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As the Germany delegation celebrated Thursday’s triumph at the under-19 European Championships in Budapest, players and officials from rival countries could be forgiven for not joining in with the festivities. |
It was only three weeks ago that the senior Germany team claimed a fourth World Cup by defeating Argentina in extra-time in Rio de Janeiro. Joachim Loew’s squad was packed with young talent and the signs are there is even more coming through.
“You see what great talent we have in German football,” Hansi Flick, Loew’s former assistant, said. “We want to have moments like this as often as possible.”
The trophy was earned with a 1-0 victory over Portugal. Werder Bremen’s youth star Davie Selke did not bag the goal but six strikes earlier in the tournament ensured he finished as top scorer.
“We have made a great advertisement for Germany. It is the second, though clearly the smaller, title for our country this summer,” he said. “We are very proud that we have done it for Germany.”
Andre Schuerrle, who created Mario Goetze’s winning goal in the World Cup final, tweeted his congratulations while Loew also said this second success bodes well for the future.
“The European Championship has shown that Germany football can look forward to new talent. This title will help the players in their development, I am sure they will get another boost through this triumph.”
But what may truly scare the rest of Europe, and other footballing powers around the world, is that Germany won the championship without the use of some of their best players.
Schalke pair Max Meyer and Leon Goretzka, Timo Werner of Stuttgart and Serge Gnabry of Arsenal were not in attendance as they are established with their clubs and instead took part in preparation for the coming season.
While there is no guarantee top young players will develop into top senior players, several of the victorious German youth teams at the end of the last decade tasted World Cup glory in Brazil.
“As the German Football Assocation, we hope that we have not seen you in the Germany shirt for the last time,” association president Wolfgang Niersbach told the players on Thursday.
That is a view Germany’s rivals may not necessarily share.