All-Hertha meeting in Bratislava

Berlin – The final preparations before the 2020/21 season are currently being underway, but rather unusually there is an international break on the eve of the new campaign, meaning Bruno Labbadia is without 10 players for the final pre-season friendly.

The second edition of the UEFA Nations League will kick off on Thursday night (3/9/20). Hertha trio Peter Pekarik, Ondrej Duda (Slovakia) and Vladimir Darida (Czech Republic) will face off in Slovakia on Friday night. “This international break has come at a strange time, but being with your national side is always special. We want to be as successful as we can, even if that means beating Peka and Ondrej,” said Darida. “Vladi can run a lot and have a good game as long as we win,” countered Duda. Rune Jarstein (Norway) and Krzysztof Piątek (Poland) are also hoping to start their campaigns with a win. Defender Dedryck Boyata had to pull out of the Belgium squad due to an Achilles problem.

Qualification for the U21 Euros well underway

While the UEFA Nations League campaign is about to kick off, the qualification for the next U21 EUROs will finally resume after a nine-month break. Dutch trio Deyovaisio Zeefuik, Javairo Dilrosun and Daishawn Redan are in a good position to qualify for the tournament. ‘Jong Oranje’ won their first four games and are top of the group. Winning the group will ensure qualification for next summer’s tournament. Hertha have reached an agreement with the Dutch FA regarding the trio. They will only join up with their national team after Hertha’s friendly at Hamburger SV on Saturday (5/9/20, 17:00 CEST), to be part of the squad against Norway.

Arne Maier and Germany U21s are second in group 9 after three games (2 wins, 1 defeat). Stefan Kuntz’s side will first face Moldova on Thursday (3/9/20, 18:15 CEST), before a tough test away to group leaders Belgium on Tuesday (8/9/20, 16:00 CEST). Márton Dárdai, who has recently been with the first team, is part of the Germany U19s setup.