The Germany U20s have lost their third and final game of the Four-Nations-Tournament. Coach Guido Streichsbier’s side lost 4-2 on penalties to the Netherlands after the game finished 2-2 after 90 minutes, this defeat means Germany finish the tournament in third place.
Germany started the tournament well, winning 1-0 against the USA, however, in their second game, they fell to hosts England 3-1, meaning England were always the favourites to win the tournament going into the final game.
The Netherlands took the lead through Kenneth Paal in the 16th minute but Germany reacted well to going behind, first equalizing through Philipp Ochs in the 21st minute and then by taking the lead with a Malcolm Badu strike in the second half (58’). However, Pelle van Amersfoort got the Oranje back on level terms in the 74th minute and so took the game to a penalty shootout. Amara Conde and Lars Dietz were the unfortunate players to miss from the spot for Germany.
Streichsbier: “The journey was worth it”
On the face of it, the U20s’ results in the tournament weren’t what they would have wished for, however, Streichsbier is still taking positives: “The lay-out of the tournament is somewhat unique. We played a good game but unfortunately conceded annoying goals and didn’t take our chances at the other end. Now we have a negative record on paper, although we actually played well – the journey here was worth it.”
Both teams performed well and after going 1-0 down the Germans, came back. The DFB Team executed countless counterattacks against the opposition, who, in contrast to Streichsbier’s side, contained a few players over the age limit. Streichsbier described the Netherlands’ second goal, which eventually led to a penalty shootout after full time, as “careless”.” Even though we lost, I have to pay the lads compliments,” concluded the coach.
At the start of the tournament, 14 of the 22 players in the Germany squad hadn’t had experience at U20s level. Nevertheless, the team knew each other well as a large part had already played together in the U19s squad in this summer’s Euros and actually qualified for the U20s World Cup in 2017 (from the 20th May to the 11th of June).
The Four Nations Tournament in England was one part of three international breaks before the World Cup next year.
