Germany U21s coach Antonio Di Salvo has selected his squad for the upcoming EURO qualifiers. First, his team will play against Bulgaria in Sofia on 13th October (18:15 CEST), before facing Israel in Petah Tikwa on 17th October (18:30 CEST).
Karim Adeyemi is back in the U21s squad for the first time since Germany won the U21 EUROs, having played four times for the senior side since then. “In agreement with Julian Nagelsmann and BVB, we decided to call Karim up to the U21s squad,” said Antonio Di Salvo. “Karim accepted this decision whole-heartedly and instantly viewed it as a chance to get game time and build up his confidence with us, as well as an opportunity to assume responsibility and lead by example. I’m impressed by his attitude and both we and he want him to contribute to the success of the U21s through his performances and, as a result, return to playing an important role for both BVB and the senior side as quickly as possible.”
Atubolu, Dárdai and Netz back in the squad
Noah Atubolu (SC Freiburg), Márton Dárdai (Hertha BSC) and Luca Netz (Borussia Mönchengladbach) all return to the U21 setup, having played in the U21 EUROs in Romania and Georgia. Di Salvo said: “I’m really pleased that Noah, Márton and Luca are back in the squad. Thanks to their experience playing for the U21s, they’ll be significant leaders for the further development of the team.”
Julian Eitschberger (Hallescher FC) and Leandro Morgalla (RB Salzburg) are new to the Germany U21 setup. Antonio Di Salvo will have to do without the injured Linus Gechter (Hertha BSC), Eric Martel, Jan Thielmann (both 1. FC Köln) and Nelson Weiper (1. FSV Mainz 05), as well as Nicolò Tresoldi (Hannover 96, who has been ill).
"We’ll need to play really well in both games"
“Following the wins to kick off the qualification campaign, we want to carry on working on our core areas of focus: individual battles, defensive stability and consistency at both ends of the pitch,” stated Di Salvo. In view of the upcoming games, the 44-year old explained: “We can expect two difficult games; Bulgaria have made a really good start to EURO qualification with four points from two games and this age group of Israel players came runner-up in last year’s EUROs. We’ll need to play really well in both games.” Di Salvo and his team will come together next Monday in Frankfurt, before leaving for Sofia next Wednesday.
Germany U21s got their EURO qualification campaign off to a good start with a 3-0 victory over Kosovo, placing them third in Group D having played one game less than Poland and Bulgaria, ranked first and second respectively. The nine group winners and the three best runners-up will qualify directly for the final tournament in Slovakia in summer 2025. The other six runners-up will play off for the remaining three finals spaces.