Germany's U21 team will play the European Championship qualifier against Kosovo with Jonas Urbig from Fürth in goal. National coach Antonio Di Salvo explained on the eve of the game on Friday (18:00/ProSieben Maxx) in Chemnitz that he will distribute the goalkeeping duties over the next two games. Freiburg's regular goalkeeper Noah Atubolu may benefit from a short break, said Di Salvo. He will be back in goal against Israel on Tuesday.
Against Kosovo, Urbig will play his third international match for the U21s. "Jonas deserves to play because of the performance he has shown with us and at the club," said Di Salvo. Overall, he had a very pleasing situation in goal. Regensburg's Felix Gebhardt also impressed as third man.
The German team led by goalscorer Youssoufa Moukoko, which has won all four games so far, is at the top of its qualifying group. Poland, like Germany, have twelve points but have played one game more. "We want to qualify for the European Championship with confidence," said captain Eric Martel of FC Köln on Thursday evening. The nine group winners and the three best group runners-up will qualify for the finals, which will take place in Slovakia in 2025. The six remaining group runners-up will compete in play-offs to determine the last three finalists.
The German Football Association won the first leg 3-0, but struggled for a long time. It was only in the closing stages that the team led by double goalscorer Moukoko got better. "We hope we'll get into the game better than in the first leg," said Di Salvo. "We've worked again on solutions to create clear goalscoring opportunities in attack. We want to be more determined right from the start."
New signings are Umut Tohumcu (TSG Hoffenheim), Jens Castrop (1. FC Nürnberg) and Armindo Sieb (SpVgg Greuther Fürth). "I told them the news and I could tell that they were really fired up. They were extremely happy and you can see that on the pitch," said the coach.
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