News (engl.)

It is now final day for the Germany U21 side. On Saturday (21:00 CEST), they face England in Slovakia as they look to lift the U21 EUROs trophy for the fourth time. Head coach Antonio Di Salvo and top goalscorer Nick Woltemade spoke on Friday ahead of the final.

Antonio Di Salvo on…

… team news: Everyone is fit and well apart from Max Rosenfelder, who unfortunately picked up an injury in the game against France. We did an MRI scan and he’s suffered a muscle injury. All I can do now, though, is be thankful, firstly to Max for his brilliant performances here, and also for how SC Freiburg and our medical team have worked together since the injury. Of course, we’re also wishing Max a speedy recovery.

… the final: Every game has been a challenge. We’ve been in five matches now and they’ve all been played at the highest level. There’s always a lot to think about. It’s true that we beat England in the group stage, but this is a final – it’s another game completely. It’s a blank canvas, and there isn’t a clear favourite.

… the opponent: England are a top team. We know that. They’ve improved as the tournament has gone on. I think they also played some nice football in the first few games, even if they weren’t as good in terms of results. They should have won the match against Slovenia – they had a whole host of chances. We played brilliantly against England. We took an early lead, so I thought that we deserved to win the game. But I’ll say it again: this is a final and it’s evenly matched. I think it goes without saying that England have a lot of great footballers and a good style of play. That will be very challenging for us to face. We’ve performed very well so far though. We’re thriving thanks to our cohesiveness as a team unit, as well as our quality, and we want to show that on the pitch tomorrow.

… Hermann Gerland: I’ve known Hermann for a very, very long time. I was even one of his players at Bayern 25 years ago. It was a stroke of luck for me that I was able to bring him in when I became head coach. He has a wealth of experience and he knows how to assess the individual players. In particular though, he boils everything down to their most important aspects and reduces things to their fundamentals. That’s important for us as a coaching staff.

… England’s head coach: I’m already in regular contact with Lee Carsley. We get on really well as colleagues and I’m always pleased to see him.  You can tell that he’s put his signature on the team – they’re a strong unit. They’ve kept on improving as the tournament has gone on. He’s doing a really good job.

… the excitement back in Germany: We’ve obviously been able to sense that, and it’s really great. There have been a lot of messages which I think have got through to everyone. I told the team today, after the game against France, that it’s because of the way we perform and the way we play. Not just the result, but also the fact the team play with so much passion, are determined to defend their goal, and show their emotions. If everything clicks, we’ll be able to trigger more excitement in the stadium and among the fans watching on TV.

Nick Woltemade on…

… the final: This is a moment we’ve been working towards for a very long time – not just for the last few weeks when we’ve been together as a team, but also for the last two years. The aim was always to be playing in this match, so we’re really excited for it. I’ve been playing with the lads on the team for a very long time. We all know each other very well. This time together was all the more valuable, now that we’ve made it here and will play in the final tomorrow. I think this is a golden chance to win the U21 EUROs title. We will always keep in mind that it’s a game that doesn’t come around very often. It’ll be my last appearance for the U21s. We’re really looking forward to it and are very excited for the match.

… the opponent: England, as always, have individually one of the best teams at the tournament. They have lots of players with experience who are all Premier League regulars. As I’ve said though, we have a very good team and I think what makes us special is we always have a good mixture of qualities. We’ve got individual ability and we know what we can do. But we also know the basics. We know that we have to put in the hard yards and win the individual battles every game, so that we can get a foothold in the match and then show our individual quality on the pitch. I think that’ll be our priority again tomorrow. I think two good teams are facing each other – for the second time in the tournament – and, hopefully, we can come out on top for a second time. We will work out the best game plan as a team, just like we did in all of the other matches. We have to be tidy and efficient, and then we’ll be able to hurt England.