The title holders are ready. Germany U19s play Spain in their opening group match of the 2015 European Championship in Greece tonight (20:45 CEST), beginning their defence of the championship they won last year. The team, led by DFB coach Marcus Sorg, has been preparing for this opening match since Friday from their training base in the town of Katerini. The tournament itself began yesterday, with wins for hosts Greece (2-0 against Ukraine) and Austria, who beat France 1-0.
With the Netherlands and Russia making up the other two teams in Germany’s Group B, qualification for the knock-out rounds will be a big challenge for the three-time U19 European champions. "We’re in a very strong group," said Sorg. "When you enter a tournament like this, you go in wanting to win the whole thing. We have to take things one step at a time, and we’re ready for the opener against Spain."
Sorg: "We have a lot of quality in this squad"
Regarding personnel, Sorg has an almost complete squad to choose from. The only two withdrawals from the original squad are Stuttgart’s Timo Baumgartl and Mainz’ Devante Parker, who both travelled home on Monday after picking up injuries. Jannik Dehm (Karlsruher SC) and Niko Kijewski (Eintracht Braunschweig) have been called up as replacements. "In the last few days the boys have trained really well and worked hard. We have a lot of quality in this squad and also a good mentality," praised Sorg. "All the players that we selected have been made available. The clubs have supported our title defence brilliantly." The squad is also boosted by the presence of various Bundesliga stars such as Timo Werner (VfB Stuttgart), Leroy Sané (Schalke 04), Nadiem Amiri (1899 Hoffenheim) and Jonathan Tah (Hamburger SV).
The biggest worry for everyone will be the current weather in Greece – even as the game kicks off this evening, it is expected to be over 30 degrees in Larissa. It has been equally as tropical for the players during their preparations for this game in the last few days, even when training sessions have been scheduled for the very early morning or late at night. Sorg’s team are taking on at least 40 litres of water per training session, and a similar amount of sun cream is also necessary!
This European Championship in Greece will mark the beginning of Sorg’s last year in his current job. His final bow as U19 coach will be next year’s EUROs in Germany, after which the 49-year-old will take over from Horst Hrubesch as manager of the U21s. However, his concentration is currently fully on tonight’s opening game – hopefully Germany’s first step to the final, which will be played on 19th July in Katerini.
The title holders are ready. Germany U19s play Spain in their opening group match of the 2015 European Championship in Greece tonight (20:45 CEST), beginning their defence of the championship they won last year. The team, led by DFB coach Marcus Sorg, has been preparing for this opening match since Friday from their training base in the town of Katerini. The tournament itself began yesterday, with wins for hosts Greece (2-0 against Ukraine) and Austria, who beat France 1-0.
With the Netherlands and Russia making up the other two teams in Germany’s Group B, qualification for the knock-out rounds will be a big challenge for the three-time U19 European champions. "We’re in a very strong group," said Sorg. "When you enter a tournament like this, you go in wanting to win the whole thing. We have to take things one step at a time, and we’re ready for the opener against Spain."
Sorg: "We have a lot of quality in this squad"
Regarding personnel, Sorg has an almost complete squad to choose from. The only two withdrawals from the original squad are Stuttgart’s Timo Baumgartl and Mainz’ Devante Parker, who both travelled home on Monday after picking up injuries. Jannik Dehm (Karlsruher SC) and Niko Kijewski (Eintracht Braunschweig) have been called up as replacements. "In the last few days the boys have trained really well and worked hard. We have a lot of quality in this squad and also a good mentality," praised Sorg. "All the players that we selected have been made available. The clubs have supported our title defence brilliantly." The squad is also boosted by the presence of various Bundesliga stars such as Timo Werner (VfB Stuttgart), Leroy Sané (Schalke 04), Nadiem Amiri (1899 Hoffenheim) and Jonathan Tah (Hamburger SV).
The biggest worry for everyone will be the current weather in Greece – even as the game kicks off this evening, it is expected to be over 30 degrees in Larissa. It has been equally as tropical for the players during their preparations for this game in the last few days, even when training sessions have been scheduled for the very early morning or late at night. Sorg’s team are taking on at least 40 litres of water per training session, and a similar amount of sun cream is also necessary!
This European Championship in Greece will mark the beginning of Sorg’s last year in his current job. His final bow as U19 coach will be next year’s EUROs in Germany, after which the 49-year-old will take over from Horst Hrubesch as manager of the U21s. However, his concentration is currently fully on tonight’s opening game – hopefully Germany’s first step to the final, which will be played on 19th July in Katerini.
