Shooting star Paul Wanner from 1. FC Heidenheim is still firmly in the DFB’s plans and is also impressing national coach Julian Nagelsmann. The midfielder, on loan from FC Bayern Munich, would actually have been nominated for the U21s’ two European Championship qualifying matches on Wednesday (6 p.m.) in Györ, Hungary against Israel and on September 10 (6 p.m./both ProSieben MAXX) in Tallinn against Estonia.
But Wanner “wants to remain completely stable first in order to make it to the first league,” said U21 national coach Antonio di Salvo, explaining the talented teenager’s absence for these matches. “We have therefore decided together that we will leave him in Heidenheim for this measure.”
“Player with a lot of potential”
National coach Nagelsmann is also convinced of Wanner’s qualities. “He’s doing very well. He’s a player with a lot of potential, who we at the DFB have firmly in our plans. He decides how early he joins the senior national team,” said Nagelsmann, who previously coached Wanner at FC Bayern. “He’s a really interesting player with a lot of potential.”
Wanner is partly responsible for the Bundesliga leaders from Heidenheim’s upward trend, celebrating five wins in their first five competitive matches. The teenager himself has already scored four goals in competitive matches, but has also recently completed exhausting double weeks.
Wanner, who was born in Austria, already trained with the team of team boss Ralf Rangnick in November 2022, who is still courting him. Before and after the Austrians’ training course, however, he was active in the German U-teams. “It was not an issue that he was considering,” said di Salvo. But it is not his place to talk about his “future. As of now, he has decided on Germany.”
Lemperle travels to
Di Salvo will have to do without defenders Linus Gechter (Hertha BSC/knee) and Kenneth Schmidt (SC Freiburg/muscles) at short notice. Striker Tim Lemperle (1. FC Köln) will only arrive the day before the game due to feeling unwell. Paul Nebel (1. FSV Mainz 05) was nominated for the offensive.
The Germans lead the European Championship qualifying group D with 16 points, ahead of Poland, which has 15 points and has already played one more game. Israel is bottom of the group. “It was no easy feat in the first leg, and it won’t be easy this time either,” warned di Salvo.
The nine group winners and the three best runners-up will qualify for the 2025 finals in Slovakia. The other six runners-up will compete in playoffs for the last three places.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240902-930-220876/1
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