BVB youngster Paris Brunner scored the goal of the day in a 1-0 win over Spain and fired the Germany U17 national team into the semi-finals at the World Cup in Indonesia. His Borussia teammates Charles Herrmann and Almugera Kabar were also in the starting line-up.

“We can be proud of this team and of our Dortmund boys, who made a decisive contribution to the victory,” said an enthusiastic Lars Ricken, director of the BVB Youth Performance Centre, highlighting the outstanding achievements of the team: “There is great potential and a lot of talent in this group. The team were European champions, and had the top scorer and also the best player at the European Championship finals in Paris Brunner. The way they played against Spain and the passion they defended with demands respect.”

Three Borussians in the starting line-up

The U17 European champions started the game with three Dortmund players: Charles Herrmann, Paris Brunner and Almugera Kabar. Herrmann, one of the most impressive German players in the tournament so far and named “Player of the Match” by FIFA after victories against Mexico and the USA, had to leave the pitch after 15 minutes due to a thigh injury. Kabar, who was a busy man on the left-hand side of defence, was taken off at half-time. “Charles was one of the key players, he really caught the eye and formed an outstanding partnership on the wing together with Paris Brunner,” said Lars Ricken. He was also pleased with the comeback of Almugera Kabar, who had been out for some time with an injury before the tournament: “The fact that he is at the tournament in the first place is testament to his quality and the high esteem in which Almugera is held. He will be brought back into the fold at the World Cup and his minutes will be built up gradually.”

The technically impressive Spaniards forced Germany on to the back foot with extended passages of possession and allowed them only a few chances on the counter-attack. One such counter-attack in the 67th minute gave them a penalty kick: Paris Brunner got on the end of a diagonal pass from Bilal Yalcinkaya and stormed into the penalty area, where he was brought down by defender Hector Fort. Borussia’s talented youngster kept his cool, sending Spain goalkeeper Jimenez the wrong way and smashing the ball into the back of the net.

Germany will face Argentina (who were 3-0 winners against Brazil) on Tuesday (9:30 CET, live on Sky Sport [Germany] and sky.de), with the winners going on to contest the final on 2 December.

Borussia’s next U19s match

Germany’s strong performance in the tournament will affect the BVB U19s’ schedule in the Bundesliga. The game with SC Paderborn originally scheduled for Sunday 3 December will be postponed – joining the games against SC Verl (new date: December 17) and Schalke 04 – and will not be played until next year.

On Tuesday 28 November, the U19s will not only have to make do without World Cup stars Brunner, Herrmann and Kabar for the away game against AC Milan on Matchday 5 in the UEFA Youth League group stage, they will also not have played a competitive match since the game against Newcastle United. “The preparations are far from optimal, but our head coach Mike Tullberg is dealing with it in a very professional manner,” said Lars Ricken. (wiwi)