Germany U19

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He scored two goals in the UEFA European Under-19 Championship semi-final against Greece but Anis Ben-Hatira took no satisfaction from the match as he prepared to return home from Austria following Germany's 3-2 defeat.

Tough defeat
"My two goals don't really matter, because at the end of the day it's the result that counts - and we're out," the Hamburger SV midfielder told uefa.com after his side had been beaten by an 89th-minute winner from Andreas Lampropoulos for ten-man Greece. "It hurts a lot, especially after playing so well in the group stage. It hurts even more to lose in the last minute. We dominated the game and I'm sure we would have won in extra time."

Double strike
Ben-Hatira, who celebrated his 19th birthday in Austria last Wednesday, had given Germany the lead at the Vorwärts Stadion in Steyr, showing composure beyond his years to beat two defenders and steer the ball under Greece goalkeeper Kyriakos Stratilatis. And when Greece had fought back to turn the match around through goals from Sotiris Ninis and Kostas Mitroglou, it was Ben-Hatira who showed the nerve to stand up and take the penalty kick that restored parity midway through the second half. Added to his strike in Germany's group-stage victory against Serbia, the Berlin-born teenager is now tied at the top of the leading goalscorers chart for the championship with Mitroglou and France's Kévin Monnet-Paquet, but that was little consolation.

'Really sad'
"It is really sad, especially the manner in which we lost, conceding this silly goal from a corner and with an extra man," lamented Ben-Hatira after Germany's first semi-final appearance since their defeat to France in Northern Ireland two years ago. "But that's football. After a defeat you can of course call everything into question. But tonight we were simply lacking the tension and the aggression needed, and we were also a bit unlucky."

Big break
Of Tunisian heritage, Ben-Hatira learnt his trade at Hertha BSC Berlin before moving to Tennis Borussia Berlin in 2003 and then getting his big break with a move to Hamburg three years later. After signing professional forms with this season's UEFA Intertoto Cup contenders at the start of the 2006/07 campaign, he earned his Bundesliga debut in February, the first of five outings in Germany's top flight. "We are very glad to have acquired the best attacking midfielder of his age," Hamburg sporting director Dietmar Beiersdorfer said after capturing his signature and after his performances in Austria it would appear the future for Ben-Hatira is bright.

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German Football Association (DFB) technical director Matthias Sammer watched Germany's run to the semi-finals of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship and although pleased with their progress, he says there is still work to do.

Semi-finalists
The 39-year-old former German international, who won 51 caps, has overseen the national youth teams since being appointed in April 2006. He has subsequently seen two sides reach the last four of tournaments, with this year's U19s emulating the achievement of the U17s in Luxembourg in 2006. But, following the 3-2 defeat of Frank Engel's team by Greece in Austria, Sammer says the country's young footballers need to find more of a winning mentality.

Progress made
"We have done a lot of work and we are moving in the right direction," he told uefa.com. "German football was at a low ebb at youth level. But we've qualified for all the youth tournaments – this event, the European U17 Championship and the [FIFA] U-17 World Cup – so things are improving. But we've not come far enough that we can solve difficult situations to our advantage. We're playing better but we still need German victories."

Back luck
For Sammer, whose role at the DFB also includes bringing the latest developments in sports science into the association's training programme, German teams have not been blessed with the best fortune in recent competitions – continuing in Austria where they conceded a last-minute goal in the semi-final defeat by ten-man Greece. "I think we've had enough bad luck over the last few youth tournaments. All the German sides have been eliminated relatively early," he said.

Good prospects
The man who was part of the Germany side that won EURO 96™ has seen positive signs for the future, however, after Engel's team topped their group with two victories and a draw. "In defence we have a tough player in Benedikt Höwedes. Jerome Boateng always plays very strong as does Manuel Konrad, and up front we're always strong with guys like Änis Ben-Hatira and Mesut Özil. We have good players but we always have to prove ourselves."

