International game premiere for Maxi Hennig from Eichenrieder

The 15-year-old Eichenrieder Maxi Hennig convinced on his debut.

Eichenried

- Of course he sang along with the national anthem, says Maxi Hennig.

That is a duty.

And some substitute players received a corresponding rebuke afterwards because they were no longer quite as focused on the matter on the bench with the opponent's anthem.

The enemy, that was Switzerland.

It was a test match for the German U16 national team, and a very special one for Hennig: For the 15-year-old Eichenrieder, it was the first international match ever.

It was the culmination of the eight-day course he had been invited to.

Hennig has been playing for FC Bayern Munich since the U9 (we reported) and has already been invited to three courses for the U15.

The corona pandemic then slowed down the young talents.

For a long time nothing worked, and training was not allowed on the FCB campus either.

When that changed again in May of this year, the DFB quickly got in touch.

Christian Wück is the head coach of the U 16 and is currently working on his squad for the European and World Cup in 2023. Hennig was now part of the 22-man squad that the ex-professional from Nuremberg and his assistant coach Rainer Zietsch have on his Qualities tested.

But it wasn't just the game that was exciting. Hennig raves about the training. That was a nice change, "because otherwise we always play against the same opponents", but also a special challenge. The best of the 2006 class play in northern Germany: in Berlin, in Dortmund. “VfL Wolfsburg has a very strong team,” says the junior high school student. The training is very intense, and every unit is demanding. And that without the background noises known from the professional sector. There are no major rivalries, for example between the four Bayern Nations players and the BVB talents. "We get along great because we all somehow tick the same way and have the same goals and interests," says the 15-year-old, who raves about Wück: "A great coach,who teaches us a lot tactically and can motivate us very well. "

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The trainers praised Maxi Hennig's (left) dynamism.

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Before the first international match against Switzerland, the latter should probably not have been necessary.

Don't you cover it there?

Hennig admits that he was excited, but that was already done when he warmed up.

Hennig played the left wing part of the back four against a Swiss team that was physically superior.

“They were all a bit bigger than us,” says Eichenrieder.

It has done the Confederates nothing.

Germany won 2-1 - not least because Hennig put a ball through fine, which ultimately led to the 2-1 winner.

The fact that he was no longer in the second game was not due to his performance;

on the contrary.

“Everyone in the squad should be given 80 minutes of working time,” he explains.

And he already had it in the first game because he played through the entire encounter.

The coaches were obviously impressed with the performance.

His dynamism, his tempo dribbling, his behavior on first contact and the fact that he stops every action, i.e. does not stick to losing the ball, were praised.

But he can also shoot himself from time to time, he doesn't have to look to see if someone is doing better.

He heard that too.

Nothing escapes the DFB coaches.

Everything is recorded and discussed again via video analysis - including behavior during the national anthem.

But that wasn't a problem for Hennig anyway.

"Singing along - that's an honor and also a question of respect."