The first two matchdays of the new Bundesliga season are done and it’s now time for the first international break of the 2024/25 campaign. While Romano Schmid and Marco Grüll are in UEFA Nations League action, Keke Topp is hoping to make his debut for Germany U21s.
The upcoming international break marks the first time that Romano Schmid and Marco Grüll will be back with the national team after their UEFA EURO 2024 exit. Austria play Slovenia in Ljubljana on Friday (6/9, 20:45 CEST) and then Norway in Oslo on Monday (9/9, 20:45 CEST) in their opening UEFA Nations League fixtures. Werder captain Marco Friedl is once again on stand-by.
Milos Veljkovic will not feature for Serbia in their games due to a foot problem. Serbia are Spain’s first opponents in Belgrade after winning the European Championship on Thursday (5/9, 20:45 CEST). Dragan Stojkovic’s side then play Denmark in Copenhagen on Sunday (8/9, 18:00 CEST). Veljkovic has still met up with his national team to receive treatment from the Serbian team doctors.
Keke Topp has been called up for Germany U21s for the first time in his career, whose squad includes former Werder man Nick Woltemade, now of VfB Stuttgart. Their two European qualifiers are against Israel in Győr, Hungary (Wednesday, 4/9, 18:00 CEST) and Estonia in Talinn (Tuesday, 10/9, 18:00 CEST). Antonio di Salvo’s team are top of their qualification group a point ahead of Poland in second, who have also played a game less. Two wins for Germany would put them in a fantastic position to reach the next U21 European Championship in Slovakia.
Isak Hansen-Aarøen and Norway U21s are also looking to make the tournament next year. However, they are sat behind Ireland and Italy in Group A. Their two games are against Latvia in Jūrmala (Thursday, 5/9, 16:00 CEST) and Italy in Stavanger (Tuesday, 10/9, 18:30 CEST). Meanwhile, Mio Backhaus is with Germany U20s, who have games against Romania (Thursday, 5/9, 19:00 CEST) and Italy (Tuesday, 10/9, 16:00 CEST) to look forward to.
