Reitz shines for Germany U21s with a brace on debut
Joe Scally, Tomáš Čvančara and Rocco Reitz were all in action for their national sides on Friday. Scally watched the USA’s game from the bench, while Čvančara came on in the second half of the Czech Republic’s draw against Poland and Rocco Reitz made the perfect start to his Germany U21 career.
USA
The USA managed to overcome Trinidad & Tobago in the first leg of the CONCAF Nations League quarter finals. Joe Scally was an unused substitute in the 3-0 victory. The win came courtesy of three late goals from Ricardo Pepi (82’), Antonee Robinson (86’) and Giovanni Reyna (89’). Gregg Berhalter’s side have a comfortable advantage going into the second leg, which will be played on the 21st November.
Czech Republic
The Czech Republich national team missed the chance to qualify for next year’s European Championships on Friday night. Čvančara came off the bench in the second half of their 1-1 draw against Poland. Former Düsseldorf player Jakub Piotrowski put the hosts into the lead (38’), before Tomáš Souček scored the equaliser early on in the second half (49’). The Czech Republic can still automatically book their spot at EURO 2024 if they get a draw in their final qualifying match on 20th November.
Germany U21s
The Germany U21 national team took on Estonia in Paderborn on Friday. Antonio Di Salvo’s side secured their third win (4-1) in their third European Championships qualifier. Whilst Luca Netz was not in the squad due to illness, Rocco Reitz made his debut – and what a debut it was. Reitz came on in the 63rd minute when the score was 2-0 and scored just over 20 minutes later to make it 3-1 to Germany (88’). The 21-year-old then grabbed another goal in the fourth minute of added time as he registered a brace on debut. His strike to make it 4-1 was the final action in a dominant performance from Di Salvo’s team. Maximilian Beier (39’) and Youssoufa Moukoko (53’) scored the other goals for Germany, whilst Danil Kuraskin’s goal (64’) got Estonia back into the game. A beaming Reitz said in an interview after the game: “I’m very, very happy. The fact that I scored two goals in my first game makes the victory even sweeter.”