A German U17 national team with strong BVB representation has prematurely qualified for the quarter-finals of the European Championships courtesy of a surprising 3-1 victory over title-holders France. Borussia’s U17s drew their final game of the Special Round.

After going in 1-0 down at the break, the tide in this high-quality match turned in favour of DFB coach Christian Wück’s charges. Paris Brunner played a decisive role in the triumph. The Borussia U19 striker levelled the scores at 1-1 with a stunning strike in the 56th minute. Bayern’s Robert Ramsak then made it 2-1, before Paris Brunner extended the lead in the 63rd minute following an assist by Charles Herrmann.

Christian Wück again included several Dortmund players in the starting line-up, with Almugera Kabar at left-back, Charles Herrmann on the wing and Paris Brunner at centre-forward. Kjell Wätjen was brought on in the closing stages. “The fact we turned the result around shows the spirit in this team. We have a super team. It’s just fun to watch the boys play,” said a satisfied Wück after the second win at the EUROs. The team beat Portugal 4-0 in their opening game of the tournament.

The DFB XI will face Scotland in their final group game on Tuesday. The quarter-final will be played on Saturday 27 May.

U17s finish off with 3-3 draw against Bremen

The Borussia U17s finished off Liga A of the Special Round with a 3-3 draw with Werder Bremen. Raul König bagged a brace. It was also the final match of the season for this team, which will now undergo a complete transformation.

Coach Karsten Gorges made several changes to the starting XI that suffered an unlucky 2-1 defeat away to VfB Stuttgart last time out. Before the new line-up had found and settled into their rhythm, BVB were already 1-0 down due to Yuval Ranon’s goal. Raul König levelled from the spot in the 28th minute. Jonas Eilers put the visitors back in front in an eventful first period, before Raul König restored parity at 2-2 on the stroke of half-time. A Bremen player had been sent off for two bookable offences shortly beforehand.

Despite their numerical superiority, Borussia could not manage to see out the win after taking a 3-2 lead courtesy of an Alex Niziolek penalty kick. Bremen’s Lennart Braun rounded off the scoring in the 77th minute.

U17s: Held – Numbisie, Benkara, Plöger, Kerlen (Gürpüz, 69) – Uka, Feddersen (Fleck, 61) – Zickler, König, Dzonga (Sadeghi, 61), Niziolek

(wiwi)