Four Green-Whites have been called up by their respective countries for the final international break of the 2023/24 campaign, and will set off on their travels after Werder’s Bundesliga clash against 1. FC Union Berlin on Saturday to complete the final stage in their preparations for the upcoming EURO 2024.
This season, Romano Schmid caught the attention of Austria head coach Ralf Rangnick and will make yet another appearance for the side this month as a result. Over the break, Schmid and Co. will play two friendlies against Slovakia (Saturday, 23rd March, 18:00 CET) and Turkey (Tuesday, 26th March, 20:45 CET). Olivier Deman and Belgium are also ticking off their final preparations for EURO 2024 with friendlies against Ireland (Saturday, 23rd March, 18:00 CET) and England (Tuesday, 26th March, 20:45 CET).
Germany U21s are aiming to hold onto their spot at the top of EURO qualifying Group D, and have called upon Nick Woltemade for their upcoming games against Kosovo in Chemnitz (Friday, 22nd March, 18:00 CET) and Israel in Halle (Tuesday, 26th March, 18:00 CET). “I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again,” remarked Werder’s number 29 in an interview with WERDER.DE. “It feels great to be in and around the team, and we always have a lot of fun.” Youngster Isak Hansen-Aarøen will also be in action for Norway U21s, who will take on the Netherlands (Thursday, 21st March, 20:00 CET) in a friendly, before facing off against San Marino in a U21 EURO qualifying match just five days later (Tuesday, 26th March, 17:00 CET).
However, it wasn’t all good news for the Green-Whites when the national teams announced their squads. Marvin Ducksch, who came off the bench for Germany in both of their friendlies in November, was not called upon this time round by Julian Nagelsmann. “It’s not a case of now or never for any of the players. The door is always open,” explained Germany’s head coach in Thursday afternoon’s press conference. Furthermore, after suffering from a knee injury over the last two months, Milos Veljkovic will also not be in action for Serbia during the March international break. However, the pair, along with Jens Stage (Denmark), Senne Lynen (Belgium) and Jiri Pavlenka (Czechia), are still in with a chance of making appearances for their countries at EURO 2024.
