The Germany U21 national team could not avoid a 0-0 draw in their final friendly ahead of the U21 European Championships this summer. Antonio Di Salvo’s side come away from Romania with a draw after a tight game in front of a sell-out crowd of 12,000 at the Municipal Stadium in Sibiu.
“It was a very intense game, there was a brilliant atmosphere in the stadium,” said winger Ansgar Knauff. “We will draw some conclusions from the game, we played well defensively. We can live with a 0-0, even if we should have done more in attack.”
The hosts started the game aggressively and had their first effort on goal after just a few seconds, but Noah Atubolu was untroubled in the Germany goal (1’). Germany then proceeded to take control of the game.
Chances for Ngankam, Netz and Keitel
Romania were very competitive and aggressive in challenges and made life difficult for Germany. The first opportunity for Germany came from a well-worked counter-attack. Ansgar Knauff played in Jessic Ngankam, whose shot from a tight angle posed no problems for Romania’s goalkeeper Stefan Tarnovanu (11’).
There was more of a threat ten minutes later, with Noah Weißhaupt and Luca Netz combining well on the left-hand side and the latter forcing Tarnovanu into a good save. The second ball landed at the feet of Yannik Keitel on the edge of the box, but the captain's shot was just blocked at the last moment (22’).
Atubolu with diving stop just before half time
Romania played out from a compact defence and defended with a lot of intensity and passion. In attack, Adrian Mutu’s side only posed a threat from time to time, but when they did they looked immediately threatening. The best chance fell to Stefan Baiaram, who had a free header at the backpost from a corner. Atubolu clawed the ball just off the line (33’). Moments later, Daniel Birligea was just off-target with a shot from distance (40‘). The ball also narrowly went past Keitel boot for a tap in (44’).
The beginning of the second half resembled the same pattern of Germany looking to attack a packed Romania defence. But, without a high enough tempo and enough movement, it was too easy for the Romania defence to keep it tight and minimise space. The times when Germany played at a higher tempo caused the hosts problems. Angelo Stiller had a free header within the 6-yard box after a cross from Weißhaupt, but his header was too central (55’).
Germany fail to play with high enough tempo
Immediately after this, the Germany fans were given a moment to worry about. After a mistake playing out from the back, Romania had an overload but Alexandru Isfan missed the target (55’).
The midfield was congested, so Germany looked to play the ball wide. One cross after another sailed into the opponent’s penalty area, whose tall centre-backs had no issues in clearing the ball. In the 66th minute, a cross finally slipped through, but a defenders’ leg was there once again to block Denis Huseinbasic’s shot.
Following this, Antonio Di Salvo made several changes, bringing on, among others, FC Schalke’s Henning Matriciani for his debut. The next opportunity on goal went to Romania, but substitute Jovan Markovic’s curler was not a threat to Atubolu’s goal (76’). Substitute Maurice Malone didn’t connect properly with a header and missed the final chance of the game (86’).
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The Germany U21 national team could not avoid a 0-0 draw in their final friendly ahead of the U21 European Championships this summer. Antonio Di Salvo’s side come away from Romania with a draw after a tight game in front of a sell-out crowd of 12,000 at the Municipal Stadium in Sibiu.
“It was a very intense game, there was a brilliant atmosphere in the stadium,” said winger Ansgar Knauff. “We will draw some conclusions from the game, we played well defensively. We can live with a 0-0, even if we should have done more in attack.”
The hosts started the game aggressively and had their first effort on goal after just a few seconds, but Noah Atubolu was untroubled in the Germany goal (1’). Germany then proceeded to take control of the game.
Chances for Ngankam, Netz and Keitel
Romania were very competitive and aggressive in challenges and made life difficult for Germany. The first opportunity for Germany came from a well-worked counter-attack. Ansgar Knauff played in Jessic Ngankam, whose shot from a tight angle posed no problems for Romania’s goalkeeper Stefan Tarnovanu (11’).
There was more of a threat ten minutes later, with Noah Weißhaupt and Luca Netz combining well on the left-hand side and the latter forcing Tarnovanu into a good save. The second ball landed at the feet of Yannik Keitel on the edge of the box, but the captain's shot was just blocked at the last moment (22’).
Atubolu with diving stop just before half time
Romania played out from a compact defence and defended with a lot of intensity and passion. In attack, Adrian Mutu’s side only posed a threat from time to time, but when they did they looked immediately threatening. The best chance fell to Stefan Baiaram, who had a free header at the backpost from a corner. Atubolu clawed the ball just off the line (33’). Moments later, Daniel Birligea was just off-target with a shot from distance (40‘). The ball also narrowly went past Keitel boot for a tap in (44’).
The beginning of the second half resembled the same pattern of Germany looking to attack a packed Romania defence. But, without a high enough tempo and enough movement, it was too easy for the Romania defence to keep it tight and minimise space. The times when Germany played at a higher tempo caused the hosts problems. Angelo Stiller had a free header within the 6-yard box after a cross from Weißhaupt, but his header was too central (55’).
Germany fail to play with high enough tempo
Immediately after this, the Germany fans were given a moment to worry about. After a mistake playing out from the back, Romania had an overload but Alexandru Isfan missed the target (55’).
The midfield was congested, so Germany looked to play the ball wide. One cross after another sailed into the opponent’s penalty area, whose tall centre-backs had no issues in clearing the ball. In the 66th minute, a cross finally slipped through, but a defenders’ leg was there once again to block Denis Huseinbasic’s shot.
Following this, Antonio Di Salvo made several changes, bringing on, among others, FC Schalke’s Henning Matriciani for his debut. The next opportunity on goal went to Romania, but substitute Jovan Markovic’s curler was not a threat to Atubolu’s goal (76’). Substitute Maurice Malone didn’t connect properly with a header and missed the final chance of the game (86’).
