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Storm talent Youssoufa Moukoko
Photo: Lars Baron/Getty Images
Antonio Di Salvo briefly hugged his assistant coaches and then his family in the stands, while his U21 footballers earned the well-deserved applause of the fans.
With an unchallenged home win, the German U21 national team has achieved the first major milestone on the way to the desired title defense and bought the ticket for the final round of the European Football Championship in 2023.
Coach Di Salvo's team beat Hungary 4-0 (2-0) on Friday in front of 5,609 spectators in Osnabrück thanks to several mistakes by the opponent and an efficient performance.
"We really wanted to qualify at home and we did it convincingly," said Di Salvo.
Moukoko impressive after a difficult season in Dortmund
Storm talent Youssoufa Moukoko (17th minute), Jonathan Burkardt with a penalty kick (31st), Tom Krauß (76th) and Lazar Samardzic (90th + 3) scored at the sold-out Bremen bridge for the youth of the German Football Association.
The selection is thus already certain as group winners before the final qualifier in Poland next Tuesday and can defend the title of the previous generation at the tournament in Georgia and Romania.
It is the sixth European Championship in a row for Germany's U21 national team.
The joy of the EM ticket was clouded by several injuries: Union Berlin's newcomer Jamie Leweling and midfielder Angelo Stiller had to leave injured.
Defender Malick Thiaw was stitched up on the field after an eye cut but was able to continue playing.
The 17-year-old Moukoko reported impressively back after a difficult season with little playing time at Borussia Dortmund in the U21s.
In his first appearance since September, he scored his fourth goal in the under-21 shirt in the third game.
Even the early setback caused by Leweling's injury didn't bother the DFB youth team in the best summer weather.
Defensively, the team failed to concentrate and lost the ball, and not just in the early stages.
But thanks to the weak defensive performance of the guests, these were not of great importance.
A failed back pass led to Moukoko's 1-0, and the Hungarians also helped a lot in Burkardt's 2-0 with a foul on Mainz in the penalty area.
Captain Burkardt also hit the post (41') after a mistake made by Hungary in the build-up game.
Di Salvo: "Many boys have already been on vacation"
With the offensive power of Moukoko, Burkardt and the Frankfurt Europa League winner Ansgar Knauff, who, however, had a weaker day, Di Salvo's team pushed for the third goal.
In the urge phase, however, the team had to cope with the next injury, Hoffenheim's Stiller hobbled off the pitch injured.
Shortly afterwards, Thiaw had to be treated for a longer period of time, but the team put up with this setback as well.
Krauss, who was last loaned to 1. FC Nürnberg, eliminated the last doubts about the European Championship qualification with his goal.
After the final whistle, coach Di Salvo criticized the unusual approach with three injured players.
“Of course, the date is unfavorable.
A lot of the boys have already been on holiday, so it's not easy to get back into the rhythm.«
Scheduling the games almost three weeks after the end of the regular season is not ideal for many of his players from the 42-year-old's point of view.
"It's due to the fact that the World Cup is in Qatar, so the rhythm is disrupted," said the coach.
"We don't normally have any games during this period, but we have to get through it." Due to the World Cup in Qatar from November 21 to December 18, there are fewer international game windows for the U21s in autumn than usual.
ara/dpa
