Youssoufa Moukoko is the life insurance for the German U21 national team. However, the goalscorer is (still) having a difficult time with his club Borussia Dortmund.
It’s easy for the U21: eleven goals in nine games – this goal rate makes even the otherwise reserved Youssoufa Moukoko rave. “It’s very good for me, I’m in the right place,” said the attacker Borussia Dortmund after his hat-trick in the 3:2 (1:1) in Bulgaria on Friday at “ProSieben Maxx”.
Journalists immediately asked whether this place could also be the attack center of national coach Julian Nagelsmann. “Youssoufa played a huge part in the victory. Strikers are measured by the goals he scored,” said U21 coach Antonio Di Salvo, who has “no worries” about having to hand Moukoko over to the new national coach: “It’s ours here Job to prepare the players. If Julian is of the opinion to take one or two players, then I’m happy for each and every one of them.”
Confidence fill up with the U21
Moukoko was particularly convincing in Friday’s victory. In Sofia he single-handedly turned around Stanislaw Schopow’s deficit (25′), hit the near corner out of nowhere (40′), slapstick through the legs of the opposing keeper (49′) and was spot on after Frankfurt’s Ansgar Knauff was put down ( 69.). Nikola Iliev (90th + 3) made the game unnecessarily exciting in stoppage time.
At BVB, Moukoko is only number three in the attack center behind DFB striker Niclas Füllkrug and Sebastian Haller – the life insurance par excellence in the U21. “I score the goals, the boys look for me, I can gain self-confidence. The coach trusts me, I repay the trust,” said the match winner.
An oasis of well-being. “I work no differently than Edin Terzic at the club. I talk to him a lot, we just have a good bond,” said Di Salvo: “Of course the competitive situation in Dortmund is different again. I told Youssoufa that he would like his time here must and can use.”
Game against Israel postponed
Moukoko had already put the DFB team on the road to victory with a brace at the start against Kosovo (3-0). The game in Israel, originally planned for next Tuesday, was postponed after the Hamas terrorist attacks; the next European Championship qualifying games are scheduled for November in Paderborn and Essen.
With Moukoko? What many forget: The native of Cameroon will only be 19 years old and could theoretically still play in the U21 European Championships in 2027. But if he continues to score like this – and also gets more playing time at BVB – Nagelsmann should not be able to avoid Moukoko.
Di Salvo defends Adeyemi
A needed day for Karim Adeyemi.
Actually, the second European Championship qualifying game on Friday evening, with which the DFB team moved to the top of Group D, was primarily intended to boost the shattered self-confidence of Moukoko’s BVB colleague Karim Adeyemi. But he crept off the pitch with his head hanging after a poor performance.
“Overall, I’m happy with Karim because he has integrated really well and has fully embraced the task here,” said Di Salvo, who had “spoken to him for a long time in advance”: “The goal was for him to play for 90 minutes. I was also aware that not everything would work out because you can’t just flip the switch.”
Adeyemi, who has already appeared four times for the senior national team under former national coach Hansi Flick, is lagging behind his form at BVB this season and is mostly just a substitute. Consequently, Flick’s successor Nagelsmann was not nominated for the trip to the USA.
