FC Schalke 04 and defending champions 1899 Hoffenheim will go up against each other in the final to become German under-19 champions on Monday (20:15 CEST). Only those involved with the game know who will take to the pitch but some top players, who have gone on to become World Champions, have previously played in the under-19s final. DFB.de takes a look back at some of the big names.
Christoph Kramer, who made an appearance in the World Cup final in 2014, played in the final back in 2010. He captained Bayer Leverkusen back then but was unable to lift the trophy after losing 1-0 against Hansa Rostock in the final. Kramer will return to Leverkusen in the summer after a loan spell at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
2009: Schürrle and Götze meet in the final
In 2009, André Schürrle and Mario Götze played against each other in the final. Götze, who played for Dortmund at the time, scored the equaliser to make it 1-1 but could not prevent FSV Mainz 05 from winning their first youth title. Despite being on opposite sides back then, the two linked up perfectly on 13th July 2014 as Schürrle provided the assist for Götze’s winner in the World Cup final against Argentina.
FC Bayern München’s under-19s suffered a 2-1 defeat in the 2007 final against Bayer Leverkusen. Despite the disappointment, there were some other big names on show. Thomas Müller scored the opening goal of the game that day, whilst Toni Kroos and Holger Badstuber also played in the game.
2002: Bayern win with Lahm and Schweinsteiger
Schalke 04 met FC Bayern München in the final back in the 2005/2006 season. Benedikt Höwedes played for S04 against Mats Hummels, who played for Bayern back then, but both joined up last summer to form part of Germany’s defence in Rio de Janeiro. World Champion Mesut Özil also took to the pitch for the game as Schalke won 2-1.
A lot less exciting was the final in 2002 as FC Bayern München ran out 4-0 winners over VfB Stuttgart. As they do today, Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger played for Bayern, as did Piotr Trochowski, Michael Rensing, Andreas Ottl and Christian Lell.