News (engl.)

As they set their sights on this summer’s U21 EUROs in Slovakia (11th to 28th June), the Germany U21s continued their winning ways with their second victory of the international break. The Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor in Darmstadt was nearly sold out as Antonio Di Salvo’s side triumphed 3-1 against fellow tournament favourites Spain.

The star of the show was Nick Woltemade, who netted a hat-trick for the hosts. The striker put Germany ahead after just 180 seconds with a skilful finish and he remained involved in several of their attacks that followed. Spain’s Gabri Veiga was able to equalise in the 19th minute, before Woltemade struck twice more (56’, 79’) to seal the win for Germany.

Di Salvo: “We have what it takes to beat the top teams”

“It was a deserved win. I’m very pleased about the way in which it came about. We pressed well and looked very solid as a team. It could have already been 3-1 to us by half-time, but we can be very happy with the result in the end. We saw that we have what it takes to beat the top teams, which makes this a very valuable win for us. We will be able to take a lot of confidence from it, but will also need to remain humble going forward,” Di Salvo told broadcaster SAT.1 afterwards.
Woltemade was also in high spirits following his standout performance: “The atmosphere here in Darmstadt really made us want to play. I’ve never scored three goals in a professional game before – it’s incredible! I’m very happy.”

Woltemade opens the scoring in style

Germany started brightly in front of 16,267 spectators in Darmstadt, as Rocco Reitz found Woltemade at the edge of the box. The VfB Stuttgart striker first nutmegged his defender before chipping the ball over goalkeeper Alejandro Iturbe and into the back of the net (3’).

Even after taking the lead early on, Germany continued to look for opportunities to attack, pressing Spain high up the pitch. The hosts nearly doubled their advantage through a well-struck effort from Brajan Gruda from inside the box, but Alberto Moleiro was able to block it (11’). Five minutes later, a strong save from Iturbe denied Woltemade his second of the night – for the time being.

Martel slips, Veiga scores

Spain were able to draw level with their first good chance of the half. Captain Eric Martel slipped while attempting to clear the ball at the edge of the box, allowing Veiga to slot home into the bottom right corner (19’).

The visitors had managed to find their way into the match at this point and were also going all-out in attack. As half-time approached, Woltemade continued to pose difficulties for the Spanish backline, but was unable to find a way through again. Instead, it was the visitors who recorded the best opportunity in this period, as Jesus Rodriguez sent a shot just wide of the far post from the edge of the area (44’).

Woltemade strikes twice to retake the lead

Following the change of ends, Germany looked to build on their strong performance in the first half. Di Salvo's side had come into the match riding a 14-match unbeaten streak, and didn't have to wait long to retake the lead. Paul Nebel's cross was redirected by Ansgar Knauff and fell to Woltemade, who finished on the turn to regain the lead for the hosts (56').

Knauff, on what was his 25th appearance for the side, then came close to adding a third, but narrowly missed the target (68'). Goalkeeper Noah Atubolu had the fans in the stands holding their breath after slightly misjudging a clearance (77'), but managed to get it away from danger in the end. Just two minute later, Woltemade was celebrating once again after heading in a cross from Jens Castrop to seal a 3-1 win for Germany.