The Germany U21s will travel to the U21 European Championships, which are being in held in Italy and San Marino (16/06/19 – 30/06/19). They have been drawn in Group B alongside Denmark, Serbia and Austria. The draw took place in the Lamborghini factory in Bologna under the guidance of UEFA competitions director, Giorgio Marchetti. Andrea Pirlo, 2006 World Cup winner and ambassador of the U21 Euros, picked the balls out.
“An interesting group including our next door neighbours, Austria,” said head coach Stefan Kuntz. “We expect a tough opposition in the Danes, who have already proved to be a tough game during the group phases in 2017 and the best Eastern European team, Serbia. We are looking forward to emotional games in front of an enthusiastic crowd, which we got to know last week in our game against Italy. It was our wish to play in Group B as the stadiums are closer to Germany.”
Starting against Denmark
Stefan Kuntz’s team will play their first game of the tournament on the 17th June against Denmark. Three days later they will face Serbia and to finish off, they will play against Austria on the 23rd June.
The hosts, Italy, have been drawn into Group A alongside last year’s finalists Spain, Poland and Belgium. The opening game of the tournament will see the hosts take on Spain on the 16th June. Group C consists of England, France, Romania and Croatia.
Semi-finalists will earn a place in the Olympics
The three group winners and the best second placed team will all play in the semi-finals of the tournament (27th June) and also earn a place in the 2020 Olympic games in Japan.
Italy and San Marino are hosting the U21 Euros for the first time. The games will be played between the 16th and the 30th June in five northern cities; Udine, Trieste, Bologna, Reggio Emilia, Cesena and in Serravalle in San Marino. The final will be in Udine.
In the qualifying rounds, Germany won eight out of ten matches and came top of Group B. The other group winners were Italy and England. Before the tournament, the Germany U21s will take on England in a friendly at the end of March.