DFB coach Stefan Kuntz has named a 24-man squad ahead of the upcoming U21 international fixtures against Slovakia and Finland on 2nd and 6th September respectively. DFB Director of Sport Hansi Flick commented on the squad announcement. “With regard to the U21s it was important that we gave the players who played at the Olympics the opportunity to return to their clubs. Serge Gnabry is an exception as the match practice with the U21s is good for him. The fact that Julian Brandt, Niklas Süle and Max Meyer have all been called up to the national first team is a motivational push for them and it gives them the chance to go even further.”
Therefore Stefan Kuntz is using this opportunity to give younger players the chance to play for the U21 team. “In Germany we have a great number of talented young players who will now get the opportunity to play for the U21 national team.
Four Olympic heroes in the squad
Anton Waldemar (Hannover 96), Jeremy Dudziak (FC St. Pauli), Benjamin Henrichs (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Dominik Kohr (FC Augsburg), Maximilian Philipp (SC Freiburg), Marvin Stefaniak (Dynamo Dresden) and Hany Mukhtar (Bröndby IF) have all received their first call-ups to the U21 squad. Olympic silver medallists Jannik Huth (1. FSV Mainz 05), Max Christiansen (FC Ingolstadt), Grischa Prömel (Karlsruher SC) and Serge Gnabry (Arsenal FC) have all been called up to face Slovakia and Finland.
“Now we are beginning to prepare for the European Championship which takes place next year,” said Kuntz and he focused specifically on the biggest and most important UEFA tournament of 2017. “The team has come along brilliantly so far and we want to keep this up." If the team wins in Finland they could guarantee qualification for the U21 European Championship in 2017.
The team will meet up together on Monday in Kassel. “I am really looking forward to getting going,” said Kuntz. “We will use these fixtures to get to know each other as a team and to agree on what we want to achieve.”