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PARIS (AP) — Josh Maja’s journey from England to France is the opposite of the path commonly taken Cheap Dortmund Soccer Team Uniform , as it’s normally young French talents who flock to wealthy Premier League clubs.Anthony Martial, for example, became soccer’s most expensive teenager when Manchester United signed the forward from Monaco at age 19. Countless young prospects left long before Martial did in 2015, and many more will do so because the French academies are among the best in Europe at developing young players.Premier League clubs also invest hugely on proven stars, thus making it even more difficult for young English players like Maja to break through.Therefore, the 20-year-old forward decided to try his luck with Bordeaux in the French first division.“I just felt I’d get more opportunity abroad, that’s the main reason I left. Play in France with Bordeaux, get an opportunity to make a name for myself and go from there,” Maja said. “It’s a difference experience; I don’t think a lot of English players will ever get an opportunity like this.”Germany has become a more common destination for those few England youngsters who do go abroad, but Maja is hoping he can have similar success in France. He’ll be looking to emulate 18-year-old Jadon Sancho, who is emerging as a star at Borussia Dortmund after joining the club two years ago from Manchester City’s youth teams. Sancho is already an England international and has eight goals this season for table-topping Dortmund. His 19-year-old friend Reiss Nelson has netted six Bundesliga goals for Hoffenheim, having joined on loan from Arsenal.As arguably the best striker in England’s third-tier league this season, Maja netted 15 goals in 24 league games for Sunderland and caught Bordeaux’s eye. With his Sunderland contract expiring in June, he joined Bordeaux in January for a reported fee of 4 million euros ($4.5 million).“Obviously it’s one of the top five leagues in the world,” Maja said of the French league. “If I do half of what I did for Sunderland, I think people will take notice.”He encourages other English players to take the same gamble.“There’s a lot of English talent out there and they’re not being seen because everyone’s staying in the Premier League for too long; they’re maybe not getting that opportunity,” said Maja www.thetopsoccer.com/club-team-kit/chelsea , who was speaking after Bordeaux’s game at Paris Saint-Germain last weekend. “I think for young players, going abroad is a good opportunity. I’ve got four-and-a-half years here, all that time to settle in and develop and improve as a player. I’m pleased to be here.”Like Sancho and Nelson, Maja grew up in London.He played for Crystal Palace and Fulham’s youth teams before joining northeastern club Sunderland on a two-year scholarship and signing a professional contract in 2016.Sunderland was struggling in England’s second-tier when Maja made his league debut against Fulham in December 2017, aged 18. Four minutes after coming off the bench, he scored the winner.However, Sunderland ended up relegated to the third tier. The failed battle against relegation was filmed by Netflix, whose cameras captured the anger and frustration of an exasperated crowd turning on its players.“That experience was obviously not one you want,” Maja said. “But I think for a young player it’s very good to through a difficult stage of your career so early on. For my future that will put me in a good place.”The fact Sunderland is challenging strongly for promotion this season is largely down to the goals Maja scored before he left. He averaged one every 118 minutes, the best ratio of any player with 10 or more goals in that league. Also, his shots-on-target ratio of 61 percent was the highest among the top eight scorers.Although he has yet to make his Bordeaux debut, his ability stands out in training.“He’s very mobile and formidable in front of goal. At some point he will bring us goals and win us points,” Bordeaux’s veteran forward Jimmy Briand said. “We can’t wait to see him on the pitch.”His debut might come in Sunday’s home game against local rival Toulouse — known as the Garonne derby because both cities are along that river.Maja is two-footed, though stronger on his right, and turns quickly when he has his back to goal. He is a calm finisher as well as being technically assured.Those attributes appear to make him well prepared for the technical French league.“It’s well suited to my game,” Maja said. “Hopefully I can showcase that.” Few big teams need to sweat the 2020 European Championship qualifiers, but for Germany the pressure is already on.After a terrible 2018 Cheap Inter Milan Soccer Team Uniform , Joachim Loew’s new-look squad is aiming for revenge against the Netherlands, which helped relegate Germany in the inaugural Nations League last year.Elsewhere in the opening two rounds of games, there’s a rematch from the 2016 European Championship as World Cup champion France hosts Iceland on Monday in Group H. England’s young squad faces two eastern European teams in the Czech Republic and Montenegro in Group A.Qualifying for next year’s 24-team tournament is low-risk for many top teams, since two nations qualify from each of the 10 groups. The revamped playoff system means 16 countries have a safety net.In other matches, World Cup semifinalist Belgium hosts Russia in the pick of the opening day’s games Thursday. Portugal faces on-form Ukraine on Friday and on Saturday Spain is against Norway and out-of-sorts Italy hosts Finland.SOUTHGATE’S YOUNGSTERSEngland manager Gareth Southgate is relying on young players even more than usual as qualifying begins.His squad for the Czech Republic on Friday and Montenegro on Monday contains two players born in 2000 — Jadon Sancho and newcomer Callum Hudson-Odoi — and just one born in the 1980s, backup goalkeeper Tom Heaton.Declan Rice, the 20-year-old West Ham midfielder, is available to make his England debut after switching allegiance from Ireland.Of the older players from the England squad which reached the World Cup semifinals, Jamie Vardy and Gary Cahill have retired from international football, while Ashley Young hasn’t been selected since the tournament in Russia.The Czech squad is missing first-choice goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik, who has an abdominal muscle injury, and playmaker Borek Dockal is a doubtful starter because of a calf muscle problem.LOEW’S WOESFew international coaches have Loew’s staying power.He is still in charge despite Germany failing to advance from the group stages at the World Cup and the Nations League groups, and recording just one win in its last seven competitive games. Germany’s first European qualifier on Sunday is its toughest — away to the Netherlands, which beat Germany 3-0 in Amsterdam in October.“Some players now have to take the next step and take it up a level,” Loew said when he introduced a revamped squad that was missing Bayern Munich trio Thomas Mueller, Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng. That leaves captain Manuel Neuer and Toni Kroos as the only prominent survivors from the squad that won the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.Netherlands, meanwhile www.thetopsoccer.com/club-team-kit/juventus , is on a high after winning its Nations League group from France and Germany. The Dutch are also celebrating Ajax’s Champions League win over Real Madrid. Four players from that Ajax team could face Belarus on Thursday and then Germany, including young stars Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong.HOSTS MUST QUALIFYTo mark 60 years of the European Championship, the final tournament spreads out across 12 countries from Ireland to Russia, a legacy of Michel Platini’s time as UEFA president.If all the hosts were given spots at the tournament, they’d make up half the draw. That makes 2020 the first European Championship in 44 years where hosts must qualify. Some will miss out.Azerbaijan faces the toughest task in having to win a qualifying spot in Group E ahead of Croatia and Wales, while fellow hosts Hungary and Scotland aren’t exactly regulars at major tournaments, either.Among the big-name hosts, Italy and Germany need to shake off poor recent form to reach the finals. England is the main host with seven games at Wembley, including the 2020 semifinals and final.SAFETY NETSome teams already know they’ll get a second chance thanks to UEFA.The top two teams in each group qualify automatically, just as they did for the 2016 tournament, but the playoff system is very different.Playoff places are decided by how well teams performed in last year’s Nations League games. England and Portugal are among the 16 teams currently in playoff places, along with lesser lights such as Georgia and Belarus.If a team with a playoff spot qualifies automatically, that spot goes to the next-best ranked team in the same Nations League tier. For example, Belgium goes to the playoffs if it doesn’t qualify automatically but at least one of Switzerland, Portugal, the Netherlands and England does.The playoffs are in March 2020.