The Germany U21s began their U21 European Championship campaign with a convincing 3-1 victory over Denmark. In an interview with DFB.de, midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud spoke about the team’s performance and his experiences of winning the trophy in 2017. Moreover, the 23-year-old BVB player also discussed the upcoming game against Serbia on Thursday (21:00 CEST).
DFB.de: Mahmoud Dahoud, congratulations on your victory against Denmark. How would you summarise your team’s performance?
Mahmoud Dahoud: Thanks! We have started the tournament well. It was an important win and what we hoped for. Marco Richter and Luca Waldschmidt both played excellently. Some of our attacks were beautiful to watch. Nevertheless, we need to analyse the negatives as well. We want to work on our mistakes.
DFB.de: What mistakes are you talking about?
Dahoud: We made it difficult for ourselves in the opening phases of the game. We didn’t get into the game quick enough and gave the ball away too easily. After going 1-0 up, we were a bit better on the ball and started to implement of game plan and in the end it was a deserved victory. However, we shouldn’t have conceded. We could have defended better so there was no penalty in the first place. Luckily, we didn’t let the back into the game after they scored.
DFB.de: Was the team nervous for the first 30 minutes of the game?
Dahoud: Yes, being a bit nervous at the start is very normal. We want to come top of the group and so the first victory was very important for us. Like I have said before, our lead came at the right time and gave us some security. Now we have to keep our heads down and work hard. One win means nothing.
DFB.de: You already won the Euros in 2017 in Poland, where you played three of the five games. What experiences can you take from that into this tournament?
Dahoud: We also won our first game then and also had some minor things to improve on. In order to win the tournament, you have to be fully awake and alert at the start of every game. We have the team spirit and this can be key to being successful.
DFB.de: Your next game is against Serbia. What type of game will you expect?
Dahoud: It will be a tough game. The fact that Serbia lost their first game against Austria means nothing. They have some super individuals and will give everything. Serbia need to win in order to carry on in the competition. We need to be fully focused on the game. We want to win this game too.
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The Germany U21s began their U21 European Championship campaign with a convincing 3-1 victory over Denmark. In an interview with DFB.de, midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud spoke about the team’s performance and his experiences of winning the trophy in 2017. Moreover, the 23-year-old BVB player also discussed the upcoming game against Serbia on Thursday (21:00 CEST).
DFB.de: Mahmoud Dahoud, congratulations on your victory against Denmark. How would you summarise your team’s performance?
Mahmoud Dahoud: Thanks! We have started the tournament well. It was an important win and what we hoped for. Marco Richter and Luca Waldschmidt both played excellently. Some of our attacks were beautiful to watch. Nevertheless, we need to analyse the negatives as well. We want to work on our mistakes.
DFB.de: What mistakes are you talking about?
Dahoud: We made it difficult for ourselves in the opening phases of the game. We didn’t get into the game quick enough and gave the ball away too easily. After going 1-0 up, we were a bit better on the ball and started to implement of game plan and in the end it was a deserved victory. However, we shouldn’t have conceded. We could have defended better so there was no penalty in the first place. Luckily, we didn’t let the back into the game after they scored.
DFB.de: Was the team nervous for the first 30 minutes of the game?
Dahoud: Yes, being a bit nervous at the start is very normal. We want to come top of the group and so the first victory was very important for us. Like I have said before, our lead came at the right time and gave us some security. Now we have to keep our heads down and work hard. One win means nothing.
DFB.de: You already won the Euros in 2017 in Poland, where you played three of the five games. What experiences can you take from that into this tournament?
Dahoud: We also won our first game then and also had some minor things to improve on. In order to win the tournament, you have to be fully awake and alert at the start of every game. We have the team spirit and this can be key to being successful.
DFB.de: Your next game is against Serbia. What type of game will you expect?
Dahoud: It will be a tough game. The fact that Serbia lost their first game against Austria means nothing. They have some super individuals and will give everything. Serbia need to win in order to carry on in the competition. We need to be fully focused on the game. We want to win this game too.
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