Former international and now manager Stefan Kuntz named Germany's final squad for the Games on July 4. The full roster of the squad is discussed in this article.
Participation
Germany has been one of the nations to feature in the Olympics for a long period. Appearing in most of the editions since their first in 1912 pre World War II. The 2020 Olympics will be their 9th in total. Die Mannschaft have recorded one bronze medal in 1988 at Seoul and one silver medal in the last edition of the Games losing to Brazil in the final at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Germany U23 Men's Football Team Squad :
Goalkeepers: Svend Brodersen (St Pauli), Florian Muller (VFB Stuggart), Luca Plogmann (Werder Bremen).
Defenders: Benjamin Henrichs (RB Leipzig), Amos Pieper (Arminia Belfield), David Raum (Greuther Furth), Jordan Torunarigha (Hertha Berlin), Felix Uduokhai (Fc Augsburg), Keven Schlotterbeck (Freiburg)
Midfielders: Nadiem Amiri (Bayer Leverkusen), Maximilian Arnold (Wolfsburg), Ismail Jakobs (Fc Koln), Eduard Lowen (Hertha Berlin), Arne Maier (Hertha Berlin), Anton Stach (Greuther Ferth)
Forwards: Max Kruse (Union Berlin), Marco Richter (Fc Augsburg), Cedric Teuchert (Union Berlin). Ragnar Ache (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Manager: Stefan Kuntz
The manager, Stefan Kuntz was a part of the 1996 European Championship winning German team and he is now leading this U23 team for the gold at the Olympics 2020. Two players, Joshua Vagnoman and Niklas Dorsch were named in the final squad but got omitted three days later to get replaced by forwarding Ragnar Ache and center back Keven Schlotterbeck.
Key Player: Maximilian Arnold
Maximilian Arnold had an encouraging season at Wolfsburg and contributed a lot for the side to help them return to Champions League football for next season. Great with the ball, sustaining an insane passing scale, drive and sensational freekick techniques, Arnold will be the man to pull strings for his nation now at the Games. In another exuberant campaign at the club level, Arnold managed a passing accuracy of 84%, succeeded in 89% of his dribbles and created 55 chances. The 27-year-old is also good at tackling, breaking the play and assisting his fellow frontman for goals. His role is key to get the team moving forward and in this competition to encourage the youngsters to serve dominance in the middle of the park.
Prospect to watch: David Raum
David Raum is the left-back who will feature for Germany from the start and showed his talent on a stage of excellence. The 23-year-old has made a quiet name of himself at Greuther Furth, aside in the second division of the nation which resulted in an ambitious move for him to Bundesliga with Hoffenheim in this summer window. A club well renowned to nurture impressive talents at a raw age, Raum might have made the perfect decision of his career with this transfer to put himself to the world-class level in near future. Eyes will stick on the left flank in each game for Germany at the Games as this skillful fullback makes his overlapping runs as well being savvy defensively. David was also part of the U21 Euro winning squad a month back providing an assist in the quarterfinal stages.
Over the age of 23: Nadiem Amiri (24), Maximilian Arnold (27), Max Kruse (33)
The interesting addition to the squad among the players above the age limit for the Games is Max Kruse. The Olympics rule is players in the final squad must be born on or after January 1, 1997, with only three overage players allowed. Kruse is one of the oldest footballers at this edition of the Olympics. However, Kruse turned back his years in enjoying a sparkling goal-scoring campaign for Union Berlin in the Bundesliga. The former Borussia Monchengladbach striker netted 11 goals in 19 games last campaign to give Stefan Kuntz the striker to aid the front line at the Games. Next to Maximilian Arnold, he will play a pivotal part in Germany's quest for gold this time out. They will get the support of Leverkusen's Nadiem Amiri, a creator of special moments.
Germany Football Team Olympics 2021 Profile :
This German team may not match the insanely talented squad that traveled to the 2016 Olympics in Rio but has potential. Now stars for their club and most importantly their country the likes of Mattias Ginter, Niklas Sule, Julian Brandt, Serge Gnabry and Leon Goretzka played an integral part to win the silver medal four years ago and most of them went on to lift the FIFA confederation cup in 2017. No such high voltage talents are on show this time out. The team depends on the output of the overage players in the squad instead. The onus is on them to lead this young group forward. Some of the regulars of their club in the Bundesliga bring in a lot of optimism for the squad through their playing time in the league. Some play a verified role for their team. In all, Germany can cause a lot of problems even if not in their best attire.
Fixtures and Probability :
1) Brazil U23 vs Germany U23 - Thursday, July 22nd (Nissan Stadium, Yokohama)
2) Saudi Arabia U23 vs Germany U23 - Sunday, July 25 (Nissan Stadium, Yokohama)
3) Germany U23 vs Ivory Coast U23 - Wednesday, July 28 (Miyagi Stadium, Miyagi)
The opening game will spice things up for both Brazil and Germany. Although none of the members of the 2016 final remains, these two nations will give it all to gain an early advantage of being table toppers and qualifying for the next round with maximum points from the first two games. Saudi Arabia and Ivory Coast should not prove to be a problem. Without a major upset, both will qualify for sure. The one finishing first have to face the second-placed side from Group C while the winners of that group meet Group D's runners-up.