Individual focus
Originally from East Germany, like U19 coach Engel, Sammer says youth policies within the DFB have evolved over the last 15 months with the focus more on helping individuals to improve their game than ever before. "I think it's become more professional," he explained. "Everything is at a higher level and the work has become very individualised. We approach individual players and try to support them. Back in my day all the focus was on the team."

Seeds sown
Germany were seconds from taking their U19 semi-final to extra time and, had they kept out Andreas Lampropoulos's header, they might have been gracing their first final since 2002 – against Spain in Linz. History, however, will record them as beaten semi-finalists, even if the seeds have been sown for Germany to become a force at this level in years to come.

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Three players finished level at the top of the goalscoring charts after the UEFA European Under-19 Championship final in Linz, with Germany's Anis Ben-Hatira, France striker Kévin Monnet-Paquet and Kostas Mitroglou of Greece all managing three goals during the final tournament in Austria.

One-goal final
The latter would have taken the honour outright had he converted either of the presentable opportunities that fell to him during the final at the Linzer Stadion, but instead it was Spain midfielder Daniel Parejo who struck the only goal of the game seven minutes before half-time, his first of the finals. Ben-Hatira and Monnet-Paquet both tasted defeat in the semi-finals, leaving five goals as the highest total ever recorded in a U19 final tournament. That mark was set by Paulo Sérgio of Portugal in 2003 and equalled by Serbia and Montenegro forward Borko Veselinović in 2005 and Spain's Alberto Bueno and İlhan Parlak of Turkey a year ago in Poland.

2006/07 UEFA European Under-19 Championship
Top Scorers (after five matches)

Anis Ben-Hatira, Germany, 3 goals
Kostas Mitroglou, Greece, 3 goals
Kévin Monnet-Paquet, France, 3 goals

For the complete list, check: uefa.com*-*UEFA European U-19 C'ship*-*News

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UEFA Under 19 European Championship

Germany squad

Goalkeepers

Tom Mickel
Ron-Robert Zieler

Defenders

Dennis Diekmeier
Florian Jungwirth
Cihan Kaptan
Björn Kopplin
Timo Perthel
Christopher Schorch
David Vrzogic

Midfielders

Lars Bender
Sven Bender
Danny Latza
Dennis Naki
Oliver Petersch
Kevin Pezzoni
Mario Vrancic

Forwards

Eric-Maxim Choup-Moting
Manuel Fischer
Timo Gebhart
Alexander Neumann
Savio Nsereko

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Fixtures & Results »

Qualifying round
24.09.2007 v Bosnia- Herzegovina 8-1
26.09.2007 v Estonia 5-1
29.09.2007 v Russia 2-3

Standings »
Group 12 Pld W D L GF GA Pts
Russia 3 3 0 0 11 2 9
Germany 3 2 0 1 15 5 6
Bosnia-Herzegovina 3 0 1 2 3 11 1
Estonia 3 0 1 2 3 14 1

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UEFA Under 19 European Championship
Fixtures & Results »

Elite round
22.05.2008 v Albania 11:00
24.05.2008 v Croatia 11:00
27.05.2008 v Slovakia 11:00

Standings »
Group 4 Pld W D L GF GA Pts
Slovakia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Germany 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Croatia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Albania 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

uefa.com - UEFA European U-19 C'ship - Teams

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Germany make solid start

Germany made a solid start to UEFA European Under-19 Championship Elite round Group 4 in Slovakia as two first-half goals saw off Albania.

Within six minutes Horst Hrubesch's team were in front when Timo Gebhart's cross fell to Semih Aydilek to turn in. Dennis Diekmeier doubled the lead on 37 minutes from 25 minutes out and nearly had another before the break but his penalty was saved by Sulejman Hoxma. In the second half Germany sat back, and they now lead the group by two points as their next opponents Croatia drew 1-1 with Slovakia. Hrubesch said: "We deserved to win. The only thing to fault was that we missed too many chances."

uefa.com*-*UEFA European U-19 C'ship*-*Fixtures & Results*-*Match specific

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Germany fight back to foil Croatia

Croatia had to settle for a point in their UEFA European Under-19 Elite round tie against Germany after giving away a two-goal lead.

