Said El Mala speaks on unexpected, yet impactful, return to Germany U21s | OneFootball

German national team call up Said El Mala returned to the Germany U21s during the current international break and ended up immediately making an impact for Antonio Di Salvo’s DFB Juniors. Di Salvo immediately inserted El Mala back into the starting XI against Georgia last night. The 19-year-old registered an assist on Germany’s opening goal in the 0-2 away victory. 

El Mala revealed afterwards that – during his time back in the U21 camp – he and his teammates had been drilling the set-piece variation that helped them score the opening goal. El Mala headed a corner quick over to the far post near the end of the first half. There, his fellow young German prodigy Lennart Karl was waiting to finish. 

“We planned that out beforehand,” El Mala noted when conducting an interview with Sat.1 after the match. “I’m not really built to extend the ball with my head like that, but today it worked. I’m glad I could help get things rolling.“

In a separate interview with Kicker later, El Mala spoke on the last ten days in general. How was he dealing with the emotional rollercoaster of receiving a senior team call up, remaining on the bench throughout his first German national team match, and then reporting back to the U21s?

“There’s an awful lot to talk about in terms of what’s happened over the last few days,” El Mala answered. “I’ll be talking about it extensively with my family. I’ve already been in contact with them over the phone and they know that I came back to the U21s.

“They weren’t concerned as they knew I’d be giving it my all,” El Mala concluded.

GGFN | Peter Weis