The international year for the German U 21s ended on a conciliatory note with a 4-0 win over San Marino. Important tasks await them in the new year
On Friday, the German U 21s suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat against Poland. The DFB Juniors won with the same result against the glaring outsiders San Marino on Tuesday evening. “We still haven’t come to terms with last week’s game,” said Jan Thielmann, who provided the 4-0 final score against a San Marino without a chance, but added: “With the win today, we can start the new year with peace of mind.”
And midfielder Angelo Stiller added on “Pro7 MAXX”: “That was an improvement compared to the Poland game. We forced the chances and could have scored one or two more goals. We are satisfied with the performance today, now we can look ahead.”
A match like the one on Friday, when the German team was down 3-0 early and lost 4-0 in the end, naturally leaves its mark on the players. “After a game like that against Poland, everyone was very dissatisfied and disappointed, we addressed what went wrong. Everyone understood what this is all about, and you can see that on the pitch,” Stiller made clear.
Three-way battle in Group B for first place
After all, it’s all about qualifying for the European Championships. To get there directly, they need to be ranked first in their group. The German team is currently in this position in Group B, but has 15 points on its account, just like second-placed Israel, with Poland lurking behind with 13 points. It is precisely these two teams that the German team will be playing against in the New Year. “We know that Poland and Israel are strong opponents. They scored, we scored, now we are looking forward to exciting games next year,” said coach Antonio Di Salvo.
