Moukoko not nominated for U21 European Championship: a tight decision!

Moukoko not nominated for U21 European Championship: a tight decision!

Bratislava, Slowakei - Youssoufa Moukoko, the 20-year-old striker of Borussia Dortmund, was surprisingly not nominated for the U21 European Championship. This decision was made shortly before the squad was officially announced and caused great discussions within the coaching team of the German U21 national team. Ovid Hajou, assistant coach of the team, explained that, despite his outstanding achievements, Moukoko was not selected as a top goal scorer in the European Championship qualification, where he scored 12 goals in 10 games. He confirmed that the internal discussion lasted until the last day and it was ultimately a difficult decision that was not made against Moukoko, but for other players.

MOUKOKO played on loan at the OGC Nice in Ligue 1, where he was only in the starting XI twice and was not substituted in the last 14 games. Coach Toni di Salvo and his team had Moukoko in mind due to his low season in France while making the final decisions. In the end, Derry Scherhann, Nicolo Tresoldi, Nelson Weiper and Nick Woltemade were appointed selection. For Moukoko there is now a chance to act the first successor, a nominated striker should be.

challenges and perspectives

assistant coach Hajou expressed that the decision against Moukoko was not easy and emphasized that other players have made great attention to themselves in the past few weeks. Moukoko will also miss the special training sessions that Hajou has planned for standard situations. The trainer plans a rotation among the players who are responsible for such scenes, including names like Paul Wanner and Paul Nebel.

The U21 European Championship 2025 takes place in Slovakia. The tournament begins on June 11th and the final is scheduled for June 28th in Bratislava. Germany plays against the Czech Republic, England and Slovenia in Group B. Despite the pain around Moukoko, the team is well positioned to survive in this difficult group and to present themselves with strong performances.

transmission and ticket information

fans can follow the games of the U21 European Championship on Free TV on Sat.1 and ProSieben Maxx. A live stream on ran.de and the RAN app is also offered. The tickets for the matches are available on the official UEFA homepage, with prices from 15 euros. The last U21 European Championship was won by England in 2023, which defeated Spain in the final, and in this issue the German young talents hope for great success.