Germany’s U21 side remain undefeated in their opening seven matches of European Championship qualification. After a convincing 5-1 win over Israel in the Hungarian city of Györ, they moved onto 19 points in their group, maintaining top spot in the process ahead of Poland on 15. Braces from Nicolo Tresoldi (5’, 35’) and Karim Adeyemi (14’, 61’) secured a sixth victory in qualifying for head coach Antonio Di Salvo’s team, before Ansgar Knauff rounded off the display, adding a fifth goal in stoppage time (90+4’). Niv Yehoshua (64’) netted for Israel.
“The fact we went ahead so early on was a nice change from some of the recent matches, and you could see that it helped us. It was an outstanding first half performance,” said Antonio Di Salvo. “I believed in the team and I know that we have quality in this squad. The goal that we conceded annoyed me, because we wanted to keep the clean sheet but then became a bit complacent.”
SC Freiburg’s Max Rosenfelder made his U21 debut against Israel alongside Bright Akwo Arrey-Mbi in central defence, protecting goalkeeper Jonas Urbig. Jan Thielmann and Luca Netz were deployed as the full-backs, with captain Eric Martel and Rocco Reitz forming the dual pivot in midfield. In attack, Adeyemi, Tresoldi and Merlin Röhl supported striker Nick Woltemade.
Tresoldi and Adeyemi score early
Germany went ahead with one of their first real attacks. Tresoldi latched onto the end of a long ball from Reitz and classily lifted it over keeper Niv Eliasi into the net. The young Germans remained dominant and almost doubled their advantage via a corner, but Woltemade’s effort just missed the Israeli goal (10’).
Adeyemi was the player who ultimately did make it 2-0 and in his first U21 appearance since October 2023. Once again, the long ball from Reitz was the outlet before the Dortmund man’s fine lob looped over Eliasi. Apart from a few counter-attacks for Israel, the game remained one-sided. In the 34th minute, Eliasi expertly denied a low shot from Reitz, but he had no chance of stopping Tresoldi from the subsequent corner.
Shortly afterwards, Israel’s keeper made another strong save to deny Woltemade from close range and then was fortunate to see Adeyemi’s strike hit the crossbar and Reitz's long-range shot fly just wide of the post (37’). The German chances did not cease there. Röhl nicked the ball from Israel right after a goal-kick, but was prevented from getting his finish off inside the penalty area at the last second (38’).
Adeyemi crowns stellar individual display with second goal
Germany remained in control of the game after the break, although they did ease up a little. Di Salvo made three changes in the 59th minute, bringing on Marcel Beifus in place of Rosenfelder for his debut, while Armindo Sieb and Knauff replaced Woltemade and Thielmann. This did not hinder the Germans’ attacking flow, and Adeyemi completed his brace shortly afterwards following a great solo run.
Israel ultimately ended up equalising after what was their first real foray forward and via a deflected shot from Yehoshua at that. The German defence started to become a little sloppy and Urbig had to be best at his best to prevent Adi Yona’s attempt from finding the net (67’). Keke Topp then came on for Tresoldi in the 70th minute, marking a third U21s debut of the evening. A few minutes later, Paul Nebel replaced Reitz (79’), before Knauff restored the four-goal lead in the closing moments.
