Four Hertha players make their Germany debuts

On Friday evening (07.09.18), Arne Maier got his debut for the Germany U21s. Florian Baak and Palko Dárdai made their debuts for the U20s, whilst Dennis Jastrzembski debuted for the U19s.

Five Hertha players were in action for Germany’s youth sides on Friday evening – four of them getting debuts. The U21s overcame Mexico 3-0. Jordan Torunarigha and Arne Maier both featured in the second half. “We came up against a committed and well-organised opponent today. It’ll be the same when we play against Ireland. What I liked about today’s performance was that the boys weren’t afraid to try things. Their first thought was to attack and not to sit back,” commented head coach Stefan Kuntz. On Tuesday (11.09.18, kick off 19.00), Maier and co. will face Ireland in Dublin in European championship qualification.

Two Hertha players and former champions with the U19s, Palko Dárdai and Florian Baak were in action for the U20s against the Czech Republic. Both players were in the starting line-up in a game that ended 3-2 in favour of the Germans. “The game was very varied and had a high intensity. At the beginning we had too much of a ‘friendly game’ mindset. After falling behind the boys quickly noticed they needed to up their intensity in order to get back into the game. They reacted well,” summarised head coach Meikel Schönweitz.

U19s give up 2-0 lead

The U19s game against Switzerland didn’t turn out quite as well. At half time, the German side were satisfied with a 2-0 lead. However, in the second half the Swiss got two goals back to level things up. “After we made two mistakes in the second half the opposition were back in the game. We started playing well again in the last 15 minutes and could have got the win,” commented coach Guido Streichsbier. Despite the frustrating draw, Hertha’s Dennis Jastrzembski was pleased to have made his debut for the U19s. The winger recently made his first appearance for Hertha’s first team. On Monday (10.09.18, kick off 11.00), the U20s have a chance to put things right when they face Slovakia in Rüsselsheim.  

*All times CEST