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jmetaB027c318737ac40309caa92c1dfc76b19a678fe75d95ecd7bd2d68d6b17079de85f@4ba663765714781ad949364b671673879192dba9aa98eb129d0e821daf4b779erss.itemmetarss.netM <item> <title>‘He will really thrive’: Timi Max Elsnik faces England with point to prove</title> <link>https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/jun/25/he-will-really-thrive-timi-max-elsnik-faces-england-with-point-to-prove</link> <description>&lt;p&gt;Midfielder struggled to break through at Derby County but is now one of Slovenia’s most dangerous players&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When Timi Max Elsnik takes to the field against England on Tuesday, chances are the Slovenia midfielder will have a flashback to an Under-17 European Championship qualifier between the countries in the more modest surrounds of Chesterfield nine years ago. England won 3-1, the captain Reece Oxford opening the scoring, but Elsnik was arguably the&amp;nbsp;best player on the pitch. Elsnik,&amp;nbsp;a tidy technician, displayed much of the ability he has showcased so far at Euro&amp;nbsp;2024: composure under pressure, poise on the ball and an eye for a pass.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Elsnik was unattached at the time but on the radar of Derby County, whose then academy director Darren Wassall and coach Pat Lyons took in the game. “He could handle the ball, his first touch was excellent,” Wassall says. “We&amp;nbsp;always looked for players who&amp;nbsp;could play forward. He knew where the next pass was going, his&amp;nbsp;left foot excellent, he hardly gave the ball away and didn’t play safe.&amp;nbsp;He was not worried about making a mistake; creative players&amp;nbsp;probably give the ball away a little bit more because they’re trying to make things happen. You&amp;nbsp;always felt his technical ability was better at a higher level, playing with better players.”&lt;/p&gt; &lt;a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/jun/25/he-will-really-thrive-timi-max-elsnik-faces-england-with-point-to-prove"&gt;Continue reading...&lt;/a&gt;</description> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/football/euro-2024">Euro 2024</category> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/football/slovenia">Slovenia</category> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/football/england">England</category> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/football/european-championship">European Championship</category> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/football/football">Football</category> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/sport">Sport</category> <pubDate>Tue, 25 Jun 2024 07:00:01 GMT</pubDate> <guid>https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/jun/25/he-will-really-thrive-timi-max-elsnik-faces-england-with-point-to-prove</guid> <media:content width="140" url="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/17e971347618502af1e18253f9a22949581a85cc/0_121_7894_4739/master/7894.jpg?width=140&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=20e086f5947e5aee1d3b89fc460b7c7c"> <media:credit scheme="urn:ebu">Photograph: Pat Elmont/UEFA/Getty Images</media:credit> </media:content> <media:content width="460" url="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/17e971347618502af1e18253f9a22949581a85cc/0_121_7894_4739/master/7894.jpg?width=460&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=0d4e007c376955d96d7a4ce27367c43b"> <media:credit scheme="urn:ebu">Photograph: Pat Elmont/UEFA/Getty Images</media:credit> </media:content> <dc:creator>Ben Fisher in Dortmund</dc:creator> <dc:date>2024-06-25T07:00:01Z</dc:date> </item>