DFB manager Christian Wück has announced his squad for the U17 European Championship in Bulgaria (3rd - 23rd May). The 18-man squad is headed up by captain Felix Passlack (Borussia Dortmund). Some of the other experienced players included are Hertha’s Enes Akyol (eleven appearances for the U17s) as well as Niklas Dorsch (Bayern München), Johannes Eggestein (Werder Bremen), Gökhan Gül, Erdinc Karakas and Görkem Saglam (all VfL Bochum), all of whom have made ten previous appearances.
In the Elite Round, Christian Wück’s team were in a group with Italy, Slovakia and Ukraine and managed to finish top in the standings. "The squad is almost identical to the one used for the European Championship qualifiers at the end of March," remarked Wück. "We’ve only made one change: Joel Abu Hanna has replaced Vitaly Janelt. Joel is a defender and we want to strengthen our back four. We therefore have to sacrifice a defensive midfielder and in this case, it’s Vitaly."
"The group work well together and know each other very well. They have the advantage of having played together for a year and a half. I would therefore say that our chances of being successful at the European Championship are good," continued the manager.
Wück: "We want to become European Champions"
The German team are amongst the favourites, not only because of their strong qualifying campaign, to win the European Championship. 16 teams will compete in the tournament for the first time since 2002. In the group stage, Germany will meet Belgium (6th May), Slovenia (9th May) and Czech Republic (12th May).
In addition to the possibility of being crowned European Champions, the tournament also offers teams the opportunity to qualify for the U17 World Cup in Chile (17th October – 8th November). Germany need to make it through to the semi-finals or win a play-off match against one of the other losing quarter-finalists to secure a World Cup berth. "Our minimum target is securing qualification for the World Cup in Chile," announced Wück. "We therefore need to be amongst the top six sides. Aside from that we obviously want to finish as high as possible in the tournament and ideally, that means becoming European Champions."
You can see the full squad here
DFB manager Christian Wück has announced his squad for the U17 European Championship in Bulgaria (3rd - 23rd May). The 18-man squad is headed up by captain Felix Passlack (Borussia Dortmund). Some of the other experienced players included are Hertha’s Enes Akyol (eleven appearances for the U17s) as well as Niklas Dorsch (Bayern München), Johannes Eggestein (Werder Bremen), Gökhan Gül, Erdinc Karakas and Görkem Saglam (all VfL Bochum), all of whom have made ten previous appearances.
In the Elite Round, Christian Wück’s team were in a group with Italy, Slovakia and Ukraine and managed to finish top in the standings. "The squad is almost identical to the one used for the European Championship qualifiers at the end of March," remarked Wück. "We’ve only made one change: Joel Abu Hanna has replaced Vitaly Janelt. Joel is a defender and we want to strengthen our back four. We therefore have to sacrifice a defensive midfielder and in this case, it’s Vitaly."
"The group work well together and know each other very well. They have the advantage of having played together for a year and a half. I would therefore say that our chances of being successful at the European Championship are good," continued the manager.
Wück: "We want to become European Champions"
The German team are amongst the favourites, not only because of their strong qualifying campaign, to win the European Championship. 16 teams will compete in the tournament for the first time since 2002. In the group stage, Germany will meet Belgium (6th May), Slovenia (9th May) and Czech Republic (12th May).
In addition to the possibility of being crowned European Champions, the tournament also offers teams the opportunity to qualify for the U17 World Cup in Chile (17th October – 8th November). Germany need to make it through to the semi-finals or win a play-off match against one of the other losing quarter-finalists to secure a World Cup berth. "Our minimum target is securing qualification for the World Cup in Chile," announced Wück. "We therefore need to be amongst the top six sides. Aside from that we obviously want to finish as high as possible in the tournament and ideally, that means becoming European Champions."
You can see the full squad here
