Tresoldi and Adeyemi bag braces in Germany U21 rout of Israel

In his very first start at the country’s highest youth level, Hannover 96 striker Nicolo Tresoldi bagged a brace in the Germany U21s rout of Israel on Friday evening. Antonio di Salvo’s DFB Juniors thoroughly dismantled the Israeli U21s in an 2025 UEFA U21 European Championship qualifying match in Györ. Borussia Dortmund attacker Karim Adeyemi – back after controversially declining a U21 call-up last autumn – also netted two goals in the 5-1 victory. 

The last time di Salvo’s Juniors were in action happened to be against Israel during the March international break.Drawing from his current roster, the U21 Bundestrainer employed only four changes from his last XI. Holdovers Eric Martel and Rocco Reitz continued to run the midfield. Merlin Röhl maintained his place on the left wing. Jan Thielmann, Luca Netz, and Bright Arrey-Mbi also kept their defensive deployments while Nick Woltemade once again operated as a ten.,

In terms of changes, Freiburg’s Max Rosenfelder took over Jamil Siebert’s place beside Arrey-Mbi in central defense. Brajan Gruda and Youssoufa Moukoko being unavailable for selection due to their recent transfers meant that Hannover 96’s Nicolo Tresoldi spearheaded the attack in place of Moukoko. Adeyemi – returned to the fold – took Gruda’s place on the right wing. Freiburg keeper Noah Atubolu’s unavailability meant that Köln’s Jonas Ubrig started between the sticks.  

The German youths got off to a flying start with both Tresoldi and Woltemade collecting chances in the opening two minutes. To brighten up matters even more, Tresoldi opened the scoring in the 5th with a brilliant technical finish of a Reitz cross. Woltemade narrowly missed a chance to double the advantage five minutes later before Adeyemi officially polished off the 2-0 in the 14th. Reitz registered his second assist with another fine cross. 

The Israelis were grateful to gain some relief from a dominant DFB performance during a drinks’ break in the 24th. Shortly after the enforced pause, the underdogs did engineer their very first chance of the game. Within a few minutes, however, the hosts were able to get back into their rhythm. Reitz saw his own bid for a goal denied by a fantastic save from keeper Niv Eliasi in the 34th. 

One minute later, Tresoldi bagged his scorer’s brace with a close range finish of a wayward Martel header. A triple chance in the 37th nearly enabled the Germans to run up the 3-0 scoreline further. Woltemade found himself denied by another Eliasi save. Adeyemi sent the second chance onto the crossbar before Martel fired yet another chance wide. 

Understandably enough, di Salvo’s squad took their foot off the gas at the start of the second half. Adeyemi nevertheless remained determined to make a statement and ended up scoring the 4-0 after a strong run up the right, a quick cut inside the 18, and a powerful high finish in the 61st. Three minutes after that, Israel pulled a goal back on a deflected effort in the 64th. 

Goal-scorer Adi Yona took advantage of the unsorted DFB ranks and stung Urbig’s palms with another scorching effort in the 67th. Di Salvo’s men were fortunately able to collect themselves after the two Israeli spurts and closed out the game in a controlled fashion. Eintracht’s Ansgar Knauff added a fifth goal at 90+4. Knauff’s fellow sub Keke Topp of SV Werder Bremen collected the assist.