German coach Stefan Koontz watched the debut of European football champions Karim Adeyemi and David Raum in the first national team with satisfaction.
“Of course we were very happy,” said the 58-year-old after 3-1 (2-1) of his current under-21 selection in the European Championship qualifiers against Latvia. “This is the right incentive when the boys see that the national coach is paying close attention and that good performance is rewarded.” Adeyemi and Raum, who were European Under-21 champions under Koontz in June, made their senior national team debut in the 6-0 win over Armenia.
Koontz is already quite satisfied with the performance of his new selection, who took two wins in his first two European Championship qualifying matches, but still sees room for improvement. “We still need more to find each other,” the 58-year-old said, but she was “cautiously optimistic.” He was particularly impressed by his selection’s reaction to the early 1-0 draw against Latvia in Riga on Tuesday: “There was moral evidence and after that we were keen to score the second goal before the break.”
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210907-99-131901 / 3 (dpa)
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