Sports Weekly all-media reporter Huang Sijun
Germany's U21 team, which has been receiving bad news for days, easily repelled the weak Latvian U21 team 4-0 in Aachen on Friday night. With two rivals Israel battling the Polish sandpiper a day ago to make it 2-2, the defending champion was able to win a two-point advantage before next Tuesday's away challenge to Israel, who is no. 2 in the group. Just as important as winning is captain Boucat, scoring his debut goal in the first half with an assist to Knauf, while debut Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu made two brilliant saves in the second half, including defusing Wapune's penalty and getting a convincing white roll.
A lineup is missing
In order to prepare for two consecutive U21 European preliminaries, and considering the epidemic situation, Disalvo released a large list of 25ers on Friday. However, after the list was announced, Schalke 04 centre-back Teo and first-time Championship Blackburn forward all-rounder Kadra retired from injury, while Hoffenheim goalkeeper Luka Philippe, Bochum centre-back Bella Kochap and first-time Bochum midfielder Otes Haag were quarantined at home for COVID-19-positives. As a result, Disalvo made a by-election on Monday for PSV PSV PSV goalkeeper Vincent Müller, Hertha Berlin centre-back Maton Daldoui, Düsseldorf midfielder Perkamp and Hamburg winger Alidou, with the 20-year-old Alidou being selected for the first time.
Injuries have since worsened, with only three goalkeepers and 14 outfielders left on Wednesday to train normally as two Borussia Monchengladbach defenders Netz (Muscle) and Jordan Bayer (the third infection with COVID-19) also have to withdraw, and Freiburg winger Sader, who already has an injured abs, is also certain that he will not be able to report. As a result, Werder Bremen midfielder Mbon, Danchao Aarhus centre-back Bissek and Nuremberg right-back Killian Fischer were added to the squad on Thursday morning, both of which were selected for the first time.
Of the 11 starters against Latvia, goalkeeper Altubolu (No. 23) and centre-back Maton Daldoui (No. 5) are both making their first appearances.
Counting borealDomund strikers Mukoko and Freiburg midfielder Keitel, who have not been selected due to injury, and Frederick Jeckel, who has not yet reported due to illness, Di Salvo is missing as many as 11 players in total, and can line up a lineup of 343 appearances: Luka Philippe/Jekle, Theo, Bela Kochap/Jordan Bayer, Keitel, Osterhag, Netz/Shad, Mukoko, Kadra. Among them, Philippe, Theo, Shad and Mukoko are the main players, while Natz and Keitel are also the main position contenders. It is conceivable that the strength of the team has been greatly reduced. Despite this, Di Salvo stressed: "The squad is good enough to win these 2 games. For many players, it's also an opportunity to show their strength. Such a situation can stimulate and release energy. ”
At least in the face of Latvia, the German U21 team still has a clear strength advantage. In the first round of the meeting (september 7 last year), the German team completed a 3-1 reversal after unexpectedly conceding the first goal, which was also the farewell battle of the meritorious coach Kuntz. After half a year of fighting, both teams have undergone earth-shaking changes. Germany only have left-back Katbach, double back Styler (who got rid of his foot injury in time) and Tom Klaus, as well as captain Boucat, who played the "9 and a half", are still in the starting lineup.
Atubulu made a stunning debut
With the absence of main goalkeeper Philippe, the replacement was the biggest question, and Di Salvo and goalkeeper coach Thomford kept the mystery to the end – the 19-year-old Artubulu pushed The Salzburg Red Bull second goalman Mantel to win the U21 debut.
Of the starting 11, Altubolu, born on 25 May 2002, is the second youngest player, just a day older than Cologne winger Jan Tillman. Compared to their rivals Philip (28 November 2000), Mantel (6 February 2000), Vincent Müller (23 August 2000) and Plugman (10 March 2000), Altubolu is a full term younger (the U21 team is 2 years old as the "one") and is currently the U20's age-appropriate player. In fact, during the international competition weeks last September and October, Atubulu played for the U20 team twice, making two appearances and not joining the U21 team for the first time until November.
Altubolu has played well in the Bundesliga for Freiburg II this season.
Born in Freiburg, Altubolu, who has Nigerian origin, has been selected for the German national youth team since the U16 team (the Nigerian Football Association has always been eyeing it, but he has not been impressed) and participated in the 2019 European Youth Championships in U17, when he was a substitute for Leipzig RB goalkeeper Tim Schreber (now on loan). Today, when Schreiber is still playing for the U20 team (the main goalkeeper of the U20 team will be Felix Gebhardt for the Swiss super powerhouse Basel), Altubolu has already made his U21 debut and even hopes to occupy the main position.
