Scotland duo Cuthbert and Love back WU19 EURO

"Make the most of it" is the advice from 2019 UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship ambassadors Erin Cuthbert and Jo Love to the young players who will follow in their footsteps in Scotland over the next fortnight.

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With the tournament established as an important stepping stone on the path to a career in football, both Cuthbert and Love urged this year's finalists to experience it to the fullest. "My youth career went so quickly," said Cuthbert, fresh from playing for Scotland at the FIFA Women's World Cup at the age of 20.

"You need to keep focused, work hard and enjoy the healthy competition. You're playing against the best players in Europe. You have to relish that opportunity and enjoy every single minute of it."

Love, who like fellow midfielder Cuthbert played for Scotland in their first two senior final tournaments at UEFA Women's EURO 2017 and the World Cup just gone, added: "I would just have to say: 'Embrace it!'.

"The World Cup was a brand-new experience for us as well. Everyone kept telling me that I needed to go and enjoy it and soak it all in. So, as much as it might be hard to do that, that's the advice that I'm going to pass on to the younger ones – try to live every minute and really enjoy what you're doing."

While both Cuthbert and Love represented Scotland at U19 level, neither featured at a final tournament. However Cuthbert, who scored the 2018/19 UEFA Women's Champions League goal of the season in Chelsea's run to the semi-finals, played a key role in qualifying for the 2017 WU19 finals. "The U19s was really good, a stepping stone for me to transition to senior level," she said.

"I captained them in the elite round and we scored an injury-time winner against the Republic of Ireland, a penalty. It was just incredible, we celebrated so much and we ended up qualifying for the finals. For me, that was the best feeling and it felt like I just had the world at my feet at that point. That was literally my last ball for the U19s as I played at EURO 2017 for the seniors, so it was nice to end it all on a high."

Love, who has nearly 200 caps and plays for perennial Scottish champions Glasgow City, certainly hopes the Women's U19 EURO will make a big impact in Scotland: "It's wonderful and the timing is perfect as well, just after our first World Cup. To be able to come back from that and have something else to look forward to, everything's looking good and positive."

This is an edited version of an article that appears in the official tournament programme: read for free now.