Maxi Hennig: Graduation against Belgium and Israel

Created: 01/10/2022, 17:00

Eichenrieder Maxi Hennig (r.) showed tough duels here in a duel with the Israeli international Liran Hazan.

Last tests before EM qualification © IMAGO/Eibner

The 15-year-old Eichenrieder showed his class at the four-nation tournament.

Eichenried – Maxi Hennig is a junior player at FC Bayern and the DFB U-national teams.

Eichenrieder was recently called up to the four-nation tournament in Duisburg.

The U17 friendlies served as a test before the European Championship qualifiers in October.

The tournament included everything for the 15-year-old and his team: victory, defeat and draw.

It started against Uruguay.

In the 1:3 defeat, Eichenrieder did not get a chance.

His verdict on the South Americans' style of play was clear.

"They were at their best physically," he says.

In contrast, the Belgian team was the technically strongest opponent.

The game ended 1:1, Hennig was on the pitch for the full 90 minutes.

He was also able to collect minutes of action in the 3-1 win in the third game against tactically very experienced Israelis after coming on as a second-half substitute.

"I'm quite happy with my performance," said the left-back confidently.

The evaluation of third place in the tournament, on the other hand, is different.

"Uruguay surprised us in the first game, we could have done better," states Hennig.

A win against Belgium was also possible, but too many chances were missed.

He was satisfied with the victory against Israel.

Moldova, Latvia and Slovakia are waiting for the German youth team for the upcoming European Championship qualifiers.

Hennig is optimistic: "The opponents can all do something, but I think it's doable." First or second place is enough for qualification, but if you win a group you can then expect easier opponents.

The road to the nomination of the team for the qualifying games remains exciting.

"A few injuries are still coming back and the squad isn't finalized yet," says Hennig.

But it is quite possible that he will also be called up for these games after the last tournament.

Until then, Maxi Hennig will continue in everyday league life in the B-Junior Bundesliga.

He has played the full distance in all six games of the season so far, and in the last game against SSV Jahn Regensburg the defender was also able to record his first assist of the season.

At the weekend, Hennig, who is in the 10th grade at Oberding Realschule, is expecting Bayern to play SpVgg from Fürth, bottom of the table with no points.

In this game, too, the chances of success should be high, after all, his team is still undefeated and currently third in the league.

By Luke Christofori