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This Monday, the Germany U-21 squad met in Wolfsburg to begin preparations for the next two international fixtures against Slovenia (November 12, 18:15 CET) and Wales (November 17, 18:15 CET). Both games will be played in Brunswick’s Eintracht-Stadion.
As for the squad, which Stefan Kuntz had announced last Thursday, some changes are in order: Ridle Baku (VfL Wolfsburg) was called up to the senior squad on Sunday evening, while Lennart Czyborra (CFC Genua) will no longer be leaving Italy to join the squad, due to travel restrictions. In addition, Nico Schlotterbeck (1.FC Union Berlin) will not join the U21 national team squad having only just recovered from injury. This was agreed upon between Stefan Kuntz and Union head coach Urs Fischer. As reinforcement for those unable to be part of the squad, Paul Jaeckel and David Raum (both SpVgg Greuther Fürth) have been nominated. For both Fürth players, an appearance during the international break would be an U-21 international debut. Mergim Berisha and Robin Hack will not travel at the planned time on Monday – their arrival time will be determined in the coming days.
The coaching team also has some new faces: Established goalkeeping coach Klaus Thomforde, who has had to pull out at short notice, is being replaced by DFB Goalkeeping Coordinator Marc Ziegler. Furthermore, the U-20, U-19 and U-18 national team coaches, Guido Streichsbier, Christian Wörns and Hannes Wolf will accompany the U-21 team for part of the next international break. This is in connection with the cancellation of all international fixtures below the U-21 age group.
The U21s’ situation in their qualifying group is simple: “We want to beat Wales and secure qualification for the U21 European championship 2021, that’s our aim for this international break, plain and simple,” said Stefan Kuntz, who went on to describe the preceding friendly against Slovenia as the “last chance to try out some new tactics.”
This international break, just like recent ones, will consist of several Coronavirus tests for the players and staff during their stay, in order to minimise the risk of infection. The training sessions will also take place behind closed doors.
