Four Green-Whites enjoy Germany youth debuts, Schmid celebrates third World Cup qualifying win | OneFootball

Mio Backhaus got the chance to make his Germany U21s debut between the sticks (Photo: Thomas Böcker/DFB).

International break round-up

Four Green-Whites got the chance to make their debuts for various Germany youth sides this weekend, with Mio Backhaus (U21), Mick Schmetgens, Karim Coulibaly and Wesley Adeh (all U19) each relishing the opportunity to take the next step in their respective international careers. Meanwhile, Romano Schmid helped Austria to secure a 1-0 victory in their World Cup Qualifying match against Cyprus, making it three wins on the bounce for the side.

Schmid came on as a substitute for Austria after half-time (Photo: ÖFB/Kelemen).

In their ongoing World Cup qualifying campaign, Austria secured another victory to make it three wins in just as many games. In a tight affair against Cyprus on Saturday evening, 6th September, Marcel Sabitzer’s 54th-minute penalty was enough to secure the three points for head coach Ralf Rangnick’s team. Romano Schmid was brought on after half-time in an attempt to provide a much-needed spark for the side, while Marco Grüll was an unused substitute in the game. Having picked up nine points from their last three matches, Austria now sit in second in Group H behind Bosnia-Herzegovina, who have won all four of their qualifiers thus far. Schmid and co. will now travel to Zenica to face the group leaders on Tuesday, 9th September, at 20:45 CEST.

Despite not seeing any minutes in the game, Isaac Schmidt picked up a win with Switzerland this week. Head coach Murat Yakin’s team secured a 4-0 victory against Kosovo in their opening World Cup qualifier on Friday night, 5th September, and now sit top of Group B. The side will now look forward to hosting Slovenia at 20:45 CEST on Monday, 8th September. Another Green-White to see success in a World Cup qualifying game over the last few days was Felix Agu, as Nigeria beat Rwanda 1-0 on Saturday night. Werder’s fullback was an unused substitute in the game. The Super Eagles’ next game is scheduled for 18:00 CEST on Tuesday as they hope to secure more crucial points, this time against Group C leaders South Africa. Yukinari Sugawara also saw no minutes in Japan’s 0-0 friendly draw against Mexico in the USA. Japan will face the USMNT on Wednesday, 10th September, at 01:30 CEST.

Werder’s new keeper Karl Hein suffered a heavy defeat with Estonia on Friday night, as he started between the sticks for the side’s 5-0 loss away at Italy. Hein managed to keep a clean sheet for most of the game, before the Azzurri’s breakthrough came in the form of a Moise Kean goal in the 58th minute. Goals from Mateo Retegui (69’, 89’), Giacomo Raspadori (71’) and Alessandro Bastoni (90+2’) followed to wrap up a significant victory in Gennaro Gattuso’s first game in charge of Italy. Estonia and Karl Hein will be back in action on Tuesday at 18:00 CEST against Andorra.

Victories for Germany’s youth debutants

It was a successful debut for Mio Backhaus with Germany U21s as the side took on Albania on Friday night. After being brought on to play the second half, Werder’s starting keeper was able to enjoy his first game in net under head coach Antonio Di Salvo, in which goals from Ilyas Ansah (48’) and Dženan Pejčinović (52’) were enough to seal the win for Germany on the night. Backhaus succeeded in keeping a clean sheet in his first appearance for the side, and will hope to get his first start between the sticks this Tuesday at 20:30 CEST when Germany host Latvia in Rostock for their opening U21 EUROs qualifier.

Another two Werder youngsters in Mick Schmetgens and Karim Coulibaly were not only given the chance to celebrate their debuts for Germany U19s this week, but also started the game side by side in the backline. Wesley Adeh also made his first appearance for the side as an 88th-minute substitute, in a friendly against Italy that finished 3-1 to the Germany youth team. The trio will all hope to be back involved in another friendly on Tuesday night, this time away from home against Croatia at 17:00 CEST.