Hertha players on international duty

The first international break of the season will take place in the second weekend of September, with Arne Maier hoping to make his debut for the Germany U21 side.

Berlin – After just two matchdays, the Bundesliga will have its first break. In its place will be international qualifiers and friendlies, with a number of Hertha players being called up for their respective nations.  However there a fewer players on international duty in comparison to normal, with Marvin Plattenhardt (Germany), Maximilian Mittelstädt (Germany U21s), Vladimir Darida (Czech Republic), Peter Pekarik (Slovakia) and Mathew Leckie (Australia) all missing out through injury.

Arne Maier has been called-up by head coach Stefan Kuntz for the first time to the Germany U21 squad and will be hoping to make his debut alongside team-mate Jordan Torunarigha, who has already made one appearance for the U21s. Maximilan Mittelstädt would have also been in-line to make his bow for the U21s, but will have to wait after suffering an injury in Sunday’s win at Schalke. Maier and Torunarigha’s first game is a friendly against Mexico in Fürth on Friday 7th September, ahead of their UEFA U21 Championship qualifying match against the Republic of Ireland. The game will take place in Dublin on September 11th. “We have two very difficult games ahead of us. We have found ourselves a difficult opponent for the friendly in Mexico. I would like to use the game as a chance to get to know the new players in the squad. We have to be ready for Ireland from kick off,” said Kuntz. The U21 side lead their qualification group having gained 16 points from their seven games so far, whilst Ireland are in second with 13 points, albeit with a game in hand.

Ondrej Duda (Slovakia), Rune Jarstein (Norway) and Valentino Lazaro (Austria) will be hoping to start their bids to qualify for Euro 2020 (to be held in two different European cities) in a positive manner. Duda and Slovakia will take on Denmark in a friendly on September 5th (20:45 CEST), before facing Ukraine in the newly-founded UEFA Nations League (September 9th, 15:00 CEST). Vladimir Darida’s Czech Republic are also in the same group (League B, Group 2). Jarstein and Norway will play two Nations League fixtures during the international break, firstly against Cyprus (September 6th, 20:45 CEST) and then against Bulgaria (September 9^th, 18:00 CEST). After playing Sweden in a friendly (September 6th, 20:45 CEST), Lazaro and Austria will play their first game in the Nations League away at Bosnia and Herzegovina on September 11th (20:45, CEST) in League B, Group 3.

Youngsters looking forward to their debuts

Pálko Dárdai and Florian Baak are in-line to make their debuts for the Germany U20 side. The 19-year-olds, who have already played for younger age groups, have both been nominated by head coach Meikel Schönweitz for the first time. The U20s will face Czech Republic in Elversberg on September 7th (18:00, CEST). “Ultimately the U20 national side is all about calling up players who could break into the U21 side and are potentially aiming to play in a European youth championship, or may even go on to play for the national side itself,” explained the coach. Dennis Jastrzembski’s situation is similar to that of Dárdai’s and Baak’s. He has played for every German age group since U16s and has now been called up to the U19 side. Guido Streichsbier’s team will face Switzerland on September 7th (16:00, CEST) and then Slovakia on September 10th (11:00, CEST).