Joti Chatzialexiou, sports director of the national teams at the DFB, spoke of a “super meltdown” after the German U21s failed early on at the European Championship.
“It’s very, very bitter. This tournament wasn’t really under a lucky star,” he said after Wednesday’s 2-0 loss to England.
With just one point, the young footballers were eliminated as the group last, they started as the defending champions.
Against the English, who even rested some of their top players, it was shown again that other nations are ahead of Germany, said Chatzialexiou: “We have to sit down as soon as possible and also work on certain issues in youth work. There’s still a lot of work ahead of us , so as not to miss the connection to the top of the world.”
The fact that around six months after the pitiful end of the senior national team at the World Cup in Qatar, the U21s also experienced a sporting fiasco fueled the discussions and concerns about German football.
Sobering U21 European Championship for the DFB
Chatzialexiou’s assessment of the under-21s’ performance at the tournament in Georgia and Romania was extremely sobering. Against the English, the team “surrendered a bit. It’s sad, but in the end it’s well deserved that we’re eliminated from bottom of the table.”
Antonio Di Salvo’s team played two decent halves in the three games. “That’s just not enough if you want to become European champions and qualify for the Olympic Games,” said Chatzialexiou. “As a footballing nation, you have to act differently, determine the games, and want to win the games with a certain punch,” added the 47-year-old, complaining about the quality on offense.
“Ultimately we are where we are and that is the reality,” said Chatzialexiou. He immediately assured Di Salvo after his first tournament as the main person responsible for the U21s: “There won’t be a coaching discussion because we expressed our trust in Toni before the tournament, because we see how we work.” Di Salvo’s contract had already been extended to 2025 before the EM.