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Germany U-21 head coach Antonio Di Salvo has named his squad for the upcoming EURO qualifiers. Di Salvo’s side will take on Kosovo in Chemnitz on March 22, before facing off against Israel at the Leuna-Chemie-Stadion in Halle on March 26.
Umut Tohumcu (TSG Hoffenheim), Jens Castrop (1. FC Nürnberg) and Armindo Sieb (SpVgg Greuther Fürth) have been handed their first U21 call-ups for the fixtures. On his selection choices, Di Salvo explained: “Umut Tohumcu is getting a lot of game time in the Bundesliga at the minute. We are convinced that he can give us a boost with his quality and we’re delighted to be getting to know him. The same goes for Jens Castrop and Armindo Sieb, who both have over 18 months of experience in various positions in the 2. Bundesliga. They’ve earned their call-ups.”
Beier with the senior squad
Di Salvo will, however, have to make do without Maximilian Beier, a regular for the U21s in recent months, after the Hoffenheim forward received his first senior call-up from Julian Nagelsmann. “I’m very happy Maxi’s been given this opportunity,” said Di Salvo. “He’s having a great season, has put in some top performances for his club and has been very good for the U21s as well. His nomination to the senior squad is a special recognition for both him and his club, and of course we’re pleased to see an U21 player make the jump to the senior squad.”
Di Salvo is also without Kenneth Schmidt (SC Freiburg), Leandro Morgalla (RB Salzburg) and Tim Lemperle (SpVgg Greuther Fürth), who all miss out through injury. Hertha BSC’s Marton Dardai, meanwhile, has switched international allegiances and will be representing Hungary in future internationals.
Di Salvo: “Need to stay focused”
“We’re happy to be back in action after four months, and are pleased that we can now focus our efforts on the team’s development ahead of EURO 2025 in Slovakia,” shared the head coach in light of the upcoming fixtures. “After the vital result against Poland in autumn, we’re aiming to collect three points from each of the two games this month and keep our spot at the top of the table. We need to stay focused and be patient when we face Kosovo – that much was clear when we played them the first time round, as it was 0-0 for a while and took us until the closing stages to finally get our first goal,” he remarked.
“We know from our previous meetings with Israel that they shouldn’t be underestimated, and their team is made up of players from the side that placed third in the U20s World Cup last year. We’ll take no notice of their current position in the table,” added the head coach.
Israel sit at the bottom of qualifying Group D after losing all three of their games so far. Germany, however, have won four out of four of their fixtures, and occupy top spot in the table with 12 points. The nine group winners, as well as the three best second-place sides, will travel to Slovakia for the finals in 2025, with the other six second-place teams battling it out in the play-offs to earn one of the three remaining spots in the finals.
GERMANY U-21
Goalkeepers
Noah Atubolu (SC Freiburg), Felix Gebhardt (SSV Jahn Regensburg), Jonas Urbig (SpVgg Greuther Fürth)
Defenders
Bright Akwo Arrey-Mbi (Hannover 96), Nathaniel Brown (1. FC Nürnberg), Julian Eitschberger (Hallescher FC9, Linus Gechter (Hertha BSC), Colin Noah Kleine-Bekel (Holstein Kiel), Luca Netz (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Jamil Siebert (Fortuna Düsseldorf)
Midfielders
Jens Castrop (1. FC Nürnberg), Brajan Gruda (1. FSV Mainz), Ansgar Knauff (Eintracht Frankfurt), Eric Martel (1. FC Köln), Paul Nebel (Karlsruher SC), Rocco Reitz (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Merlin Röhl (SC Freiburg), Jan Thielmann (1. FC Köln), Umut Tohumcu (TSG Hoffenheim)
Forwards
Youssoufa Moukoko (Borussia Dortmund), Armindo Sieb (SpVgg Greuther Fürth), Nicolo Tresoldi (Hannover 96), Nick Woltemade (Werder Bremen)
