This week, an interesting misunderstanding broke out in the team hotel of the German U-21 national team, right on the stony beach of Batumi on the Black Sea. Rudi Völler, the sports director of the German Football Association (DFB), was standing in front of a billboard, giving an interview, and when a reporter asked a question about the coach’s support from the association, Völler angrily broke off the conversation.
He thought it was about Hansi Flick again, the head coach of the senior national team, whose dismissal had recently been considered by various experts and commentators. Only when it became clear that the question referred to Antonio Di Salvo, who played with his U21s in the third group game of the Junior European Championships this Wednesday against England (6 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the U21 European Championships, on Sat.1 and ran.de), Völler returned in front of the cameras and said: “That’s professional football in the youth field too: When you’re about to leave, it’s quite normal for everything to be questioned a bit. Toni can handle that too. We extended his contract because he’s a very, very good coach.”
