U17 World Cup: DFB in the quarter-finals against eight Barca talents

Three more wins until the big triumph: The German U17 national team wants to take the next step towards the title at the World Cup in Indonesia on Friday (9:30 a.m.) in the quarter-finals against Spain. According to DFB coach Christian Wück, the most important thing in preparing for the fifth game in 13 days is “regeneration”.

In March there was already a duel between the two nations in the European Championship qualification (3:4), and the Germans want to draw their conclusions from this.

“We know how they play and they know how we play,” Wück made clear. However, there is a crucial change for the Spaniards: Jose Lana, who replaced Julen Guerrero, has been on the sidelines since October.

Lana also relies on Barca talent Marc Guiu: The 1.87 meter tall striker decided the round of 16 against Japan (2-1) with his second goal of the tournament and was also allowed to play for the FC Barcelona professionals. His winning goal against Athletic Bilbao a month ago – just 33 seconds after coming on as a substitute – caused a worldwide stir.

However, the Spaniards have to do without another Barca wonder boy who stormed with Guiu at the U17 European Championships in the summer: Lamine Yamal (16) has long since outgrown his age group and is now the youngest goalscorer in the senior national team. Nevertheless, the Catalans continue to shape the team. There are eight Barca talents in the squad, seven were in the starting line-up against Japan. What has particularly attracted attention so far is Quim Junyent, who keeps the overview in central midfield and was involved in both goals in the round of 16.

But the DFB selection can also shine with individual players, as the 3-2 round of 16 win against the USA impressively showed. “The three goals came from our individual quality,” said Wück. You can rely on that. HSV talent Bilal Yalcinkaya decided the game with his second joker goal of the tournament.

The DFB coach recognized that his team was “tired” and wants to “make the best possible use of the time until Friday to have a powerful team on the pitch”. Which then fights for the semi-finals in almost 30 degrees.