Bayer Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz and 1. FC Köln’s Noah Katterbach have been awarded the gold Fritz Walter Medal. 1. FFC Frankfurt’s Tanja Pawollek has been awarded the gold prize for the best young talent in women’s football .The Fritz Walter Medal is given by the DFB to the best young talent in Germany with prizes given to Under 19s, Under 17s and the best junior female talent. The results for the highest individual award in German youth football were announced this afternoon ahead of Germany’s friendly with Peru tonight.
Arne Maier (Hertha BSC), Oliver Batista (FC Bayern München) and Sophia Kleinherne (1. FFC Frankfurt) have been awarded silver medals. Meanwhile, Manuel Wintzheimer (Hamburger SV), Luca Unbehaun (Borussia Dortmund) and Lena Sophie Oberdorf (SGS Essen) have been awarded bronze medals.
“The Fritz Walter Medal is regarded as the most important individual prize in German youth football” said Die Mannschaft sporting director Joti Chatzialexiou. “The winners of the award possess extraordinary qualities, high sporting ambitions and, off their pitch, show their high team spirit and good behaviour. It is important to us that the players use this medal as a great incentive to progress further. Their target must be to continue to develop so that they can play for the senior Germany team later in their careers.”
Academy clubs profit from prize money
The DFB have honoured the prize winners by allocating academy clubs €20,000 for a gold medal winner, €15,000 for a silver medal winner and €10,000 for a bronze medal winner. The prize money will be split between the academy clubs who have contributed to the progression of the award winners. Award recipients from recent years include Anja Mittag (2005), Babett Peter (2007), Toni Kroos (2008) and Timo Werner (2013).
Aachen born Kai Havertz, who has won the gold medal in the Under 19s category, is the youngest player to have made more than 50 Bundesliga appearances (54 appearances, seven goals). Bayer Leverkusen’s attacker has also played in 30 Germany youth matches and is now part of the senior team squad. Noah Katterbach has been given the gold prize in the Under 17s category and the full-back has made 14 appearances for Germany’s youth teams, scoring two of Germany’s five goals in qualifying for the U17 European Championships. Katterbach currently plays in the U19s Bundesliga for 1. FC Köln.
Tanja Pawollek, winner of the best young female award, has already featured in 44 Allianz Frauen-Bundesliga matches for 1. FFC Frankfurt, scoring three goals. The defender, who has made 44 appearances for Germany’s youth teams, has part of the Germany U20s squad at the World Cup in France.
