Walde into next round of EURO qualifying with Germany youngsters

Simon Walde’s Germany U19 side are through to the second round of European Championship qualification. The Borussia defender played the full 90 minutes of the concluding 3-3 draw in Poland. Joe Scally (USA) and Ko Itakura (Japan) both celebrated friendly victories, while Grant-Leon Ranos’ Armenia suffered defeat to North Macedonia.

USA

Joe Scally’s USA team secured an impressive 4-0 win in a friendly against Ghana. The Borussia player did not make an appearance and watched the full 90 minutes from the bench. There was a wealth of familiar Bundesliga faces involved in the Nashville, Tennessee goalfest: Dortmund’s Giovanni Reyna put the USMNT ahead in the 10th minute, before ex-BVB winger Christian Pulisic struck from a penalty in the 19th minute. Folarin Balogun in the 22nd minute and Reyna again in the 39th scored the USA’s other goals.

Japan

Ko Itakura (photo: imago images/Nigel Keene) was included in the starting lineup for Japan’s friendly against Tunisia, therefore earning a 22nd cap for his country. The Foals defender came off in the 72nd minute of the Samurai Blue’s 2-0 victory. Kyogo Furuhashi in the 43rd minute and Junya Ito in the 69th were the goalscorers for Japan.

Armenia

Grant-Leon Ranos won his seventh cap for Armenia in the friendly against North Macedonia. The Borussia forward was in the starting eleven for the 3-1 defeat in Lucani before being substituted in the 78th minute. North Macedonia went 3-0 up with goals from Aleksandar Trajkovski in the 43rd minute, Milan Ristovski in the 59th and Erdon Daci in the 88th, before Eduard Spertsyan scored Armenia’s consolation in the fourth minute of injury time.

Germany U19

Simon Walde made his fourth appearance for the Germany U19 side in the final group game of the first round of U19 EURO qualifying, and completed a full match for the first time. The German youngsters fell behind in the 14th minute after Junior Nsangou netted from the penalty spot for Poland. Maurice Krattenmacher levelled for Germany shortly after in the 22nd. This didn’t last long, with Dawid Drachal putting Poland ahead again just two minutes later in the 24th. Dzenan Pejcinovic struck another equaliser for Germany in the 59th minute, but Drachal gave Poland the lead once more in the 78th. But Walde’s side showed their team spirit: Dzenan Pejcinovic levelled again through his second goal of the game to finally wrap up the scoring. Germany U19 therefore remained undefeated in the third and last group game of the first qualifying round, having won 6-0 against Kazakhstan and 3-1 against North Macedonia, and move into the second round as the clear group winners.