The Germany U21s face Turkey in Berlin on Thursday at 18:00 CET. It’s the second to last international fixture of the year for Stefan Kuntz’s team who will then face Poland in Tychy next Tuesday at 18:30 CET. The Germany U21s have won just one of their last seven matches against Turkey who failed to qualify for the U21 European Championships in Poland next summer. DFB.de has summed up all of the facts you need to know ahead of the game.
DIRECT COMPARISON: The two teams have never met before in a major tournament. The Germany U21s have only won one of their last seven matches against Turkey, drawing three and losing three. Germany have never scored more than one goal against Turkey. The only time Germany have won in the last 24 years was on 14th November 2003 when they beat Turkey 1-0 in the European Championship play-offs. However, the Germany first team have an unbeaten record against Turkey, winning three times and drawing twice. The last time they played was on 14th November 2012. Lasse Sobeich put Germany ahead in the 20th minute but the match ended a 2-2 draw.
BACK IN THE CAPITAL: Germany U21s and Turkey U21s have already played each other in Berlin on the 25th October 1983. On this day, Germany recorded their highest ever victory against Turkey, beating them 7-0 in a European qualification fixture. Current Germany U21s manager Stefan Kuntz scored for Germany in the 74th minute of this match. It was his first of three goals for the Germany U21s. Until now, that was the only time the Germany U21s played a match in Berlin.
COACHES AND COUNTRIES WITH HISTORY: Stefan Kuntz played for Besiktas in the 1995/96 season, where he helped his team to a third-place finish by scoring nine goals in 30 appearances. In February 1996, Kuntz’ Besiktas won 2-1 against Turkey U21 coach Abdullah Ercan’s Trabzonspor, whose team would be crowned champions later that year. As a player, Ercan also featured for the Turkey senior team as they won against Germany in a European Championship qualifier in 1998 (1-0), and then took a point from the return fixture in Munich the following year (0-0). This was the only time Germany dropped points in their qualification campaign, as they topped the group with 19 points ahead of Turkey (17), who qualified for the tournament in the play-off against Ireland.
STREAKS AND STATS: Germany were the only team to win all their qualifying matches and with their 35 goals, also boast the best attack. In comparison, Turkey only scored seven times in eight games.
STREAKS AND STATS II: The Germany U21s have come out on top in their last twelve games and with that have set a new record. Previously, the longest winning streak was seven games – from August 2011 to September 2012. Their last defeat came at the hands of Portugal in the semi final of the Euros last year, as they were defeated 5-0. Since then, Germany have scored more than one goal in eleven of these twelve games, while they’ve also found the back of the net before half time in their last eleven.
STREAKS AND STATS III: At home, the DFB team are unbeaten in 30 (23 wins, seven draws) – a German record. Their last home defeat came back in 2009 against the Czech Republic (2-1) in a European Championship qualifier. They’ve won their last seven home ties, equalling a German record set by Dieter Eilts’ side from October 2007 until September 2008. In the last 14 home games, the U21s have scored 46 goals – an average of 3.3 goals per game. The last time they failed to score was in a 0-0 draw against France in August 2013.
STREAKS AND STATS IV: Stefan Kunz won his first four games as U21s coach and with this good start, equalling a record set by Dieter Eilts.
The Germany U21s face Turkey in Berlin on Thursday at 18:00 CET. It’s the second to last international fixture of the year for Stefan Kuntz’s team who will then face Poland in Tychy next Tuesday at 18:30 CET. The Germany U21s have won just one of their last seven matches against Turkey who failed to qualify for the U21 European Championships in Poland next summer. DFB.de has summed up all of the facts you need to know ahead of the game.
DIRECT COMPARISON: The two teams have never met before in a major tournament. The Germany U21s have only won one of their last seven matches against Turkey, drawing three and losing three. Germany have never scored more than one goal against Turkey. The only time Germany have won in the last 24 years was on 14th November 2003 when they beat Turkey 1-0 in the European Championship play-offs. However, the Germany first team have an unbeaten record against Turkey, winning three times and drawing twice. The last time they played was on 14th November 2012. Lasse Sobeich put Germany ahead in the 20th minute but the match ended a 2-2 draw.
