Di Salvo relies on keeper Atubolu
After the injury-related absences of Márton Dárdai and Jamil Siebert, the German U21 national coach Antonio Di Salvo has nominated two professionals. Rocco Reitz (Borussia Mönchengladbach) and Clemens Riedel (SV Darmstadt 98) joined the German youth squad for Dárdai from Herthan and Siebert from Düsseldorf.
The German Football Association’s selection of returnee Karim Adeyemi will face Bulgaria next Friday (6:15 p.m./ProSieben MAXX) in Sofia. The later scheduled game in Israel was canceled after the attack by the Islamist Hamas. Both Riedel and Reitz will make their first appearance for the U21s.
For the Bulgaria game, Di Salvo decided that Freiburg’s Noah Atubolu would be number one. “Noah is an excellent goalkeeper,” said the coach on Monday in Frankfurt/Main. He has “total trust”. Recently, the Freiburg keeper had made repeated wobbles. This is a completely normal situation for such a young goalkeeper, said Di Salvo about the 21-year-old.
Adeyemi, Atubolu & Co.: The DFB U21 squad for October
Di Salvo left it unclear who will lead the team as captain. Eric Martel from 1. FC Köln most recently held the position. He is missing this time after his injury because he still needs time to get back to full fitness. Di Salvo said he had three or four players in mind, but wanted to have discussions first.
The 44-year-old also reported on his first exchange with the new national coach Julian Nagelsmann. “We haven’t just known each other since yesterday,” said Di Salvo. There was a basis straight away and the exchange was “really good”. “I am very satisfied with how the first phase of the collaboration went.” The two had agreed on Adeyemi’s personnel. The Dortmund player is back for the first time since winning the U21 European Championship in 2021. Since then he has appeared four times for the senior national team. Recently he was unable to convince at the club.
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