The Germany U20 national team crashed out of the World Cup in South Korea despite coming back from 3-1 down to take the game to extra-time.
“I can’t accuse my team of anything, the commitment was spot-on. We lost the ball too easily and unnecessarily which made it too easy for the opposition and stopped us from getting into our rhythm,” said head coach Streichsbier. “Congratulations to Zambia for reaching their first ever quarter-finals at a World Cup. They have a fantastic team and we which them success for the rest of the tournament.”
Philipp Ochs had put 1899 Hoffenheim into the lead with a superbly hit first-half free-kick, clattering off the bar and in. But Emmanuel Banda, Fashion Sakala and Enock Mwepu turned things around for Zambia with three second-half goals to give their side what looked to be an unassailable lead. But Germany had other ideas and after Suat Serdar pulled one back with one minute of normal time remaining through a smart back-heel volley, substitute Jonas Arweiler kept his cool to slot in right at the death and take the match to extra-time.
Both teams were even to begin with before Zambia hit back once again. Shemmy Mayembe scored the winner in the 107th minute and DFB were unable to hit back despite throwing everything at them. Zambia held on to spark wild celebrations and secure themselves a tie with either Italy or France. “The way we fought back was fantastic,” said Streichsbier. “But after we went 4-3 down, we just couldn’t break them down even though we still had two big chances before the final whistle that we unfortunately were unable to take.”
The Germany U20 national team crashed out of the World Cup in South Korea despite coming back from 3-1 down to take the game to extra-time.
“I can’t accuse my team of anything, the commitment was spot-on. We lost the ball too easily and unnecessarily which made it too easy for the opposition and stopped us from getting into our rhythm,” said head coach Streichsbier. “Congratulations to Zambia for reaching their first ever quarter-finals at a World Cup. They have a fantastic team and we which them success for the rest of the tournament.”
Philipp Ochs had put 1899 Hoffenheim into the lead with a superbly hit first-half free-kick, clattering off the bar and in. But Emmanuel Banda, Fashion Sakala and Enock Mwepu turned things around for Zambia with three second-half goals to give their side what looked to be an unassailable lead. But Germany had other ideas and after Suat Serdar pulled one back with one minute of normal time remaining through a smart back-heel volley, substitute Jonas Arweiler kept his cool to slot in right at the death and take the match to extra-time.
Both teams were even to begin with before Zambia hit back once again. Shemmy Mayembe scored the winner in the 107th minute and DFB were unable to hit back despite throwing everything at them. Zambia held on to spark wild celebrations and secure themselves a tie with either Italy or France. “The way we fought back was fantastic,” said Streichsbier. “But after we went 4-3 down, we just couldn’t break them down even though we still had two big chances before the final whistle that we unfortunately were unable to take.”
