The Germany U20s suffered a narrow defeat in their final match of the international round-robin tournament against Italy at the Communale Matusa Stadion in Frosinone. Frank Wormuth’s side will have to accept the 2-1 defeat in their final test match before the World Cup in New Zealand (30th May-20th June). Benfica’s Hany Mukhtar scored the only goal for the Germany youth side.
Third place in the tournament was already secure, with Poland winning (13 points), Italy finishing second (12 points) and Switzerland coming last (3 points).
Mukhtar equalises before the break
The hosts took the lead early on through Luca Garritano, but the Germany youth side didn’t give up and found an equaliser through Mukhtar before half time. It didn’t last long though and shortly after the break, Roberto Gagliardini scored the winning goal to make it 2-1 to Italy . Germany continued to press and through everything forward, but they were unable to find the second equaliser.
“That was our best game this year,” said Germany manager Frank Wormuth after the final whistle. “It sounds silly when you look at the result, but we completely dominated against Italy,” according to manager’s summary. "We can’t blame ourselves. We we lost our way for ten minutes or so after the break but overall we played a very good game.”
Wormuth: "I am confident"
The fixture was the main preparation for the World Cup finals and was the last opportunity for manager Wormuth to take a good look at his players. “Following the game in Italy, I will go away and plan the final squad, in order to pick the best possible team," said Wormurth shortly before the match.
Despite the defeat, Frank Wormuth will have gained a lot of insight ahead of the upcoming tournament. “We set with a very attacking formation against Italy, but we also have the choice of playing with two holding midfielders. So we can line up against different types of opponents. I am very confident going into the World Cup,” explained Wormuth.
Germany will face Fiji (1st June), Uzbekistan (4th June) and Honduras (7th June) in the group phase, with all games taking place in Christchurch.
The Germany U20s suffered a narrow defeat in their final match of the international round-robin tournament against Italy at the Communale Matusa Stadion in Frosinone. Frank Wormuth’s side will have to accept the 2-1 defeat in their final test match before the World Cup in New Zealand (30th May-20th June). Benfica’s Hany Mukhtar scored the only goal for the Germany youth side.
Third place in the tournament was already secure, with Poland winning (13 points), Italy finishing second (12 points) and Switzerland coming last (3 points).
Mukhtar equalises before the break
The hosts took the lead early on through Luca Garritano, but the Germany youth side didn’t give up and found an equaliser through Mukhtar before half time. It didn’t last long though and shortly after the break, Roberto Gagliardini scored the winning goal to make it 2-1 to Italy . Germany continued to press and through everything forward, but they were unable to find the second equaliser.
“That was our best game this year,” said Germany manager Frank Wormuth after the final whistle. “It sounds silly when you look at the result, but we completely dominated against Italy,” according to manager’s summary. "We can’t blame ourselves. We we lost our way for ten minutes or so after the break but overall we played a very good game.”
Wormuth: "I am confident"
The fixture was the main preparation for the World Cup finals and was the last opportunity for manager Wormuth to take a good look at his players. “Following the game in Italy, I will go away and plan the final squad, in order to pick the best possible team," said Wormurth shortly before the match.
Despite the defeat, Frank Wormuth will have gained a lot of insight ahead of the upcoming tournament. “We set with a very attacking formation against Italy, but we also have the choice of playing with two holding midfielders. So we can line up against different types of opponents. I am very confident going into the World Cup,” explained Wormuth.
Germany will face Fiji (1st June), Uzbekistan (4th June) and Honduras (7th June) in the group phase, with all games taking place in Christchurch.
