Germany U21s looking forward to “ice baths and pizza” after grueling quarterfinal win over Italy | OneFootball

The Germany U21s are through to the 2025 UEFA European Championship semi-finals after winning an absolutely insane game at the MOL Arena in  Dunajska Streda on Sunday night. The Germans battled back from a 0-1 deficit against the Italian U21s to take a 2-1 lead deep into second half injury time.

Antonio Di Salvo’s DFB Juniors appeared destined to book their semi-final ticket easily, particularly after the Italians were reduced to ten and then nine men by two sending offs in the the final ten minutes of normal time. Shorthanded Italy nevertheless forced extra time with a set-piece equalizer at 90+6.

Despite having a double man advantage, the Germans weren’t able to score a winner during either extra time interval. The match appeared destined for penalties until Freiburg’s Merlin Röhl finally netted the 3-2 in the 117th. Eventually, the U21s did their head coach proud by defeating his heritage country.

Speaking to German broadcaster Sat1 after the full-time whistle finally brought some relief, DFB squad captain Eric Martel did his utmost to present his usual calm front. Martel narrowly escaped being the man who cost his team their tournament dream.

It was the Köln man who committed the foul that enabled Italy to equalize from the dead ball situation. Martel’s midfield teammate Rocco Reitz was also-visibly exhausted after 120 minutes of action, particularly after making several long sprints towards the end.

Di Salvo and Röhl also registered their thoughts.

“It doesn’t matter what happens to us, we can shake it all off,” Martel told Sat1. “I’m dead tired while also being exuberantly happy.“

Reitz described himself as “at the end of his rope” after a “crazy game“. Di Salvo spoke of “hectic play [preceding the 2-2]” that forced the team to “make life unnecessarily difficult for themselves.” Röhl admitted the team “didn’t do well [enough] two men up”.

When it came time to discuss rejuvenation, Reitz made the famous German Per Mertesacker “callback” referencing the German central defender’s famous interview after Germany’s grueling extra time victory over Algeria in the 2014 World Cup Round-of-16.

German female footballing legend Alexandra Popp also referenced the famous “Notorious BFG: Are you not entertained?” moment when speaking after a German quarterfinal extra time victory in the Olympics tournament last sumer.

Reitz’s recipe called for Mertesacker’s “ice baths”, with some extra references to the evening’s opponent and the U21 head coach’s cultural roots.

“Ice baths and pizza will help us get fit for [the French U21s in the semi-finals] on Wednesday,” the Borussia Mönchengladbach man promised.

GGFN | Peter Weis