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Germany U21 head coach Stefan Kuntz has named his squad for the upcoming friendly on November 12 (18:15 CET) against Slovenia and the EURO qualification match on November 17 (18:15 CET) against Wales. Both games will take place at the Eintracht-Stadion in Braunschweig.
In Lennart Czyborra (Genoa CFC) and Jean-Manuel Mbom (SV Werder Bremen), two players could be in line to make their debuts after being called up to the squad for the first time. Kuntz will be without Ragnar Ache (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Dennis Geiger (TSG Hoffenheim) due to injury.
“We want to secure our place in the EURO U21 Championships with our final qualifier against Wales; that is the objective for this upcoming international break,” said Stefan Kuntz. “We also have one final opportunity with the game against Slovenia to test out tactical variations and get to know new players ahead of the Group Stage in March – should we secure qualification.”
On the squad announcement, Kuntz said, “Some of the players are currently competing in various competitions, others have games on the upcoming Sunday or Monday and are not fully available to us for training. Therefore, with the workload of the players in mind, we have named a larger squad of 26 players. Among them are Lennart Czyborra and Jean-Manuel Mbom, who we are looking forward to getting to know.”
In addition to the existing hygiene concept, the DFB is taking special precautions for the U-21 squad in view of the current coronavirus situation. “We took the positive case in the October international break as an opportunity to conduct ourselves in an even more professional manner,” says Kuntz. “If we have to enter quarantine at short notice before the EURO qualifier against Wales, a complete team and training staff would be ready on call. We are prepared for the emergency case, but hopefully, that won’t be necessary.”
With one game remaining in their EURO U-21 qualification campaign, Germany sit top of their group with five wins and two losses (15 points) from seven games, two points ahead of second-placed Belgium. The winners of each group qualify for the finals, as well as the five best second-placed teams.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the European U-21 Championship in Slovenia and Hungary is due to take place in two phases, as agreed by the UEFA Executive Committee on June 17, 2020. From March 24-31, 2021, the first phase will take place with 16 teams across four groups. The first and second-placed teams will qualify for the knockout round, which will take place between the May 31 and June 6, 2021 and will comprise of the quarterfinals, semifinals, and final.
GERMANY U-21
Goalkeepers
Finn Dahmen (1.FSV Mainz 05), Lennart Grill (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Markus Schubert (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Defenders
Stephan Kofi Ambrosius (Hamburger SV), Ridle Baku (VfL Wolfsburg), Lennart Czyborra (CFC Genua), Tim Handwerker (1.FC Nürnberg), Maxim Leitsch (VfL Bochum), Lars Lukas Mai (SV Darmstadt 98), Felix Passlack (Borussia Dortmund), Amos Pieper (Arminia Bielefeld), Nico Schlotterbeck (1.FC Union Berlin), Josha Vagnoman (Hamburger SV)
Midfielders/Forwards
Mergim Berisha (Red Bull Salzburg), Jonathan Burkardt (1.FSV Mainz 05), Niklas Dorsch (KAA Gent), Robin Hack (1. FC Nürnberg), Ismail Jakobs (1.FC Köln), Dominik Kother (Karlsruher SC), Florian Krüger (Erzgebirge Aue), Arne Maier (Hertha BSC), Jean-Manuel Mbom (Werder Bremen), Lukas Nmecha (RSC Anderlecht), Salih Özcan (1.FC Köln). Manuel Wintzheimer (Hamburger SV), Florian Wirtz (Bayer 04 Leverkusen)
