The U17 World Cup winners are back in Dortmund: after being crowned world champions with the Germany U17 team on Saturday, Paris Brunner, Almugera Kabar and Charles Herrmann shared their stories of lifting the trophy and experiencing Indonesia.
“It was a brilliant experience that will never leave us,” said Paris Brunner, who was voted player of the tournament. The Germany U17s played their first group match against Mexico on 12 November. A 3-1 opening win was followed by victories over New Zealand (3-1) and Venezuela (3-0). In the knockout round, the U17 Mannschaft made it through the round of 16 with a 3-2 win over the USA, before edging out Spain 1-0 in the quarter-finals. “They were exhausting games played in 35 degree heat. Spain dominated possession, but we played with mentality, willpower and aggression,” recalls Brunner. The young German side then defeated Argentina on penalties (4-2) to make it to the final, in which they triumphed over France, also on penalties.
Almugera Kabar slotted home the decisive penalty in the 4-3 win: “It was an indescribable feeling, I was full of emotion. Of course I was a bit nervous when I went to the penalty spot. But as soon as I put the ball down, I knew I was going to score.” Kabar made no mistake and the youngsters were able to celebrate lifting the World Cup title to add to their European Championship triumph last year.
“We started the competition aiming to lift the trophy. We knew that we could definitely do it with our quality. The team spirit was very strong once again,” said Charles Herrmann, who wants to carry this into his upcoming assignments at BVB: “We always try to stick together, regardless of the situation. Everybody should trust everybody.” (cr)
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