Tournament starts on Tuesday
©IMAGO
The German U17 national team achieved a success against Canada at the dress rehearsal before the approaching World Cup. In the last test before the tournament in Qatar, the DFB juniors won 2-1 (1-0). Things will get serious starting next Tuesday.
On Thursday, Eintracht Frankfurt’s offensive talent Alexander Staff (17) initiated the victory against the Canadians. His goal in the 24th minute marked the 1-0 halftime lead. After the break, Paderborn’s young striker Lasse Eickel (17) increased the score to 2-0 in the 50th minute. Canada only managed to score in the 83rd minute through Aidan Evans (Fulham).
Coach Marc Meister’s team is now waiting for Colombia in the group phase in Qatar at the start on Tuesday (3:45 p.m. CET). The game continues against North Korea on Friday, November 7th (2 p.m.). The third group game against El Salvador will take place on Monday, November 10th at 2:30 p.m. The games will be shown free of charge on “Sky”. For the first time, the competition will be held in Qatar with 48 teams. Germany plays in Group G.
In addition to top scorers, the core of the German team includes Borussia Mönchengladbach’s goalkeeper Marcello Trippel as well as Ben Hawighorst (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) and Elias Vali Fard (Gladbach). Bayern Munich’s Wisdom Mike has the highest market value at 3 million euros. Eight promising newcomers who were not yet in the European Championship squad also receive the trust of Coach Meister. These include three young talents from RB Leipzig: Benno Kaltefleiter, Abdul Baki Al Khalaf and Toni Langsteiner.
“The nomination was definitely not an easy process – timing and bad luck with injuries play a role,” Meister explained in mid-October. “Our squad for the tournament is the result of a lot of development in the last few months, a lot of training and good playing performances from our boys – everyone has worked hard to take part. We want to represent our country with great pride and show that we are ready to win games at a high level. You might only get this chance once in your life – and we will take it!”