the season but he's already given advice to remain patient by none other than Mohamed Salah.
"He is still so young," the Egyptian great told Men in Blazers when asked what he thinks Ngumoha’s future will look like. I told him after the game, ‘just leave the social media alone, you can be happy about the goal with your family, with your friends. Enjoy the moment to the max because it’s your moment in football’.
"[I said] ‘don’t really get engaged and just get your appreciation from the outside world, because it’s always going to be fake’. So what future is waiting for him depends on how he’s going to handle the situation, how he’s going to work.
"He needs to work hard and just stay humble, because he’s very young. Some players – which I told him – peak too early and struggle after that, so I really wish him the best.
"He has a good group and we always try to speak with him, the manager always speaks to him. He just needs to stay humble, work and we’ll see."
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