Petach Tikwa (dpa) – Relieved, Antonio Di Salvo cheered with his boys and then distributed collective praise: “I’m incredibly proud,” said the German U21 coach, who with his team after the 1-0 (0-0) in Top duel of the European Championship qualification in Israel.
“It was really the whole team that fought, that worked,” said Di Salvo. With a seventh win in eight games, his selection extended their lead over Israel to five points. Noah Katterbach (60th minute) scored for the celebrated victory.
Goalscorer Katterbach: “We held against it”
Without captain Jonathan Burkardt, who was injured at short notice, the youngsters of the German Football Association had a hard time in Petach Tikwa, but they managed to win. “We had to deal with Jonny dropping out just before the game started,” said Di Salvo. “I told the team that this is a moment where team spirit is formed, where a team can grow.” Goalscorer Katterbach also saw the team performance as decisive for the win: “We held on, so we deserved to win.”
With a five-point lead over Israel and six over third-placed Poland, the DFB juniors are still missing a draw from the games against Hungary and Poland in June to secure first place and thus the direct ticket. “We’re still missing a point, we’ll get that,” promised Di Salvo. Even as runners-up in the group, the team would still have a chance of participating in the 2023 tournament in Georgia and Romania via the playoffs, where the U21s would like to defend the title of their predecessors.
In the game forward, there was a lack of pace and ideas for a long time
The German team was committed in the top duel against Israel, but in the game going forward they lacked pace and ideas for a long time. The guests started concentrated and initially had more possession of the ball and, above all, the better chances to score from standard situations. But Israel always remained dangerous with their fast switching game. “It certainly wasn’t all good,” admitted Di Salvo. “But what’s important is that the team worked together and fought together.”
The hard-fought duel hardly offered any clear chances to score in the first half. The German team found it difficult against consistently defending and strong tackle Israelis. There was a lack of ideas and movement in the game, which is why Di Salvo’s team could hardly create any danger in front of the opposing goal, except for set pieces.
After the break, the hosts became bolder and had the better chances. The DFB team was lucky not to fall behind. The DFB juniors then used their first really good attack of the game to take the lead: Katterbach scored from close range on the left after a great run by Cologne’s Jan Thielmann, who had come on for Burkardt at short notice to make it 1-0. Israel tried to find an answer, but with a strong fighting performance and a bit of luck, the DFB-Elf made it 1-0 over time.