The Germany U17s won their third group game of the European Championship, which is taking place in Bulgaria. The 4-0 victory over the Czech Republic means Germany top their group and will face Spain on Friday in the quarter finals.
Christian Wück made three changes to the side that beat Slovenia 1-0. Niklas Schmidt, Johannes Eggestein and Daniel Nesseler were replaced by Görkem Saglam, Janni Serra and Vitaly Janelt.
Germany dominated the game in Stara Zagora from the first whistle and could have taken the lead early on through Gökhan Gül, however, his close range effort didn’t hit the back of the net. They did take the lead after 10 minutes through Felix Passlack, who converted after great play from Erdinc Karakas.
They had the chance to double their lead just 120 seconds later: Daniel Köstl brought down Salih Özcan in the box but Mats Köhlert’s penalty was pushed onto the woodwork by Filip Truska (13’).
Clinched before the break
The DFB team put the game before the break thanks to two further goals. Karakas headed home a Köhlert corner to double the lead after 33 minutes; Passlack got his second and Germany’s third just before the break.
The Czech Republic seemed anxious after the break and only created a couple of chances. The scoring was completed in the 53rd minute thanks to a goal from Saglam, who scored after great work from Köhlert.
Germany face eight-time U17 European Champions Spain on Friday. The winner will automatically qualify for the next World Cup, which takes place in Chile.