Eze on scoring for England & role models - plus every goal/assist last season

This interview was originally published in the Crystal Palace v Brighton matchday programme in April 2025, and is republished below.

You can buy previous issues of the matchday programme by clicking HERE.

Some footballers have a particular presence. They walk into a space and regardless of their size or stature, you feel a top-flight footballer has entered the room. It’s an aura few possess. Ebere Eze possesses it.

He arrives for our interview at Copers Cope – conducted back in April – and immediately the mood of everyone in the room is lifted.

Of course, although Ebs has always radiated warmth, he should be particularly happy this particular week. We’re speaking only days after his first ever senior goal for England. For any England player this is a special moment.

But it’s particularly so for a player who suffered numerous setbacks early on his career – released by Arsenal at the age of 13, then spending time at Fulham, Reading and Millwall without landing a professional contract.

So where does that goal against Latvia rank alongside his other major achievements to date? “It’s difficult to place it at the moment,” Eze says. “I’m still just grateful to have the opportunity to be there and express myself at that level.

“It’s a blessing to be there [with the national team] and I’m hugely thankful to God.

“Ever since I first joined up with England, I’ve been thinking about it every single time – that’s just how I play. I want to score and assist.

“It’s taken a long time to get there but the fact it’s happened now is hugely special, particularly for my family.

“My parents, brothers and some close friends were there. Going upstairs to see them after the game was a really powerful moment.

“I could just see in their faces what it meant to us all.”

The goal itself was – in short – classic Eze. Twisting and turning defenders inside out with his change of speed, he then fired a shot away with just a fraction of space available.

One chance, one goal, seconds later he was celebrating his first in international colours.

Only days later he did the same at Craven Cottage in our FA Cup quarter-final, de-stabilising Fulham’s defenders with a mesmerising run, before finding the target.

A moment of magic that turned the tie in Palace’s favour. You couldn’t blame a player for enjoying themselves after such an action-packed week but for Ebs, his focus remains sharp.

“That’s an important thing, to remain level,” he adds. “For me it’s a balance – of course you have to enjoy those moments, but you don’t want to get too high with it and let them throw you off course.

“I also know I’m not finished, it’s not the end of my story. I know I always have to stay focused on the job.

“I want to continue to achieve more and move onto the next thing.”

Perhaps that next target could be nailing down a regular place in the national side. Eze was an impact player at the European Championships last summer, making a positive contribution in three substitute appearances, most notably helping create Harry Kane’s winner against Slovakia in the round of 16.

He ended up being part of a team that went mightily close to winning the tournament, only to lose in the final.

But now, with a still relatively new manager in the national hotseat in the shape of Thomas Tuchel, is everyone starting afresh? “I think so,” adds Eze.

“Obviously, the new manager has different ideas and the way he operates around the place, with meetings and around when we eat and train. It’s all different.

“But it is something exciting and enjoyable and hopefully that puts the team in good stead. This manager will look for different characteristics to the previous manager.

“You’ve got an opportunity to show yourself and what you’re capable of. That’s what you want and I’m grateful that I got the opportunity.”

Eze’s former manager at that level – and another man who excelled for Palace and England – Sir Gareth Southgate was recently in the news for speaking about the importance of, amongst other things, young boys needing to grow up with resilience as a key skill.

He spoke of how resilience helped him get over the biggest setback of his own career, his penalty miss for England at Euro 96. This might explain why Southgate would have been keen to bring Eze into his team last year.

Here is someone for whom resilience is a defining trait. As mentioned, Eze was let go by four different clubs before eventually finding a home at QPR.

He previously admitted to “crying for a week” in his room after Arsenal told him ‘thanks but no thanks’ back in 2011. But it was the way that he responded to that setback which made him the player he is today.

“It’s not even just in football I’ve needed that, but in life,” said Eze. “I’ve grown up in an environment where my family have been resilient to setbacks, so I was the same.

“My parents showed me what it means to go through hardship and struggle. But those hard times and difficult moments can build you up for what’s to come down the line.

“It’s built into my character so I know that today I can deal with setbacks.” We put it to Eze that he might have not been suited to academy football back then.

After all, the mercurial talent was honed in the South-East London cage football scene. Back then he might have resisted having that natural flow and flair coached out of him.

But Eze doesn’t use that as an excuse. “I don’t think that made it harder for me. I always played like I just wanted to express myself and that hasn’t changed.

“I don’t know exactly what it’s like going through the academy system nowadays, but it’s probably more systematic.

“But I actually enjoyed playing at the academies as a kid, because it was an opportunity for me to do what I was doing in the cages, or with my friends in a professional environment. It wasn’t too different.

“And if you’re not enjoying it, then it’s not worth doing, I don’t think. If you’re first and foremost not enjoying it, then it doesn’t matter about data, stats, or ways of playing.

“I’m grateful that I have the type of people around me who have encouraged me to keep enjoying the game.”

You can still see elements of that cage style in his game today. One of the best moments of our league win at Fulham back in February came when Eze decided to bring the game to a complete standstill.

In possession close to the touchline, he became engaged in a standoff with former teammate Joachim Andersen.

With Andersen refusing to dive in and make a tackle, Eze stood totally still, hands on hips – while the former Palace man comically pointed at an imaginary watch on his wrist.

Eventually Palace’s No. 10 played a pass. It was bizarre, but brilliant, lasting over 10 seconds. It was a moment which summed Eze’s style up; always ready to explode into action, but happy for the defender to show their hand first.

“In that moment, I’m not really thinking too much about what I’m going to do next, it’s instinct,” he explains. “I could see that he wasn’t going to dive in, I knew that I would have the time to do that. I was just enjoying the moment.

“Something like that I actually do quite a lot in training! I enjoy it because it’s a way of expressing control as well.

“I know that I can do what I want to do when the football is at my feet, which is powerful.”

It’s the kind of individual flair that would have been nurtured throughout this 27-year-old’s career.

The sort of move he’d have pulled off playing cage football in Greenwich and when he was making his mark at QPR.

Thankfully, at Loftus Road, Eze had coaching influences who shaped him, not only as a player, but as a person. “The likes of Paul Hall, Andrew Impey, Chris Ramsey, Les Ferdinand…

“I see now how they pushed me forward and helped me at a time when I don’t know if other coaches might have helped me in that type of way.

“I feel like they saw a younger version of themselves in me, which encouraged them to give me an opportunity.”

With this interview originally falling in the same gameweek as Premier League’s dedicated No Room for Racism campaign, the forward knows the importance of young black players being able to identify with visible role models.

“It’s definitely an important thing – to inspire the younger generation and younger black boys and girls, to show them that it is possible to reach heights and to achieve the things that they want to achieve.

“Of course, that takes a lot of work from us at this level to showcase that and show the importance of it, but it starts with the belief from young black people that you can actually make something of yourself.”

As well as his recent achievements on the pitch, last year Eze also launched the Eze Foundation, committed to providing career opportunities and inspirational experiences for school children in London.

“Me and my family know the importance of giving back to people in that situation, because we were once in those positions – that’s the heart behind the Foundation.”

He may still have plenty left to achieve. But without any doubt, Ebere Eze has already made something of himself.