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 lost four days after the 0: 1 against France the hard test against England with 1: 3 (1: 1).
In front of 10,731 spectators in Sheffield, the goal of Wolfsburg’s Felix Nmecha (35th minute) was not enough to reward a courageous performance by the European champion with a sense of achievement. Folarin Balogun (42nd) and Conor Gallagher (47th) shot the intense and at times wild international match after the break. Cole Palmer scored late to the final score (90.5).
After the 1:2, the German team was lucky not to fall further behind. In the final phase, Cologne’s Eric Martel and Frankfurt’s Faride Alidou didn’t miss much to equalize.
Coach Antonio Di Salvo, who had to do without captain Jonathan Burkardt (FSV Mainz 05) and Dortmund’s young star Youssoufa Moukoko, among others, can draw further important conclusions from the second endurance test against a top team within a few days. 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.
A day after the senior national team’s goal festival in the 3-3 win at Wembley, the German youth team played bolder at the venerable Bramall Lane Stadium than they did in the 1-0 defeat by France. The reward was the deserved lead in the first half, in which the German team, who had changed seven positions compared to the France game, had more of the game. After a wonderful cross from Noah Katterbach, Nmecha headed in his first goal for the U21s. After James Garner hit the crossbar (38′), Balogun equalized after a fast-paced counter-attack against the unsorted German defense. Jan Thielmann did not use a serious goalkeeper mistake to take the lead again (42nd).
After a first half, in which there were only a few goal area scenes towards the end, the spectators experienced many more good chances. Gallagher shocked the DFB team with a quick 1:2. The hosts, where the flow of the game suffered after many changes, repeatedly missed the best chances afterwards. Germany stabilized after his changes and tried to equalize until the end.
