More than 8.000 players were observed this year by the scouts of the German Association. Nearly 60 of them were invited to one of five training camps that were held in June and July in Dusseldorf, Goettingen, Erfurt, Freiburg and Braunschweig. In this highly competitive setting, the players were able to prove in their skills in training and matches to secure a place in the last training camp, which took place last weekend.
On Saturday all the players met at the sports facility in Bad Harzburg. After some opening remarks from President Christoph Koechy, coach Mueller sent his boys to the pitch. Three sessions and a very intense program was waiting “We found excellent conditions here, the pitch and everything around is fantastic”, said coach Mueller. Afterwards the group traveled to Goettingen where the players spent the evening together before the next session was on the agenda next morning.
“Overall, we have a very high level and a great climate within the group”, Mueller is happy about the large selection of good players. But difficult decisions had to be made since only 12 players will be nominated for miniEURO.
Now the new German team is picked and the coach is satisfied: “We took care of many things: Technical skills, tactical understanding, fitness and the ability to be a good team player. In addition to that, the squad is set up so that we can respond to each situation in the game.”
Mueller is also very confident about the tournament. “We have a strong team, I expect that we reach the second round after the group stage. We are ready to rumble!”
This is the German Squad for the miniEURO 2013: Micha Alexander (24), Roman Heinrich (30), Gerbi Kaplan (22, all from Göttingen), Sebastian Koch (26, Barßel/Harkebrügge), Fabian Diringer (19, Karlsruhe), Daniel Jagenburg (26, Krefeld), Florian Hammer (23 Hartha), Marc Windecker (24, Sippersfeld), Lars Nielsen (25, Berlin), Kilian Depuhl (22, Erfurt), Tigin Yağlioğlu (21, Hamm) and Daniel Reck (24, Braunschweig).