For a few very long moments, Antonio di Salvo simply paused and looked at the rainy sky in the provincial metropolis of Kutaisi on the raging Rioni river with obvious displeasure when it became clear that this start to the U-21 European Championship had failed. His team had only played 1-1 against Israel, “we have to be angry today,” said the coach later, hoping that the experiences of the evening would not leave any deeper marks and this Sunday with a win against the Czech Republic (6 p.m. in the FAZ -Live ticker for the U-21 European Championship and live on Sat.1) a decisive step towards the quarter-finals.
But Di Salvo’s first tournament game as head coach of the most important youth team in the German Football Association (DFB) is probably not that easy to shake off. Because of the epilogue with Youssoufa Moukoko’s account of racial slurs against him and Jessic Ngankam, who each missed a penalty (see text opposite). And because Di Salvo got to know his team, which had been shaken by many failures, and saw some unpleasant things in the process.
There are those classic gameplays that every footballer knows: clearly superior games, for example, in which numerous chances go unused while the opponent then uses their only dangerous advance to score the winning goal. The course of this first game of the U21s also followed a familiar pattern.
“Very, very bad start”
The side were already dominating, but after Eden Karzew was sent off with a second yellow card in injury time in the first half, that advantage strangely turned into a disadvantage. “The first half was much better, much more determined,” said Di Salvo. “As is so often the case when you suddenly have a majority, it doesn’t get any easier.”
On the one hand, that was annoying because two points are missing in the table, which could result in the end of the group phase and thus also cost participation in the Olympic Games next year. And on the other hand, because this game disproved a myth that had been built up in the weeks before the tournament: the good mentality of this team had been raved about again and again. About the team spirit, which can be crucial in a tournament like this, especially against opponents who are individually better.
This led to the assumption that the DFB juniors, like the previous teams at the past U21 European Championships, would deal well with resistance. It didn’t work that evening. “It was a very, very bad start to the European Championship, there were a lot of corners and edges missing,” midfielder Angelo Stiller had to concede. “With one man more we just have to develop more danger, we weren’t brave enough”.
Target of the racist insults: Youssoufa Moukoko (right) : Image: Imago
In addition, Moukoko’s penalty in the third minute could have paved the way for an easy start to the competition, and when the second penalty came, neither Moukoko nor Kevin Schade, who was also responsible for these situations, apparently wanted to step in. So Jessic Ngankam took responsibility and also failed (80th). Captain Yann Aurel Bisseck headed the goal for the Germans (26′) after the Israelis had taken the lead early (20′, Dor Turgeman). Basically, the Germans had not failed, “It’s extremely bitter that we couldn’t steer the game in our direction,” said Di Salvo, because: “It wasn’t all bad, quite the opposite.”
But small things were missing in crucial places, above all speed in the passing game. In any case, the coming opponents were able to observe quite well what problems the Germans had when they encountered deep-lying and diligently defending opponents. And possibly the currently quite strict DFB sports director Rudi Völler, who is expected to be a guest in Georgia for the second game against the Czechs, has secretly started to doubt the quality of this very improvised team due to many failures.
He publicly questioned the abilities of some senior national players last week. But it is still much too early for such fundamental considerations, just as there are classic game processes, there are also recurring tournament processes, from teams that seemed sluggish at the beginning and continued to improve well into the knockout round. “We have a lot to do there. Regenerate, train and then it’s just a matter of winning,” said Stiller.
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But they should clear their heads, because the day after the game was dominated by discussions about racist insults, which were tackled with a consistent strategy. First of all, after Moukoko, a number of those responsible spoke again in detail and then explained: “This topic will no longer influence my work and the players, I will no longer answer any questions after this PK, neither will the players.”