Second-half strikes
The 2-2 draw leaves Germany top of Group 4 with four points from two games while Croatia move alongside second-placed Slovakia after drawing both their games. After an even first half in the Slovakian city of Nitra, the Croatians went in front after 52 minutes when Matija Smerkar won a penalty and Igor Prijic converted from the spot. Smrekar doubled the lead just seven minutes later with a great solo effort to seemingly decide the game.

Comeback
Ivan Grnja's team then missed a couple of chances to put the outcome beyond doubt and were made to pay dearly by Germany. Timo Gebhart got one back in the 64th minute and then the same player completed the comeback five minutes from time converting from the spot after Domagoj Vida handled in the penalty area. "It was a hard match against very strong opponents," said Grnja. "We managed to play at a high level for an hour, but later my players tired. It is a good result, but we are sorry to miss a chance to win."

uefa.com - UEFA European U-19 C'ship - Fixtures & Results - Match specific

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Fixtures & Results »
Elite round
22.05.2008 v Albania 2-0
24.05.2008 v Croatia 2-2
27.05.2008 v Slovakia 11:00

Standings »
Group 4 Pld W D L GF GA Pts
Germany 2 1 1 0 4 2 4
Slovakia 2 0 2 0 3 3 2
Croatia 2 0 2 0 3 3 2
Albania 2 0 1 1 2 4 1

[Vargas_4]

Why isn't Toni Kroos in the squad?

[BlackNess]

Originally Posted by Vargas_4

Why isn't Toni Kroos in the squad?

He is U17 I think

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Originally Posted by BlackNess

He is U17 I think

He was part of the U17, their captain. He's now 18, so he doesn't belong to the U17s anymore I think.

I checked the U18, U19 and U20 rosters and his name was in none of them. Weird..

[Dragoen]

Eilts wanted to call him up for the U21 team. But Bayern did not want him to go because they wanted him to go on Holiday to get some rest and to calm down.

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Germany through to U19 finals

Germany have qualified for the UEFA European Under-19 Championship finals in the Czech Republic after a comfortable victory over Elite round Group 4 hosts Slovakia.

Early scare
Two points clear of Croatia and Slovakia at kick-off, Germany knew a win in Nitra would take them into July's finals but they were surprised after four minutes when the home side went ahead through Filip Serecin. However, Deniz Naki swiftly headed an equaliser and, on the quarter-hour, was brought down in the Slovakia box and Timo Gebhart put Germany ahead from the penalty spot.

Victory sealed
Manuel Fischer, joint-top scorer in the 2006 U17 finals, made it 3-1 just before the break and although Milos Supak pulled one back in the 55th minute, Germany earned another penalty with 20 minutes left, converted by Marcel Risse. Sven Bender put the result beyond doubt late on. Croatia's 2-0 defeat of Albania gave them second place ahead of Slovakia. Germany coach Horst Hrubesch said: "I am very satisfied, both with the result and with our qualification. But I wouldn't have chosen for it to be so exciting." His team will enter the draw in Prague on 1 June along with the Czech hosts, holders Spain, Hungary, Bulgaria and three countries to be decided.

uefa.com*-*UEFA European U-19 C'ship*-*Fixtures & Results*-*Match specific

Fixtures & Results »
Elite round
22.05.2008 v Albania 2-0
24.05.2008 v Croatia 2-2
27.05.2008 v Slovakia 5-2

Standings »
Group 4 Pld W D L GF GA Pts
Germany 3 2 1 0 9 4 7
Croatia 3 1 2 0 5 3 5
Slovakia 3 0 2 1 5 8 2
Albania 3 0 1 2 2 6 1