The Germany U21s will be playing for a spot in the semi-final of the European Championship in Poland when they face Italy tonight at 20:45 CEST. As Group C leaders with six points, five goals scored and zero conceded, manager Stefan Kuntz’s team are in a good position going into the final group game. A draw would be enough to secure first position and direct qualification for the semi-final.
Germany won their first two group games against the Czech Republic and Denmark, keeping a clean sheet both times out. That is largely thanks to the centre-back partnership of Niklas Stark and Marc-Oliver Kempf. The two Bundesliga pros have defended flawlessly so far in the tournament and both boast an impressive rate of fifty-fifty challenges won. Furthermore, the 22-year-old Kempf bagged a nice goal of his own in Germany’s 2-0 win over the Czech Republic.
“Nik and I complement each other’s games nicely”
Almost exactly three years ago, Stark and Kempf were key players in a successful DFB-Team. The pair were also the U19 centre-back duo back in July 2014 when they won the European Championship under manager Marcus Sorg. “Naturally, Nik and I are familiar with each other,” said Kempf: “We’ve known each other a while and have a similar style of play, we complement each other’s games nicely.”
However, the U19 team of back then cannot be compared with the current U21s. “It was a fantastic team back then, but the at the U21 European Championship the quality is considerably higher, and the players are much more experienced,” said Kempf. In Davie Selke and Levin Öztunali there are a further two 2014 U19 European champions in the current U21 squad. Selke won the golden boot in 2014 with six goals at the tournament.
Kempf: “We want to win every game, so of course we want to beat Italy”
Stark and Kempf did not only impress with their tackle success rate or their pass accuracy in the first two games. The two 6ft 3 athletes stood out due to their vocal leadership from the back. Time and again in the games against the Czech Republic and Denmark the two defenders could be heard bellowing orders to their teammates. “We often have a better view of things from the back and wanted to help our attackers out and give a bit of direction,” said Kempf. “Everything is working well so far. It’s not just the defenders that give instructions from the back, everyone in the team has a voice and brings it to the game.”
According to Stark and Kempf, it was this kind of team spirit which drove the 2014 European champions to the title. A team in which everyone takes responsibility, riddled with individual brilliance, as Kempf put it. To secure their place in the semi-final, the Germany U21s must do the job against Italy, and they don’t want to get bogged down in the numbers. “We want to win every game, so of course we also want to beat Italy. That way we will definitely win the group,” said Kempf: “That will be difficult enough, the Italians will ask a lot of questions of us.”
