England U17s concede three goals in 300 seconds as Germany win big in first of two games
- Seb Sternik
- 11 January 2023
England U17s kicked off 2023 with a 3-0 defeat to Germany following a disastrous opening five minutes.
England, who are preparing for the Elite Round of the 2023 Euro U17 qualifiers, were heavily punished for their slow start to the game.
Charles Herrmann opened the scoring in the first minute, while Max Moerstedt and Paris Brunner both joined the scoresheet 300 seconds later.
The match, which took place in San Pedro del Pinatar in Spain, was the first of two friendly fixtures between the teams.
German manager Christian Wück was thrilled with his team's performance, saying (as quoted by DFB): "You can speak of a perfect start if you're already 3-0 up after five minutes.
"The lads implemented exactly what we asked of them: consistency in front of goal, intensity in tackles. That's how we started the game and exploited every mistake the English made early on."
The second match between the two teams will take place on Saturday at the Pinatar Arena.
Both sides are gearing up for the next stage of the Euro U17 qualifiers which will take place in March.
England have been drawn in the same group as Netherlands, Denmark and Northern Ireland.
Germany, on the other hand, will take on Spain, Turkey and Finland.
The U17 European Championships will officially get underway on May 17 before culminating with the final on June 2.
