Nico O’Reilly has declared himself a big-game player and revealed England’s plan to stop his Manchester City team-mate Antoine Semenyo against Ghana.
O’Reilly enjoyed a breakout year with City, in which he won the Premier League young player of the season award.
The 21-year-old only received his first senior call-up to the England squad in October, having previously been capped at Under-16 level right through to the U20s.
Though a midfielder by trade, he was used this season as a left-back by Pep Guardiola at City and it is in the same position that he has become a starter for England at his first major tournament.
He was in the starting XI in the 4-2 win over Croatia last Wednesday and could start again when Thomas Tuchel’s side face Ghana in their second group gamein Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Tuesday.
O’Reilly popped up with big goals in important games for City throughout the season. He scored the equaliser en route to a famous Champions League win over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, scored the opener in a title-race 3-0 win at Chelsea, and netted both City goals in their Carabao Cup final victory over Arsenal.
“I love a big occasion,” O’Reilly said. “I think it brings more out of me when I am stepping up to the bigger stages, and I like playing under pressure.
“I feel like I thrive off it and just enjoy it,” added O’Reilly, who urged England to continue the high-intensity football from their first game and said of the second-half performance against Croatia: “It felt like they couldn’t breathe.”
Asked whether he has accepted he is a full-time left-back now, O’Reilly explained: “I think in the future I will be back in midfield. My profile, everything fits there and maybe a box-to-box midfielder.
“But left-back, I have been enjoying it and it has got me here now to a World Cup.”
Ghana’s most highly-rated player is London-born Antoine Semenyo, who joined O’Reilly at City in January having impressed the Premier League with his consistent attacking output for Bournemouth in the first half of the season.
“Antoine is a very good player,” O’Reilly warned his England teammates. “I’ve seen it firsthand in training and playing with him.
“I know Ghana are going to be very physical. If we play our game and we do what we did towards the end of the last game, I think we should be OK.”
O’Reilly added: “[Semenyo] is very strong. He’s always in the gym. He’s a big lad, but he can’t win the game by himself, so if we double up on him, we’ll see.
“We’ve got a physical squad ourselves. Set pieces were a threat in the last game and I’m sure they [Ghana] will be looking at that.”
