The Germany U17s won their friendly encounter again Iceland in Reykjavik in some style. Coach Christian Wück's side triumphed 7-2 in the game which was played indoors on an artificial surface.
"We're very happy, the team took advantage of their chances and attacked until the end of the match," said Wück. "We can learn a lot from this game. Among other things, it was important for us to play on artificial grass, as we may have to do that in tournaments."
Kühn's quick-fire hat trick
The 250 spectators watched a spectacular match. In the middle of the action was RB Leipzig's Nicolas Kühn, who scored a hat trick in 12 minutes. Less than 60 seconds separated his first and second goals, with his first strike coming from an impressive solo run (3').
No sooner had Iceland kicked off after conceding their first, Kühn had the ball on the back of the net again. This time, he lobbed the goalkeeper from the centre circle - a strike which could see him win German television show ARD's Goal of the Month award. The RB Leipzig man competed his hat trick on the 15 minute mark.
Iceland get two back but Germany pull away
Iceland showed character and got themselves back into the game. Agust Edvald Hlynsson's bouncing effort and an Ivar Reynir Antonsson goal made the scoreline 3-2 after 32 minutes. However, two minutes later Germany got their fourth through Kilian Ludewig. Shortly before the break, injured defender Jan Boller was replaced by Dominik Becker.
In the second half, the DFB team defended with more concentration carried on attacking meaningfully. Okan Yilmaz struck after a wonderful one-two with Kühn (52'), before Stephan Mensah made it 6-2 in the 70th minute. Arp rounded off the scoring two minutes later with a shot on the turn.
Rotation in the second encounter
On Saturday (17:00 CET), the two nations will go head to head again. Wück has revealed that the players who didn't feature in the first encounter will in the second, "so everyone can make an appearance."
The matches serve as preparation for the coming year. In January, the U17s will meet up in a winter training camp, before the Algarve Cup takes place from the 6th to the 15th of February. From the 19th to the 29th of March, they will take part in the elite round to qualify for the European Championships in Croatia.