Hard luck loss pushes di Salvo's Juniors to brink of Euro elimination
The German U21s found their chances of qualifying for the UEFA U21 European Championship knockout round severely diminished after a hard-luck loss against the Czech youths Sunday night in the Georgian city of Batumi.
Antonio di Salvo's DFB Juniors must now win their final group stage match against England on Wednesday and hope for some help from the Israelis if they are make the quarterfinals.
Antonio di Salvo's DFB Juniors must now win their final group stage match against England on Wednesday and hope for some help from the Israelis if they are make the quarterfinals.
| Antonio Di Salvo. | Photo: Steffen Prößdorf, CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Head-coach di Salvo made just one change to the XI that drew Israel on Friday. Youssoufa Moukoko was unable to go after picking up a minor muscle injury in training. Jessic Ngankam - who along with Moukoko missed a penalty on Friday night - took the Dortmund striker's place atop a similar looking 4-1-4-1. Josha Vagnoman was able to shake off a minor injury also incurred on the training pitch and start at right back.
The DFB Juniors circulated the ball well enough in the opening 15 minutes, but their Czech opponents presented themselves decently as well. The two sides traded thoughtful attack builds with the Czechs maintaining a slight optical advantage. The first real chance from either side didn't emerge until the 21st. Vagnoman and Kevin Schade tested keeper Vitezslav Jaros and defender Martin Vitik with a close-range double chance.
As the half-hour mark approach, the Germans were clearly gaining in confidence. Ngankam had crack shortly after the Vagnoman-Schade double scene. Unfortunately, matters at the back began to wilt shortly after the 30th. Keeper Noah Atubolu and captain Yann Aurel Bisseck both extended an open invitation to the Czechs with defensive errors. Inattentiveness off a corner led to the Czechs taking the lead in the 33rd.
A quick-strike counter off the set-piece ended with striker Vaclav Sejk slotting home an easy 1-0 after a nice switch from Vasil Kusej. Matters then proceeded to get ugly for Di Salvo's juniors. The Czechs pushed hard for another goal before the half. Tom Krauß and Yannick Keitel were both shown yellow cards for sloppy and desperate tackles. The Germans were lucky not to fall behind 0-2 before the break.
Di Salvo reacted to the deficit by employing a triple change at the half. Strikers Nelson Weiper (FSV Mainz 05) and Faride Alidou (Eintracht Frankfurt) relieved Ngankam and Krauß. Additionally, 1. FC Köln's Eric Martel came on for Keitel. Schade switched over to the left flank whilst Dennis Huseinbasic dropped central in order to allow Alidou to take over on the right. The constellation appeared the same.
Alidou forced the first save out of keeper Jaros in the 56th. Some three minutes later, Weiper spurned an opportunity with a close-range header wide. In-between these two chances, there were some more wobbly moments in the German back line as the DFB representatives took more risks. Weiper would miss another opporutnties after the hour-mark and a consecutive series of three straight German corners produced nothing.
Just when it appeared as if the defending European champions wouldn't be able to find any space against the increasingly deep-seated Czechs, Henning Matriciani unlocked Angelo Stiller outside the area central with an excellent square after bravely cutting inside himself. Stiller did well to touch the ball over to his stronger left foot whilst being double-marked and bury the 70th minute equalizer.
Weiper came agonizingly close to helping the Germans re-take the lead in the 79th. The new call-up did immensely well to win an aerial duel in the box, but still put his header wide. In an exceedingly bitter development, the Germans fell behind due to some rotten luck. Vitik struck a random ball from the second ranks after a corner in the 87th. The 1-2 then deflected in off a helpless Matriciani.
As di Salvo's men fought valiantly to restore parity, they found no luck themselves at the other end. Schade, Weiper, and Bisseck al saw quality efforts blocked during a series of flurries in front of the Czech net. Keeper Atubolu came forward for one final corner at 90+6. Bisseck could only head over.
In the parallel match in the group, the English U21s officially sealed qualification to the knockouts with their second consecutive win of the group phase. This may help out the German youths somewhat as they will be facing the some of the English reserves on Wednesday. Even with a win against the group leaders, however, Germany will still need Israel to beat the Czechs in order progress further.