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If there was any doubting Nick Woltemade’s star quality, a brilliant hat-trick in Germany’s opening match of the European Under-21 Championship against Slovenia showed the beanpole striker with numerous nicknames is the real deal. Known variously as Woltemessi, the Tower of Stuttgart, Goaltemade or just plain old Big Nick, he has been the standout player of the first two rounds of matches in Slovakia, having helped to book his side’s place in the quarter-finals with another goal in their win over the Czech Republic on Sunday.
With England up next as Germany attempt to seal top spot in Group B and avoid a meeting with the favourites, Spain, in the last eight, the coach, Antonio Di Salvo, has a decision to make. Such has been Woltemade’s success this season that he was also called up by Julian Nagelsmann for the senior squad’s Nations League games and made his debut against Portugal in the semi-final less than a fortnight ago.
“Honestly, I just want to rest,” Woltemade said after the 4-2 victory over the Czech Republic, in which he contributed two assists as well. “It’s been a tough schedule and I’ve played a lot of minutes in a short time.”
Di Salvo, a former Bayern Munich forward who was an assistant to Stefan Kuntz with the under-21s before taking over when Kuntz left to manage Turkey’s seniors in 2021, is expected to rotate when they face Lee Carsley’s side in Nitra on Wednesday evening. Yet after Germany failed to get past the group stage in Georgia two years ago for the first time since 2013 as England went on to win the tournament, he is under pressure to deliver the country’s fourth title at this level. “I don’t need to say more about how important Nick is to us,” Di Salvo said. “He changes our game.”
A shade under two metres tall, Woltemade has played for Germany at various youth levels but it was not until his move to Stuttgart from his hometown side Werder Bremen that he announced himself on the big stage. Despite becoming Bremen’s youngest player at 17, he had struggled for game time owing to Niclas Füllkrug’s blistering form before a loan at third-division SV Elversberg transformed his fortunes. He earned a move to Stuttgart to replace Serhou Guirassy when the prolific Guinea striker departed for Borussia Dortmund last summer, and scored the opening goal in the DFB Pokal final victory in May – his fifth in that cup run – to add to his 12 in the Bundesliga.
A hat-trick against Spain, who drew 1-1 with Italy to win their group on Tuesday night, in an under-21s warm-up game in March put Woltemade firmly on the radar, with reports of interest from around Europe including from Chelsea, Everton and West Ham.
The 23-year-old born on Valentine’s Day is eligible to play at the tournament because he was 21 at the start of qualifying – one of 73 players at the start of the finals who are two years older than the age limit. England are the only squad not to contain a 23-year-old, although Middlesbrough’s midfielder Hayden Hackney will reach that age on 26 June, two days before the final.
That is an indication of England’s approach, with Carsley – who has extended his contract until the next tournament in 2027 – having assembled a much more inexperienced squad than the one which triumphed two years ago. If he had followed Germany’s example with Woltemade, seven members of Thomas Tuchel’s latest selection could have been on double international duty this summer. Adam Wharton, another senior international, was ruled out as he recovers from concussion sustained in the FA Cup final.
Newcastle’s Tino Livramento, who excelled in the opening win over the Czech Republic, is the only player to have also been capped at senior level and England’s squad contains two teenagers, who have featured in the first two games: Tottenham’s Archie Gray and Ethan Nwaneri of Arsenal.
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Carsley will make changes against Germany, citing “age and the amount they’ve played”, with a point required to ensure a place in the knockout stages. If Germany are without Woltemade from the start, England – who have lost only twice to Germany at this age group and won 2-0 in the group stages two years ago – will know that Di Salvo’s side boast plenty of other firepower.
Nicolò Tresoldi, who scored the opener against the Czech Republic and described Woltemade as “the perfect strike partner”, has just joined Club Brugge, and Brighton’s Brajan Gruda and Paul Nebel of Mainz provide creativity.
At the other end, Freiburg’s goalkeeper Noah Atubolu has made 20 appearances at the age group and has been tipped as a potential long-term successor to Manuel Neuer. “We want to win every game,” said Germany’s captain, Eric Martel, “especially against England, because, as they say in Germany, it’s ‘the classic’.”
