Woltemade nets hat-trick in Germany’s U21 Euros opener | OneFootball

Antonio Di Salvo surprisingly left out the only player to play all qualifying matches from the starting XI as Ansgar Knauff starts on the bench. However, his replacement had Germany’s first chance in a dominant start for the three-time champions.

Following a long throw-in, Nicolò Tresoldi attempted the first shot of the game inside the opening five minutes. Slovenia managed to ease the pressure after that, but Club Brugge’s new signing continued to be a threat alongside Nick Woltemade.

The duo combined well when Martin Turk denied Tresoldi once again with a great save from a close-range effort. However, Germany took the lead moments later with Tresoldi setting up the sought-after Stuttgart striker.

Woltemade, who scored a hat-trick in Germany U21’s last game against Spain, provided a clinical finish as he once again showed his prowess at this level. The 23-year-old could leave the Bundesliga this summer with a host of interested Premier League clubs monitoring his progress in this competition.

Germany didn’t lose control after the goal, but Slovenia came close to equalizing following a weak corner-kick by Di Salvo’s team. With Noah Atubolu hesitant to rush out of his box, Slovenia’s top-scorer Tio Cipot faced Freiburg’s goalie one-on-one, but his tame shot was easily saved by the custodian.

The underdogs grew into the game after their first chance, which opened the tie until Woltemade struck again to put Germany two ahead. Center-back Max Rosenfelder made a decent run to the box to set up the in-form striker, who would’ve missed the tournament had he been born a month and a half earlier.

Shortly after, Cipot had another chance, but he failed to guide his header on target. Both coaches made no changes to their respective sides for the second-half, but it was clear to see the impact of the second goal from Germany's strong start.

However, Slovenia restricted Germany to half chances until Tresoldi and Woltemade combined again around the hour mark. The game slowed down in the final stages with chances few and far between. Substitute Nelson Weiper created Germany’s best chance with a solo effort before the final ten minutes of the game.

Weiper, then, won a penalty-kick, which meant Woltemade had the opportunity to score back-to-back hat-tricks for Germany U21s. The imposing striker coolly finished to score his and Germany’s third of the night.

Woltemade, who started Germany’s Nations League defeats to Portugal and France, reached double-digit goals at this level in only 14 appearances. He deservedly got a warm sendoff when Di Salvo subbed him off for the closing stage of the game to introduce the youngest player in the squad, Paul Wanner.

When Germany failed to progress from the 2023 group stage, they started the campaign with an underwhelming 1-1 draw with Israel. Similarly to that tournament, they’ll now play the remaining fixtures against the Czech Republic and England. The defending champions beat the Czech Republic 3-1 in the group’s other opening game played simultaneously.