The Germany U19 squad are in Greece for a practice tournament ahead of the 2015 European Under-19 Championship. They face games against Spain (Thursday, 14:00 CET), the hosts (Saturday, 14:00 CET) and France (Monday, 17th November, 14:00 CET). The opening game pits the current Champions (Germany) against the side who have won the tournament the most times (Spain). DFB.de spoke to Head Coach Marcus Sorg about performances so far, the development of his team and the future.
DFB.de: Mr Sorg, how happy are you with how things have gone so far?
Marcus Sorg: We have qualified to the final stage of qualifying for the European Championships, which will also be held in Greece next year. I’m happy to have progressed to that stage. We still have a lot of work in front of us and will continue to improve.
DFB.de: What do you think are your team’s strengths and weaknesses? Sorg: The boys can play. Our strong point is our attacking play. We have a lot of quality players in our ranks this year. However, we could become more organised and consistent. This month’s tournament in Greece will give us an indication of where we stand.
DFB.de: In Greece you face the hosts, France and Spain. How important are these games?
Sorg: Spain and France will provide us with tough opposition, but Greece are also a very strong side. They host the upcoming European Championships and will be motivated to do well. These games help us enormously because they are challenging. They allow us the chance to see how far we have developed as a team, as does every game in which we play.
DFB.de: You have called up 23 players, including recalls for Jonathan Tah (Fortuna Düsseldorf) and striker Timo Werner (VfB Stuttgart). You have also selected goalkeeper Fritz Pflug (Energie Cottbus), defender Leon Guwara (Werder Bremen), midfielders Gianluca Gaudino (Bayern München), Richard Neudecker (1860 München) and Jannik Dehm (Karlsruher SC) as well as striker Gianluca Rizzo (Borussia Mönchengladbach) for the first time. Do you think you have a settled squad now?
Sorg: The door is never closed, players may come and go. The players learn a lot from playing at this level. We always have an eye on them. The coaching staff have watched many games recently: Internationals, Bundesliga games, youth teams games as well as witnessing training sessions. The tournament in Greece allows us to get to know these players better and give them a chance to impress at this level.
