Assist Said El Mala, next goal Lennart Karl: Thanks to their two shooting stars, the German U21 footballers still have direct European Championship qualification in their own hands.
In Georgia, coach Antonio Di Salvo’s team won the important endurance test at the end of the year 2-0 (1-0) and remains on the heels of league leaders Greece in Group F. The gap is still three points at halftime of the qualification.
Against a deep opponent, it took a combination of the two youngest members of the team to untie the knot. Returnee El Mala (19) from 1. FC Köln extended a corner with his head, and Karl (17/FC Bayern) only had to push it in at the second post (45th + 2).
“That was already agreed upon,” said El Mala on “Sat.1”: “I’m actually not designed to extend the balls with my head, but today it worked. I’m happy about it.
Karl had already scored twice on his debut on Friday against Malta (6-0). Nicoló Tresoldi (FC Brugge) made the preliminary decision (58th).
“We have to win every game and do our homework,” demanded Di Salvo before the game on Sat.1, looking at the table in which the Greeks had even moved up to six points after their 4-0 win against Northern Ireland in the early afternoon.
El Mala moved straight back into the starting line-up after his interlude with the senior national team and, according to Di Salvo, should take his “elation” with him. That succeeded.
Augsburg’s Mert Kömür with a side kick (14th), Tresoldi with a header against the post (25th) and Union Berlin’s Aljoscha Kemlein (26th) left the lead on a cross from the Cologne shooting star before Karl was spot on after a corner from Bayern team-mate Tom Bischof and extra time from El Mala.
German U21 initially finds it difficult
Overall, however, the DFB selection had a difficult time against the Georgians, who lost 3-0 in Greece on Friday.
Di Salvo, who failed in the preliminary round at the European Championships in Georgia in 2023 in his first tournament as head coach with the U21s and thus missed the Olympic tickets for Paris, repeatedly loudly called for “more speed” on the sidelines. “We have to score the second goal as quickly as possible,” warned assistant coach Shkodran Mustafi at half-time.
Karl had the first good opportunity after the break (56th), goalkeeper Dennis Seimen (SC Paderborn), who this time was preferred to Mio Backhaus (Werder Bremen), was largely unemployed at the back. Tresoldi calmed things down with the second goal.
There are ten games left in the European Championship qualification, only the group winner will definitely qualify for the 2027 European Championship in Serbia and Albania, where the Olympic tickets for Los Angeles 2028 will also be awarded. On March 31, 2026, there will be a potentially decisive group final for the DFB selection in Greece; the first leg was lost (2:3). In the event of a tie, the direct comparison decides.