The Germany U19 national team will look to exchange ideas, demonstrate their style of play and test themselves against top-class opponents in their next three games. With the focus on preparing themselves for the 2016 European Championship on home soil, Marcus Sorg's team will take part in the Four Nations Tournament from next Friday until 17th November in Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate.
"We want to make the most of the upcoming fixtures to get to know ourselves and to try out some new ideas," said DFB coach Marcus Sorg. "Naturally, the most important thing is that we convey our philosophy to the boys and improve our attacking play, but we also want to work on our organisation on the pitch.
Tournament will serve as an audition opportunity
The U19s have shown recently that they're on the right path, winning the entire tournament at the Mercedes-Benz Elite Cup in October. It was an important victory to raise team spirit and belief, as well as allowing them to push on in their development. Now, the next challenge approaches: the Four Nations Tournament.
For that reason, Sorg has called up 34 players to his squad, rather than the usual 23. The coach had good reason to select a higher number than usual: "We want to give each player a chance to experience being part of the U19 national team and gain an impression of it. The personal contact that the players have with each other during the tournament is important with regards to building a united side for the upcoming U19 EURO 2016." There's also another good reason for the large squad.
Three games in five days
The U19 team will have to contend with three matches in the space of five days, which is an intense strain on their resources. On Friday at 18:00 CET, they take on Sweden at the Hermann-Neuberger stadium in Völklingen, before facing Serbia at the Sportpark Husterhöhe in Pirmasens exactly 48 hours later. Germany's final game will come on Tuesday 17th November at 18:00 CET against France at the Waldstadion in Homburg. "They're three huge opponents who'll demand our all," said Sorg.
In Arianit Ferati (VfB Stuttgart), Philipp Ochs (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim) and Benjamin Henrichs (Bayer Leverkusen), the 34-man squad contains three players who have already appeared in the Bundesliga this season. Sorg and his assistants will assess which players are particularly impressive and which areas need to be worked on as a team ahead of the European U19 Championship next summer.