BACK IN THE CAPITAL: Germany U21s and Turkey U21s have already played each other in Berlin on the 25th October 1983. On this day, Germany recorded their highest ever victory against Turkey, beating them 7-0 in a European qualification fixture. Current Germany U21s manager Stefan Kuntz scored for Germany in the 74th minute of this match. It was his first of three goals for the Germany U21s. Until now, that was the only time the Germany U21s played a match in Berlin.
COACHES AND COUNTRIES WITH HISTORY: Stefan Kuntz played for Besiktas in the 1995/96 season, where he helped his team to a third-place finish by scoring nine goals in 30 appearances. In February 1996, Kuntz’ Besiktas won 2-1 against Turkey U21 coach Abdullah Ercan’s Trabzonspor, whose team would be crowned champions later that year. As a player, Ercan also featured for the Turkey senior team as they won against Germany in a European Championship qualifier in 1998 (1-0), and then took a point from the return fixture in Munich the following year (0-0). This was the only time Germany dropped points in their qualification campaign, as they topped the group with 19 points ahead of Turkey (17), who qualified for the tournament in the play-off against Ireland.
STREAKS AND STATS: Germany were the only team to win all their qualifying matches and with their 35 goals, also boast the best attack. In comparison, Turkey only scored seven times in eight games.
STREAKS AND STATS II: The Germany U21s have come out on top in their last twelve games and with that have set a new record. Previously, the longest winning streak was seven games – from August 2011 to September 2012. Their last defeat came at the hands of Portugal in the semi final of the Euros last year, as they were defeated 5-0. Since then, Germany have scored more than one goal in eleven of these twelve games, while they’ve also found the back of the net before half time in their last eleven.
STREAKS AND STATS III: At home, the DFB team are unbeaten in 30 (23 wins, seven draws) – a German record. Their last home defeat came back in 2009 against the Czech Republic (2-1) in a European Championship qualifier. They’ve won their last seven home ties, equalling a German record set by Dieter Eilts’ side from October 2007 until September 2008. In the last 14 home games, the U21s have scored 46 goals – an average of 3.3 goals per game. The last time they failed to score was in a 0-0 draw against France in August 2013.
STREAKS AND STATS IV: Stefan Kunz won his first four games as U21s coach and with this good start, equalling a record set by Dieter Eilts.
MILESTONES: In what is the Germany U21 team’s 152nd home game, Stefan Kuntz’s can notch up the U21’s 100th home win (currently 99 wins, 38 draws and 14 defeats). Germany are also just three goals away from their 350th goal at home.
OPPOSITION: The Turkey U21 team played their first international game on 28th October 1950. They won that particular encounter 3-1 against Egypt in Ankara. Their biggest success to date is their qualification for EURO 2000 in Slovakia. However, the U21 side finished bottom of their group and failed to take any points. They finished behind Italy, Slovakia and England. It was the U21 side’s only appearance at a major tournament. Turkey failed to qualify for EURO 2017, finishing third in Group eight with 11 points, three points behind the Netherlands (14) and five behind Slovakia (19), but ahead of Belarus (eight) and Cyprus (four). The biggest win recorded by Turkey U21s was their 5-0 victories over Austria in November 1983 and Malta in June 2009. They also recorded a 6-1 win over Liechtenstein in March 2011.
Head coach Abdullah Ercan played for Trabzonspor, Fenerbahce, Galatasary and Istanbulspor in his playing career. He won the league with Fenerbahce in 2001 and the Turkish Cup with Trabzonspor in 1992 and 1995. In 2002, Ercan was part of the Turkey side that finished third in the World Cup in Japan and South Korea. As a coach, he initially took charge of various national youth teams, before having a brief spell with Gaziantepspor in 2011/12. He then took over as the Turkey U21 coach in 2013. Since 2015, he has also served as Fatih Terims assistant coach with the senior team. Striker Mustafa Batuhan Altinas has been under contract with Bundesliga side Hamburger SV since 2015 and is currently on loan with Kasimpasa.
