Borussia Dortmund’s U19 talents were sat in the airport only a few hours after winning the Germany U19 Championship thanks to a spectacular 5-3 win over TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. Head coach Hannes Wolf’s team, who had also won the U17 title in the last couple of years, were getting ready to head to Mallorca until Wednesday to enjoy their championship victory. At the middle of it all was Felix Passlack, who celebrated his 18th birthday with a goal and three assists to decide the contest. The U18 national team player spoke to journalist Ralf Debat about his hat-trick of title wins with Dortmund, his successful coach Hannes Wolf and his plans for the future in a recent interview with DFB.de.
DFB.de: You won two titles with the BVB U17 team and have now added the U19 Championship as well. How do you feel about the victory, Mr Passlack?
Felix Passlack: It is brilliant that we were able to finish the season with a win in the final of the U19 Championship. It is an amazing feeling to be able to celebrate this success with the lads. The fact it was my 18th birthday also made it that bit sweeter. We can go and enjoy our time together in Mallorca now. We have earned it.
DFB.de: Not since the beginning of the U19 Championship, when VfL Bochum beat FC Saarbrücken 5-3 in 1969 final, has this amount of goals been scored in the final of the competition. Did you expect such an end-to-end encounter?
Passlack: It was definitely not planned but it was all the better for it. We managed to take the lead early in both halves of the match. It put Hoffenheim under pressure and they were forced to chase the game and be more attacking. Fortunately, we were able to take advantage of this better in the second half.
DFB.de: In Christian Pulsic, who is currently preparing for the Copa America with the USA national team, you were missing an important player. How did this not seem to affect the team?
Passlack: First of all, Christian is an outstanding player and it’s unfortunate he couldn’t play. The fact that he has been called up to his national team’s squad shows how good he is. I was sure though, that we would be able to compensate for his withdrawal. We have a great squad overall. Jonas Arweiler, who replaced Christian in the line-up, proved that brilliantly with his two goals.
DFB.de: In your opinion, what was the deciding factor in the title win?
Passlack: We knew that we were coming up against a strong opponent with a number of good individual players, who play with a midfield diamond. Our coach Hannes Wolf prepared us brilliantly for the way Hoffenheim were going to set-up so we were able to cause them problems from the very start. Overall, we did well as a team and deserved to win. I think that we can be very happy with our performance.
DFB.de: You went straight to your coach Hannes Wolf at the final whistle. Is there a particularly close bond between you two?
Passlack: Hannes Wolf has been my coach for three years now and we have been three time West Champions as well as German Champions. If you can’t develop a special bond through that then what then?
DFB.de: You have been a member of the professional squad at BVB for a few months now and have made three appearances in the Bundesliga. Was it hard to adjust back to the U19 level?
Passlack: Not at all, to be honest I haven’t trained that much with the team but still only missed four of the 26 matches this season. Furthermore, I still really enjoy playing with these lads. For the most part, we have been in the same team for a number of years and are a close knit group. You can see that on the pitch.
DFB.de: In the last couple of U19 matches you have been given the captains armband. How did that come about?
Passlack: You shouldn’t make too much of that. The coach simply wanted to place the responsibility on more people’s shoulders. Till Schumacher was and is still the team captain. I have ‘only’ worn the captain’s armband twice. That is why we went up to receive the trophy together at the awards ceremony.
DFB.de: You are only 18, so you could have another year of playing for the U19s. Will you be trying to win a fourth junior title?
Passlack: I would have no problem with that at all (laughs). What I know at the moment is that I will be returning to training with the senior squad on 4th July. I will take everything else as it comes.
DFB.de: How will you be spending your time until then?
Passlack: I am obviously very happy to have a free summer as there are no internationals for me this year. It will be good to recharge the batteries after the long season that we have had.
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Borussia Dortmund’s U19 talents were sat in the airport only a few hours after winning the Germany U19 Championship thanks to a spectacular 5-3 win over TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. Head coach Hannes Wolf’s team, who had also won the U17 title in the last couple of years, were getting ready to head to Mallorca until Wednesday to enjoy their championship victory. At the middle of it all was Felix Passlack, who celebrated his 18th birthday with a goal and three assists to decide the contest. The U18 national team player spoke to journalist Ralf Debat about his hat-trick of title wins with Dortmund, his successful coach Hannes Wolf and his plans for the future in a recent interview with DFB.de.
DFB.de: You won two titles with the BVB U17 team and have now added the U19 Championship as well. How do you feel about the victory, Mr Passlack?
Felix Passlack: It is brilliant that we were able to finish the season with a win in the final of the U19 Championship. It is an amazing feeling to be able to celebrate this success with the lads. The fact it was my 18th birthday also made it that bit sweeter. We can go and enjoy our time together in Mallorca now. We have earned it.
DFB.de: Not since the beginning of the U19 Championship, when VfL Bochum beat FC Saarbrücken 5-3 in 1969 final, has this amount of goals been scored in the final of the competition. Did you expect such an end-to-end encounter?
Passlack: It was definitely not planned but it was all the better for it. We managed to take the lead early in both halves of the match. It put Hoffenheim under pressure and they were forced to chase the game and be more attacking. Fortunately, we were able to take advantage of this better in the second half.
DFB.de: In Christian Pulsic, who is currently preparing for the Copa America with the USA national team, you were missing an important player. How did this not seem to affect the team?
Passlack: First of all, Christian is an outstanding player and it’s unfortunate he couldn’t play. The fact that he has been called up to his national team’s squad shows how good he is. I was sure though, that we would be able to compensate for his withdrawal. We have a great squad overall. Jonas Arweiler, who replaced Christian in the line-up, proved that brilliantly with his two goals.
DFB.de: In your opinion, what was the deciding factor in the title win?
Passlack: We knew that we were coming up against a strong opponent with a number of good individual players, who play with a midfield diamond. Our coach Hannes Wolf prepared us brilliantly for the way Hoffenheim were going to set-up so we were able to cause them problems from the very start. Overall, we did well as a team and deserved to win. I think that we can be very happy with our performance.
DFB.de: You went straight to your coach Hannes Wolf at the final whistle. Is there a particularly close bond between you two?
Passlack: Hannes Wolf has been my coach for three years now and we have been three time West Champions as well as German Champions. If you can’t develop a special bond through that then what then?
DFB.de: You have been a member of the professional squad at BVB for a few months now and have made three appearances in the Bundesliga. Was it hard to adjust back to the U19 level?
Passlack: Not at all, to be honest I haven’t trained that much with the team but still only missed four of the 26 matches this season. Furthermore, I still really enjoy playing with these lads. For the most part, we have been in the same team for a number of years and are a close knit group. You can see that on the pitch.
DFB.de: In the last couple of U19 matches you have been given the captains armband. How did that come about?
Passlack: You shouldn’t make too much of that. The coach simply wanted to place the responsibility on more people’s shoulders. Till Schumacher was and is still the team captain. I have ‘only’ worn the captain’s armband twice. That is why we went up to receive the trophy together at the awards ceremony.
DFB.de: You are only 18, so you could have another year of playing for the U19s. Will you be trying to win a fourth junior title?
Passlack: I would have no problem with that at all (laughs). What I know at the moment is that I will be returning to training with the senior squad on 4th July. I will take everything else as it comes.
DFB.de: How will you be spending your time until then?
Passlack: I am obviously very happy to have a free summer as there are no internationals for me this year. It will be good to recharge the batteries after the long season that we have had.