Compared to Philippe, Atubulu is not only younger, but also has more high-level play opportunities at the club. Although Philippe has replaced veteran Puntke as the second goalkeeper of the Hoffenheim pro team in the middle of this season, he can only represent the second team in the 4th regional league to learn from the competition experience, and it is almost impossible to squeeze out the German international Baumann in the short term. Altubolu has only entered the Freiburg professional team this season, playing as the three goals after Freiken and Upphof, while continuing to serve as the main goalkeeper of the second team, while the Freiburg second team can participate in the Bundesliga, which belongs to the professional league this season.
Before the match against Latvia, Atubulu said: "The game training is one of the most important things, because the goalkeeper can learn something in many situations of the game, which you can't learn in training. So I'm happy to represent Freiburg in the Bundesliga and I feel like I'm not bad there. So far this season, Atubalu, who is 1.90 metres tall and weighs 96 kilograms, has made 25 appearances in the Bundesliga, completed as many as 12 clean sheets, conceded only 26 goals and is getting more and more stable. That's why he was able to beat Mantel, who had no chance to play in Salzburg (only played 1 Oliga and 3 Austrian Cups so far this season) and get a chance to start in this game.
Artubalu gave his all in training and eventually impressed Di Salvo and Thomford.
Atubulu also has the competitive advantage of being able to train under Kronenberg every week. Kronenberg is not only freiburg goalkeeper coach, but also became Koepke's successor after Flick took over the national team. From next season, the Swiss goalkeeper coach will not continue to work part-time, but will serve as a full-time goalkeeper coach for germany. Artuboulu said: "Krone has been one of the people who have been important to me this year, because I can learn so much from him, which cannot be said in two words. It makes no sense that he was able to train so many Bundesliga goalkeepers. I'm thankful to be able to train with Crohne every day and benefit from it. ”
Attubolu did not fail to live up to the careful cultivation of Kronenberg, nor did it live up to the trust of Di Salvo and Tomford. In this contest of strengths and weaknesses, with almost nothing to do throughout the first half, Atuballu made a big splash in the second half when he was suddenly attacked twice. First, in the 49th minute, Vapune's free-kick from the right hung diagonally in the centre of the penalty area, centre-back Wepps inserted himself near the penalty spot and his powerful header bounced off the left side of the goal, and Artuboulu struggled to save the ball off the left post. In the 64th minute, the referee blew a penalty for Maximilian Bauer to push down Hitz inside the penalty area (although the physical contact between the two was quite slight, the penalty was debatable). Faced with Vapune's shot into the bottom left corner of the goal, Artuballu quickly turned the corner on the side and once again turned the corner!
Two years ago, Atubalu had such a masterpiece in the U19 Bundesliga that scored from 60 meters away.
Who was the last U21 goalkeeper to pounce on his debut? It was mainly the Mainz 05 goalkeeper who came later in the final and won the main position by beating Greer and Schubert in the final round. Daman came off the bench after a warm-up match against Slovenia's U21 team in November 2020, only to save a penalty before the final. However, in that match, Germany could only draw 1-1 at home, and Damen was advanced by the opponent for a penalty as soon as he played. Today, Artubalo not only succeeded in saving the spot, but also managed to save the goal, and most importantly, helped the team to win. He and Burkat, who scored three goals in the first half, can be called the two biggest winners of the game.
Boulcat doubled
Burcat, who has made 18 appearances for Germany's U21 team and scored nine goals, said: "Looking at the development from the first game against Latvia to today, we have really improved, improved a lot. Burcat, who has scored nine goals in the Bundesliga this season, is actually fully qualified for the national team, but Di Salvo needs him to continue to lead the U21 team, so Flick also temporarily reassures him to stay in the U21 team.
Boucat scored twice and assisted right winger Knauf.
Counting last Saturday's 4-0 home win over Bielefeld, Burcat has scored twice in two straight games. In the next top battle with Israel, whether the Mainz nova can continue to be in such excellent shape will directly determine the fate of the German U21 team. So just an hour after the game, Disalvo replaced Boucat to save his fitness. Instead, Malik Tillman also used a wonderful long-range shot to lock the score at 4-0. After about two weeks of suspension due to illness, if Tillman can pull up the physical fitness in these few days, the match against Israel is expected to return to the starting lineup. Compared with Burcat, Tillman is actually more suitable for playing the role of "No. 9 and a half", and Burcat can attack the city at the front, or better exert his impact on the side.
Di Salvo was quite happy with Malik Tillman, who scored from the bench.
Objectively speaking, the German U21 team's frontcourt cooperation in this game is not very smooth, the first 2 goals are from the high pressure to win the ball, and the last 2 goals are opportunities for the transformation of the goal. Latvia, on the other hand, was almost unable to create any threat in the campaign, and the new defensive line of the German team consisting of Wagnumán, Bauer, Matung Dardouy (debut) and Katbach was inadequately tested, but Israel's attack power was another level. Don't forget that in the first round, Israel led twice as a guest, and Germany did not score 2 goals in a thrilling reversal of 3-2 until the end of the game by Shad and Burkat. In short, by next Tuesday, from Burcat and Tillman in the front to Atubulu at the end, we must do real work.