After recording their first draw of EURO qualifying against Kosovo last week, the Germany U21s got back to winning ways on Tuesday evening. Antonio Di Salvo’s side beat Israel 2-0 at the Leuna-Chemie-Stadion in Halle/Saale to return to the top of Group D with a game in hand, one point ahead of Poland after they lost to Bulgaria.
“It was a solid performance from beginning to end. We barely allowed them anything. We wanted to close the gap to Poland, and we’ve done more than that,” said Di Salvo after the game. “We wanted to put them under pressure early on and we managed that well. It was nice to see the team get their reward so early on.”
Germany started strongly in front of 4,766 spectators, moving the ball around well to break down Israel’s low block, and created the first chance after just 50 seconds. Werder Bremen’s Nick Woltemade got a first-time shot away after being picked out by Brajan Gruda’s low cross from the right, but failed to test the goalkeeper at his near post.
Gruda puts DFB-Team on course for victory
The opener came after around quarter of an hour thanks to some sublime interplay. Luca Netz and his Gladbach teammate Rocco Reitz combined brilliantly down the left flank, and Reitz opted not to shoot from the top of the box, instead slipping the ball across for the better placed Gruda to finish from twelve yards (14’).
The DFB-Team didn’t slow down after grabbing the opening goal and had further opportunities through Eric Martel (17’) and Reitz (21’), but their efforts lacked conviction. Israel grew into the game more after the half-hour mark and looked a threat from set pieces, but Germany were able to use those to create chances on the counter too. Gruda’s goal remained the only thing separating the sides at the break though.
Röhl provides a cushion
The visiting Israeli side had their first real opening shortly after the restart, with a drilled cross almost providing the striker with a chance to equalise if not for a great interception from Freiburg’s Merlin Röhl (50’). Five minutes later, the SC midfielder was in the right place at the right time at the other end. Gruda tried his luck from outside the box and forced a fine save from Niv Eliasi onto the post, however, Röhl reacted quickest to the rebound and finished from close range to make it 2-0 (56’). The away team’s best chance came not long after, when Roy Nawi’s strike from 20 yards took a deflection and required a good save from Noah Atubolu to stop the ball from looping under the crossbar (59’).
There wasn’t much more to come from Israel though, as Germany looked to see out the result. Röhl (67’) and Youssoufa Moukoko (69’) could even have made it 3-0 with further openings. Umut Tohumcu of TSG Hoffenheim came on in the closing stages to make his U21 international debut, but there wasn’t to be any more chances of note.
Di Salvo’s boys won’t be back in action again until 4th September, when they face Israel for the second time in U21 EURO 2025 qualifying.
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After recording their first draw of EURO qualifying against Kosovo last week, the Germany U21s got back to winning ways on Tuesday evening. Antonio Di Salvo’s side beat Israel 2-0 at the Leuna-Chemie-Stadion in Halle/Saale to return to the top of Group D with a game in hand, one point ahead of Poland after they lost to Bulgaria.
“It was a solid performance from beginning to end. We barely allowed them anything. We wanted to close the gap to Poland, and we’ve done more than that,” said Di Salvo after the game. “We wanted to put them under pressure early on and we managed that well. It was nice to see the team get their reward so early on.”
Germany started strongly in front of 4,766 spectators, moving the ball around well to break down Israel’s low block, and created the first chance after just 50 seconds. Werder Bremen’s Nick Woltemade got a first-time shot away after being picked out by Brajan Gruda’s low cross from the right, but failed to test the goalkeeper at his near post.
Gruda puts DFB-Team on course for victory
The opener came after around quarter of an hour thanks to some sublime interplay. Luca Netz and his Gladbach teammate Rocco Reitz combined brilliantly down the left flank, and Reitz opted not to shoot from the top of the box, instead slipping the ball across for the better placed Gruda to finish from twelve yards (14’).
The DFB-Team didn’t slow down after grabbing the opening goal and had further opportunities through Eric Martel (17’) and Reitz (21’), but their efforts lacked conviction. Israel grew into the game more after the half-hour mark and looked a threat from set pieces, but Germany were able to use those to create chances on the counter too. Gruda’s goal remained the only thing separating the sides at the break though.
Röhl provides a cushion
The visiting Israeli side had their first real opening shortly after the restart, with a drilled cross almost providing the striker with a chance to equalise if not for a great interception from Freiburg’s Merlin Röhl (50’). Five minutes later, the SC midfielder was in the right place at the right time at the other end. Gruda tried his luck from outside the box and forced a fine save from Niv Eliasi onto the post, however, Röhl reacted quickest to the rebound and finished from close range to make it 2-0 (56’). The away team’s best chance came not long after, when Roy Nawi’s strike from 20 yards took a deflection and required a good save from Noah Atubolu to stop the ball from looping under the crossbar (59’).
There wasn’t much more to come from Israel though, as Germany looked to see out the result. Röhl (67’) and Youssoufa Moukoko (69’) could even have made it 3-0 with further openings. Umut Tohumcu of TSG Hoffenheim came on in the closing stages to make his U21 international debut, but there wasn’t to be any more chances of note.
Di Salvo’s boys won’t be back in action again until 4th September, when they face Israel for the second time in U21 EURO 2025 qualifying.
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