Five out of six newcomers to the squad of the German national soccer team also celebrated their debut in the first two international matches of 2023. They have not strongly recommended themselves, nor played off the list for future nominations.
Only Malick Thiaw, who had been called up to replace the injured Armel Bella Kotchap, was on the bench for 90 minutes in both the 2-0 win against Peru and the 2-3 win over Belgium.
Candidates for the U21 European Championship
Most of the newcomers are likely to be missing from national coach Hansi Flick’s squad when the next three games are due in June. This has less to do with future performances and more to do with the U21 European Championship, which will be held in Romania and Georgia from June 21 to July 8. Felix Nmecha (VfL Wolfsburg), Josh Vagnoman (VfB Stuttgart), Thiaw (AC Milan) and Kevin Schade from FC Brentford will then probably take part in the tournament under coach Antonio Di Salvo.
Schade and Nmecha are definitely candidates for further invitations to the elite selection after the impressions from the game against Belgium. The former Freiburger Schade prepared Serge Gnabry’s 2:3 goal shortly before the final whistle with one of several sprints down the left wing. He could be an alternative to Timo Werner in the future but also faces strong competition from players who were missing from the squad such as Leroy Sané.
| player | minutes against Peru | Minutes against Belgium | minutes total |
|---|---|---|---|
Marius Wolf | 90 | 80 | 170 |
Felix Nmecha | 0 | 58 | 58 |
Mergim Berisha | 15 | 10 | 25 |
Kevin shame | 15 | 10 | 25 |
Josha Vagnoman | 0 | 10 | 10 |
Malick Thiaw | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Nmecha came on along with Emre Can after the disastrous first half hour and pointed to the position of “eight” a very decent performance in midfield. “It was good for me to come in so early”said the Wolfsburg man, “It was a great moment for me.” His brother and club colleague Lukas also made his debut in the national team under Hansi Flick, but was not in the squad this time because he had been suffering from a knee injury for months.
Wolf first very neat, then very weak
Marius Wolf (Borussia Dortmund) and Mergim Berisha (FC Augsburg) were the two newcomers who are no longer eligible to play for the U21 European Championship because they were born before January 1, 2000. Wolf started nervously against Peru with a hair-raising miss, but then recovered and put in a good performance. Among other things, he prepared Niclas Füllkrug’s 2-0 lead. He initially went down with the rest of the team against Belgium, allowed himself to be easily outplayed in the penalty area when it was 0-1 and lost confidence as a result. As a right-back, he could still have a future with Flick if he preserves the form he has had in the Borussia Dortmund jersey over the past few weeks.
Joshua Vagnoman, also a mostly right-back who played ten minutes against Belgium, is difficult to predict. Talent and dynamism are certainly there, but he would first have to make more appearances at relegation contenders VfB Stuttgart in order to recommend himself.
Thiaw convinces at AC Milan
With Berisha it should be quite simple. If he continues to score a lot and regularly at FC Augsburg, he should remain the alternative to Füllkrug as a center forward.
Malick Thiaw has developed into a central defender in recent months, who also survived international tests in the Champions League at AC Milan. The impressions at the U21 European Championship, where Germany meets the Czech Republic, England and Israel in the preliminary round, should decide on further appointments and a possible debut.