It happened in the 17th minute. Emre Can picked up the ball from Kevin Volland, showed tidy feet before firing the ball into the back of the net. Germany had equalised against Serbia in their opening European Championship match and Can had grabbed his first U21 goal. The remaining 73 minutes were goalless.
The DFB Team picked up point to open up the campaign against Serbia, who had knocked out Spain in the play-offs, however, they weren’t satisfied. The team prepared well ahead of the tournament and are adamant that there is more to come.
“We didn’t play well in the first half,” explained goalscorer Can. “I can’t put my finger on what was up and obviously falling behind didn’t help us, but we did well to fight back.”
Volland: "We now know where we stand"
Filip Djuricic had put Serbia ahead with the firs real chance of the game after just seven minutes. His composed finish left Marc-André ter Stegen with no chance. Germany also netted with their first effort but could have slipped behind again shortly before the break but Causic’s effort was cleared.
The supporters in Prague were treated to an intense and keenly fought match full of tough tackles and two teams who weren’t giving anything away. “Ahead of the game I warned everyone about the threat Serbia pose. As you say, they are a good and aggressive side,” said captain Kevin Volland. “We now know where we stand and know that we need to step things up.”
Can: "We played with more freedom after the break"
Horst Hrubesch’s men certainly improved after the break and could have taken the lead through Philip Hofmann (57’) but found themselves down to 10 men with 20 minutes left on the clock – Christian Günter received his marching orders for a second bookable offence. Chances still fell to the Germany players. Volland could have won the game late on but his effort was blocked after great work from substitute Leonardo Bittencourt.
No one was able to explain why the team improved so much after the break. “Maybe we were playing with more freedom,” explained Emre Can. “You could see that we were determined to pick up the points.” Horst Hrubesch was pleased with how his side performed after the break but was critical of their first half performance. “We started slowly. I had told the players not to expect any gifts. Now everyone knows for sure what to expect,” he remarked.
"Working on a few things" ahead of the Denmark game
There’s not a lot of time to analyse the opening match. The DFB Team return to action on Saturday (20:45 CEST) in a clash with Denmark. The Danes beat the Czech Republic 2-1 on the opening day of the tournament. “We’ll look at what went well and what didn’t in the Serbia match and then work on a few things,” explained Hrubesch.
The team will need to put in a good performance from the first whistle against Denmark – they’ll need to pressurise their opponents and shift the ball faster. “The second half is a good foundation,” added Volland. “But we’ll need to play a bit better against Denmark and be ready from the off.”
created by mmc/mb
It happened in the 17th minute. Emre Can picked up the ball from Kevin Volland, showed tidy feet before firing the ball into the back of the net. Germany had equalised against Serbia in their opening European Championship match and Can had grabbed his first U21 goal. The remaining 73 minutes were goalless.
The DFB Team picked up point to open up the campaign against Serbia, who had knocked out Spain in the play-offs, however, they weren’t satisfied. The team prepared well ahead of the tournament and are adamant that there is more to come.
“We didn’t play well in the first half,” explained goalscorer Can. “I can’t put my finger on what was up and obviously falling behind didn’t help us, but we did well to fight back.”
Volland: "We now know where we stand"
Filip Djuricic had put Serbia ahead with the firs real chance of the game after just seven minutes. His composed finish left Marc-André ter Stegen with no chance. Germany also netted with their first effort but could have slipped behind again shortly before the break but Causic’s effort was cleared.
The supporters in Prague were treated to an intense and keenly fought match full of tough tackles and two teams who weren’t giving anything away. “Ahead of the game I warned everyone about the threat Serbia pose. As you say, they are a good and aggressive side,” said captain Kevin Volland. “We now know where we stand and know that we need to step things up.”
Can: "We played with more freedom after the break"
Horst Hrubesch’s men certainly improved after the break and could have taken the lead through Philip Hofmann (57’) but found themselves down to 10 men with 20 minutes left on the clock – Christian Günter received his marching orders for a second bookable offence. Chances still fell to the Germany players. Volland could have won the game late on but his effort was blocked after great work from substitute Leonardo Bittencourt.
No one was able to explain why the team improved so much after the break. “Maybe we were playing with more freedom,” explained Emre Can. “You could see that we were determined to pick up the points.” Horst Hrubesch was pleased with how his side performed after the break but was critical of their first half performance. “We started slowly. I had told the players not to expect any gifts. Now everyone knows for sure what to expect,” he remarked.
"Working on a few things" ahead of the Denmark game
There’s not a lot of time to analyse the opening match. The DFB Team return to action on Saturday (20:45 CEST) in a clash with Denmark. The Danes beat the Czech Republic 2-1 on the opening day of the tournament. “We’ll look at what went well and what didn’t in the Serbia match and then work on a few things,” explained Hrubesch.
The team will need to put in a good performance from the first whistle against Denmark – they’ll need to pressurise their opponents and shift the ball faster. “The second half is a good foundation,” added Volland. “But we’ll need to play a bit better against Denmark and be ready from the off.”
