Germany U19 head coach Frank Kramer has announced the squad for his side’s European qualifiers between 23rd and 28th March in Hessen. The 44-year-old has called up 21 players for the matches against Cyprus (23rd March), Serbia (25th March) and Slovakia (28th March). Kramer must then cut down his squad to 18 one day before the first game at the very latest.
“Some guys are still injured and there are some others that we want to watch more closely in the first training sessions that we have. This will allow us to keep our options open and make changes quickly,” explained Kramer. “We are expecting three tricky and physical opponents. We’ve put this squad together so that we can on the one hand challenge that and on the other hand play attractive football.”
Passlack Barkok among several in the squad with Bundesliga experience
There are a number of faces in this 21-man squad who have already been making a name for themselves this season. Felix Passlack, who has featured for Borussia Dortmund both in the Bundesliga and the Champions League is included alongside Salih Özcan, who has made nine Bundesliga appearances for 1. FC Köln. It will also be a set of home games for Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Aymen Barkok. “I am looking forward three matches in my home town and hope that the people there will give us a lot of support,” said the young player.
Johannes Eggestein (SV Werder Bremen) and Dženis Burnić (Borussia Dortmund) have not been called up due to injury. “It’s a great shame for us that both of them are not available,” said Kramer. “Both Johannes and Dženis are absolute stalwarts of this team. We had definitely planned to include them.” Tobias Warschewski (Preußen Münster) and Patrick Sontheimer (SpVgg. Greuther Fürth) will replace them and would be making their debut for the U19s should they feature.
Full squad
Goalkeepers: Markus Schubert (Dynamo Dresden), Finn Gilbert Dahmen (FSV Mainz 05)
Defenders: Julian Chabot, Dominik Franke (both RB Leipzig), Jonas Busam (SC Freiburg), Gökhan Gül (Fortuna Düsseldorf), Maximilian Leitsch (VfL Bochum), Felix Passlack (Borussia Dortmund)
Midfielders: Bote Baku (Mainz 05), Aymen Barkok (Eintracht Frankfurt), Sidney Friede (Hertha BSC), Patrick Sontheimer (Greuther Fürth), Robin Hack, Dennis Geiger (both 1899 Hoffenheim), Mats Köhlert (Hamburger SV), Salih Özcan (1. FC Köln), Görkem Saglam (VfL Bochum), Niklas Schmidt (Werder Bremen
Forwards: Etienne Amenyido (Borussia Dortmund), Christian Stark (Hamburger SV), Tobias Warschewski (Preußen Münster)
