Dárdai’s perfect evening - Gechter and Kade can only draw

After initially being left out of the Germany U20 squad, Márton Dárdai was called up as a replacement by head coach Antonio Di Salvo on Monday. On Friday, the defender made his debut – and it was one to remember. The Hertha youth product started the game and completed 90 minutes as Germany celebrated a 4-0 win over Latvia. “It really was a perfect evening for me. To make my debut, play 90 minutes and then a big win and a clean sheet. It couldn’t have gone any better,” said the defender, who wore the number 5 jersey in Aachen. On Tuesday, Dárdai and his teammates will look to maintain their first-place position in the table when they travel to second-place Israel. “We’ll go there full of confidence and want to build on our performance in the top-of-the-group game,” said the debutant, looking ahead.

Belfodil and Algeria with important play-off win

Three other Hertha players celebrated victories on Friday night. Fredrik Bjørkan played 81 minutes of Norway’s 2-0 friendly win over Slovakia in Oslo, while Ishak Belfodil was brought on in the 76th minute of Algeria’s important 1-0 win against Cameroon in the first leg of their World Cup qualifying play-off. Belfodil and Algeria will look to finish the job in the second leg on Tuesday (29/03/22, 21:30 CEST), with the winner of the tie securing a ticket to the World Cup in Qatar.

Lotka victorious over England with Poland U20s

Goalkeeper Marcel Lotka celebrated his first win in what was his second cap for the Poland U20s national team. Lotka kept a clean sheet as his side beat England 2-0 in Bielsko-Biała in the UEFA Elite League. “It was a great team performance from us. Especially after the break, we put them under a good amount of pressure and rewarded ourselves with two goals. I’m obviously really pleased that we kept the clean sheet too,” said the Hertha goalkeeper. Elsewhere, Jurgen Ekkelenkamp was the only Hertha player not to win on Friday evening, as his Netherlands U21 side drew 0-0 with Bulgaria in a European Championship qualifier. Ekkelenkamp played the whole game, while Daishawn Redan, who is currently out on loan, was introduced in the 73rd minute.

Bad end for two youngsters, Boyata also in action

Linus Gechter and Anton Kade both played the full game on Saturday for Germany U19s. In a Euro qualifier, they drew 2-2 to Belgium, blowing a two-goal lead late on. “We started well, but lost our concentration at the end,” said our number 44. Hannes Wolf’s team are now in a precarious position going into their final match on Tuesday. Following their second consecutive draw and Italy’s 4-0 win over Finland, Germany will need to beat the Scandinavians and overturn the four-goal swing in goal difference on Italy and Belgium, who, at the same time, must draw if Germany want to qualify for the tournament in Slovakia this summer (18th to 30th June). Meanwhile, Dedryck Boyata played the full 90 minutes for Belgium in their friendly draw against the Republic of Ireland (2-2).