The two other group matches for Germany are against Portugal on Thursday (19.30 CET) and Austria on Sunday (19.30 CET). The teams in Group B are Croatia, Holland, England and France with the top two teams in each group going through to the semi-finals.
Hopes are high that Germany will perform well at the Euros on their own turf. “The Euros at home are a big target and a dream for the team,” declared Germany coach Guido Streichsbier who dropped five players from the provisional 23-man squad at the end of the training camp in Schladming to achieve the final 18-man squad. “I’m optimistic we will able to achieve our targets,” said Streichsbier, “we want to go all the way.” The minimum target is fifth place as the top five teams at the Euros will qualify for next year’s Under-20 World Cup.
The captain is one of the most experienced players in the team: Benjamin Henrichs has already clocked up nine Bundesliga appearances for Bayer 04 including five starts last season. The Hoffenheim striker Philipp Ochs (13 games) and Mainz midfielder Suat Serdar (twelve) have also played in the top flight. Defender Lukas Boeder is waiting for his first outing in Germany’s first division but he has been on the Werkself bench for a number of games.
Attraction of home stage
While Henrichs is a full back for Bayer 04 he plays in midfield for Germany. Along with Boeder. he and his Germany team-mates are very ambitious. “We’re in a tough group but that was to be expected given the quality of the teams involved. There’s huge pressure when you play a tournament in your own country but the stage provides a great incentive to perform well,” said Benny Henrichs. There will be no shortage of support at the matches. The opening game against Italy on Monday, the match against Portugal in Großaspach on 14 July and the final in Sinsheim on 24 July are already sold out.
24. Juli ins Sinsheim sind bereits ausverkauft.
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