The German U21 national team has to cope with the next mood dampener at the start of the European Championship season. The selection of the German Football Association loses four days after the 0: 1 against France and the toughest against England – despite the lead.
The German U21 national team also lost the endurance test in England after a good start. Coach Antonio Di Salvo’s team lost 3-1 (1-1) in Sheffield despite being in the lead and a courageous performance, especially before the break. “Of course it’s a shitty feeling,” said Jan Thielmann from Cologne at ProSiebenMaxx. “I think we have to pull together a little more as a team, bring in a little more winning mentality.”
Ironically, Felix Nmecha (35th) from VfL Wolfsburg, who grew up in England, scored the lead for the DFB selection with a header, which four days earlier had also lost against the young world champions from France (0:1). But Folarin Balogun (41′), Conor Gallagher (47′) and Cole Palmer (90′ 5) turned the game around in front of 10,735 spectators. A German U21 suffered two defeats in a row at the 2013 European Championship. His team has to improve before the European Championships from June 21 to July 8, 2023 in Romania and Georgia if they want to play for the title again.
Despite seven changes to the France game, the German team stood solid from the start and put the English under pressure with early ball wins. The courageous start was almost rewarded: The strong Nmecha, who was still in action for England until the U19s, failed with a daring flick from distance (11th). Even without the departed goalscorer Youssoufa Moukoko and captain Jonathan Burkardt, the DFB team offered the slightly favored hosts an intense game at eye level. The defensive took England’s shooting star Anthony Gordon from Everton FC out of the game with great effort. However, there were still few clear chances to score.
When England upped the tempo, the German team struck: Nmecha converted a sensitive cross from Noah Katterbach (FC Basel) with a powerful header. It was the first goal in the U21 shirt for the England-raised striker. In return, the DFB-Elf were initially lucky when James Garner hit the post (38th). Goalkeeper Noah Atubolu (SC Freiburg) then had no chance when Balogun equalized.
Then came the early shock after the break: Gordon played out to Kilian Fischer (VfL Wolfsburg) and served Gallagher, who only had to put his foot down. Similar to France, the DFB team reacted too slowly after falling behind at transition moments and was lucky not to lose even more. In the final phase, Cologne’s Eric Martel and Frankfurt’s Faride Alidou didn’t miss much to equalize.
