The Germany U21s won their final game in European Championship qualification to complete their perfect record of ten wins from ten games. Having already secured their spot at EURO 2017 in Poland next summer, Stefan Kuntz’s team defeated Austria 4-1 to make them the only side not to drop a single point in qualifying.
Captain Maximilian Arnold got his team off to a flying start with the opening goal in the 12th minute, before second-half strikes from Levin Öztunali, Davie Selke and Janik Haberer (penalty) rounded off the scoring in St. Pölten. Philipp Lienhart provided a late consolation for the hosts, to deny Germany the impressive feat of going through the entire qualifying campaign without conceding a goal away from home.
Kuntz makes seven changes to his line-up
Following on from the 4-3 victory over Russia, Stefan Kuntz rang the changes, bringing in seven different players - but the new-look side had no problems gelling in the early stages of the game. They got the ball moving quickly down the flanks to put the Austrians, who finished as runners-up in Group 7, under pressure from the off and carved out a number of chances. Nadiem Amiri was the first to test opposition goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann with a free-kick, which Bachmann kept out. But Germany kept pressing for an early lead, and were rewarded in some style by their skipper Arnold. From just under 30 metres out, the Wolfsburg man worked some space for a shot, which found its way into the top corner via the underside of the crossbar.
Once they were ahead, Germany continued to control the game in front of more than 2,500 spectators, including Kuntz’s predecessor Horst Hrubesch. They seemed content to rest on their slender lead, and the final few minutes of the first half provided a few hairy moments as Austria nearly drew level. First Kevin Friesenbichler headed narrowly wide, before German goalkeeper Jannik Huth denied him in a one-on-one situation. In between these two chances, Selke missed the target from a quick counterattack from the visitors.
Öztunali, Selke and Haberer add second-half goals
The German U21s started the second half just as strongly as they had done in the first, as Öztunali was well placed to turn the rebound into the back of the net when Bachmann parried a shot from Leroy Sané. Shortly afterwards, an Austrian move broke down and Selke took full advantage to give the scoreline a healthy look. Haberer converted a late penalty to complete the scoring for the visitors, meaning the response from Lienhart was never likely to be anything other than a consolation.
It was the fourth win out of four as U21s coach for Stefan Kuntz, the best start for any coach since Dieter Eilts in 2004. The young team’s next game will be a friendly against Turkey on 10th November in Berlin, before the calendar year ends away to Poland in Tychy five days later. The groups for the 2017 European Championship will be drawn on 1st December in Krakow.
