Horst Hrubesch has chosen his squad for the final two U21 European Championship qualifiers against Azerbaijan on the 13th November in Regensburg and against Austria on the 17th November in Fürth. Mitchell Weiser of Hertha BSC is among the names for the first time. The 21-year-old has played his way through all the DFB international academy youth teams.
"Mitch has improved a lot at Hertha BSC and has continued to show his ability over the course of the current season," was Horst Hrubesch’s reasoning for the call up. The manager will have to make do without the injured Yannick Gerhardt (1. FC Köln) and Lukas Klostermann (RB Leipzig). In their place, Kevin Akpoguma of Fortuna Düsseldorf has broken into the squad, who was originally supposed to be playing for the Germany U20s.
Hrubesch: "Our aim is still to finish top of the group"
The nomination of Leroy Sané is a special case: Manager of the senior team Joachim Löw, DFB sporting director Hansi Flick and U21-manager Horst Hrubesch agreed that after playing in the senior team game against France, Sané will return to the U21 squad to be available for the game with Austria.
"Our aim has always been to finish top of the group and it still is, so we have to be well prepared for both Azerbaijan and joint favourites Austria," said Hrubesch. Austria are level on points with Germany and at second place in Group 7. In the Austria squad, a dozen of the players play their club football in Germany. Hrubesch: "It will be a close game and we will need to give everything for a win."
The qualifier against Azerbaijan in Regensburg is already sold out. "I’m really happy about this, especially for the players," said Hrubesch. "There’s nothing better for a footballer than playing in front of a full house." Tickets for the game against Austria in Fürth are still available.