Onuoha ready to make the grade

His team may only have finished second in a quiz at England's hotel in Varberg on Wednesday but defender Nedum Onuoha has been swotting up for a different kind of test – Friday's UEFA European Under-21 Championship semi-final against Sweden.

'Good position'
Born in Nigeria but raised in Manchester, Onuoha went to grammar school in the city and emerged with three grade As at A-Level. His strengths are not only academic, however, as Marcus Berg and Ola Toivonen – the tournament's most prolific attacking partnership – will discover should the Manchester City FC centre-back reclaim his place at Gothenburg's Gamla Ullevi Stadium. "We've played three games and played well in all of them," Onuoha said. "It's a good position to be in going into the match and hopefully we can finish it off and get to the final."

Calm authority
The 22-year-old speaks with the calm authority that typifies his play and refused to be tripped up by a Swedish journalist questioning whether he knew anything about the hosts. "I know the strikers play for Groningen and PSV Eindhoven," he said of Berg and Toivonen. "I picked up their programme before the tournament so was having a good look at their team. They've made some teams look average, even the game they lost against Italy they could have won. They'll also have the support, so we all need to bring our A game to the match."

'Outstanding'
Onuoha was injured late in England's semi-final against the Netherlands at the 2007 finals, leaving his side a man down for extra time and a penalty shoot-out they lost 13-12. "I remember how close we were to getting to the final," he said. "They scored in the last minute and it was a massive blow. We played extra time with ten men as I had to go off. The team was outstanding, and very unlucky, but 2007 is a totally separate event. If you start thinking about the past then you'll never really make the most of the future."

'Hard work'
The defender was ever-present in the Netherlands but here in Sweden has appeared only in the 2-0 defeat of Spain as England topped Group B. Having missed the opening win against Finland because of a thigh strain, Onuoha was not selected for the draw with Germany as manager Stuart Pearce rested key men with qualification assured. "We've done a lot of hard work in training and the days are flying by," he said, quashing suggestions that he might be undercooked. "We've had time to think about the game and hopefully we'll go out all guns blazing."

'Better shape'
England have not won this competition since claiming a second U21 crown in 1984, and Onuoha is confident the current squad are better equipped to end that barren run than their peers were in 2007. "There's been continuous improvement since then," he added. "Everyone saw where we got to last time and knew where we had to improve. This time the preparation has been better, the way the team is organised is better, and generally we're in much better shape."