DFB youngsters still on track
Record hunter Moukoko dismantles Bulgaria single-handedly
October 13, 2023, 8:19 p.m
At BVB, Youssoufa Moukoko’s path to goal is currently blocked, but the 18-year-old is still chasing records in the U21. In the 3-2 (1-1) win in Bulgaria, he scored goals nine to eleven in his ninth appearance for the DFB youngsters. With this narrow success, coach Di Salvo’s team is taking a step towards the European Championships.
Thanks to goalkeeper Youssoufa Moukoko, Germany’s U21 national team achieved their next victory in the European Championship qualification and is on course for the finals in 2025. After the 3:2 (1:1) in Sofia against Bulgaria, coach Antonio Di Salvo’s selection took the lead in their qualifying group with six points from two games. Three-packer Moukoko (40th/49th/69th minute) turned the game around for the German U21 footballers after the hosts took the lead through Stanislaw Shopow (25th). Nikola Iliev’s goal for Bulgaria (90+3) came too late.
The U21s continue in November with home games against Estonia and Poland. The U21 game in Israel scheduled for next Tuesday was postponed after the attack by the Islamist Hamas. It is still unclear when it will be rescheduled. Only the first group winner is guaranteed to qualify for the tournament next year in Slovakia.
Di Salvo relied on plenty of offensive power against the deep-lying Bulgarians. The coach offered Dortmund national players Moukoko and Karim Adeyemi, Frankfurt’s Ansgar Knauff and the in-form Maximilian Beier from TSG 1899 Hoffenheim right from the start. “He’s in top condition,” said Di Salvo on ProSieben Maxx about striker Beier, whom he appointed captain for the game. “This is leadership through performance.”
Curious mistake paves way to victory
However, the hosts usually defended the German attacks confidently. At first it was hard for the DFB youngsters to get through. Bulgaria, which started qualifying strongly with four points from two games, defended in a disciplined manner – and relied on the counterattack. The first notable one led to success in the middle of the first half. Germany defended sloppily, Shopow scored a remarkable shot into the corner of the net to take the celebrated lead.
Adeyemi and Moukoko – who had already scored twice in the 3-0 win in Kosovo at the start of the European Championship qualification – found it difficult to get into the game. In the few good individual actions, the DFB selection was either too harmless in the end or wasted the ball. What helped was once again the individual class of Moukoko, who prevailed and scored.
For his second goal, the striker benefited from a mistake by Bulgarian goalkeeper Plamen Andreev, whose shot from Moukoko rolled through his legs. The lead shortly after the break gave the German team security, even if the defense occasionally wobbled. And Moukoko even scored a third goal with a header. The 18-year-old now has eleven goals in nine U21 appearances. The U21 record, held by Pierre Littbarski, is 18 goals.