After the successes of Stefan Kuntz, Antonio Di Salvo’s name could soon stand for the first preliminary round elimination of a German U21 since 2013. Sports director Rudi Völler is clearly positioning himself for the future.
Only with a win on Wednesday (from 6 p.m. live on the radio report on sportschau.de) against England and support from Israel against the Czech Republic can the German U21s avert the first preliminary round in ten years at a European Championship. If it fails, not only would the European Championship be over – the men’s Olympic soccer tournament in Paris 2024 would also take place without a German team.
“We’ll do everything we can to win the game. That’s all that’s in our hands,” said coach Antonio Di Salvo. His predecessor Stefan Kuntz had celebrated many successes with the U21s: three finals in a row and the titles in 2017 and 2021 – with assistant coach Di Salvo.
Voller supports Di Salvo
Despite the looming European Championship debacle, the former professional from FC Bayern, Hansa Rostock and 1860 Munich is out of the question with the German Football Association, according to DFB sports director Rudi Völler. The contracts of Di Salvo and his assistant coach Hermann Gerland were only extended until 2025 shortly before the tournament. And just as national coach Hansi Flick is allowed to continue despite sobering performances in the senior team, Di Salvo also gains confidence. “We have extended the contract because he is a very good coach,” said Völler and added with a view to the impending early failure: “It won’t knock him down, it will happen.”
Di Salvo’s record after almost two years in office is mediocre at best: he has eight wins in 15 games, four losses and three draws. In the European Championship season there was only one win against Italy in November in official international matches, in March there were only draws against Romania and Japan.
Lack of opportunity exploitation in DFB juniors
However, this did not protect the 100-time Bundesliga player from the frustrating start of the European Championship with just one point from two games. In the 2-1 draw against the Czech Republic, Di Salvo kept stroking his bald head in disbelief, looking at a loss and a little helpless. “You despair as a coach,” he said, referring to the exploitation of chances and duel behavior and once again criticized his team’s lack of consistency.
In any case, the team spirit and the harmony between the team and the coach, which is so often invoked, were beginning to crack in Georgia. “Maybe we just have to think about plan B or C again if we can’t score with crosses, which we can then do as an alternative,” said Yannik Keitel. Di Salvo’s match plan is also important against England – in order to avert his first difficult defeat as a coach.
The expected lineups:
England: 22 Rushworth – 2 Aarons, 5 Harwood-Bellis, 12 Branthwaite, 3 Thomas – 6 Skipp, 8 Ramsey, 19 Elliott, 20 Palmer – 10 Smith Rowe, 9 Archer
Germany: 1 Atubolu – 2 Vagnoman, 5 Bisseck, 14 Matriciani, 22 Netz – 6 Krauss, 8 Keitel, 10 Stiller – 9 Schade, 19 Weiper, 21 Alidou
Referee: Aliyar Aghayev (Azerbaijan)