“Incredible players”
©IMAGO
The young Bayern stars Lennart Karl and Tom Bischof almost single-handedly led the German U21 national team to the goal festival in the European Championship qualification. In the 6-0 (2-0) win against Malta, the Munich shooting star Karl also played a big role in his debut for the German Football Association’s most important youth team. The 17-year-old crowned his strong performance with a brace (37th/67th minute) and became the third-youngest goalscorer in the history of the German U21s. Karl was only topped by captain Bischof, who scored three times (9th/63rd/65th).
“They are two incredible players, we saw that again today. They scored five dream goals,” said offensive colleague Nicolò Tresoldi on Sat.1. “It made a lot of difference.” However, Tresoldi emphasized that they also had chances to score in double figures.
After U21 national coach Antonio Di Salvo’s team missed out on a better result for a long time despite their overwhelming superiority, they acted more consistently as the game went on. The two Bayern professionals repeatedly demonstrated their class in front of 7,729 spectators in Fürth. Hoffenheim’s Muhammed Damar ensured the final score (86th).
In the qualifying group F table, Germany is in second place with nine points after four matchdays behind Greece, which had previously won 3-0 against Georgia. The DFB selection will face Georgia on Tuesday (6 p.m./Sat.1) in Tbilisi. The nine group winners and the best runner-up will qualify for the 2027 finals in Albania and Serbia. The eight other runners-up in the group will contest the playoffs.
Di Salvo’s team were highly committed from the start after the unfortunate last international period with a defeat against Greece and a late win against Northern Ireland. Despite the oppressive superiority, the only thing that was missing against the densely staggered Malta defense in the first U21 comparison between these two nations was the precision in the finish.
Without Said El Mala and Assan Ouédraogo, who were called up to the senior national team, the European vice champions led by Bishop Bishop clearly dominated the game even after the break. After his debut goal in the first half, Bishop started scoring goals again.