A SCHOOL-AGE footballer in the North-East has fulfilled many a grown man's dream after been called up for international duty - aged 14.

Bruno Pilatos, who plays for Middlesbrough Football Club's youth team, has been selected for the England under-16s squad to play against Northern Ireland on Friday, October 12 - despite being a year younger than most of his team-mates.

Bruno and his family moved from Sunderland to Hurworth, near Darlington, where the club has its training ground, to enable him to get to training more easily.

"It's brilliant," he said. "Just two minutes' walk from my house."

The youngster, originally from Angola, in Africa, moved to England with his family when he was seven. He was scouted for Middlesbrough two years later.

He was spotted by the England scouts when he was playing in the Nike Tournament, a competition for professional clubs' under-15 teams.

Bruno, who attends Hurworth School, Maths and Computing College, said he was excited, but not nervous about his international debut.

"I am looking forward to it. I was lucky enough to captain Middlesbrough under-15s when we played in the Nike Tournament this year. We got to the quarter finals, but were beaten by Everton. The England scouts were there and I was spotted."

Bruno was asked to go to a training camp with the country's best under 16 players.

"I was nervous because everyone was older than me and thought the standard would be really, really high, as the 41 best players in the country were there," he said.

"I thought it would be really hard, but when I got there, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

He added: "My mum and dad are really proud. I'm just hoping to do really well."