Internationals

Balde makes Germany U20s debut

There were appearances for Adam Karabaec, Immanuel Pherai and Fabio Balde in Friday evening’s international action, with the latter making his debut for the Germany U20 national team.

Another batch of international fixtures awaited our Rothosen on Friday evening. Adam Karabec was named in the starting line-up for the Czech Republic U21s’ 2-1 European qualifying win over Wales. Immanuel Pherai also began Suriname’s CONCACAF Nations League meeting with Costa Rica, playing out a 1-1 draw.

It was a memorable evening for Fabio Balde, as he made his Germany U20s debut in their friendly against Poland. The winger was subbed on in the 70th minute during a 3-1 victory. “When I was standing on the touchline ready to come on and then the moment came that I got to play with the eagle on my chest for the first time – that was a very special moment for me,” said the Hamburg native, who has no intention of stopping there: “I’m obviously really happy to have made my debut for Germany, but I want to experience lots more moments like these, so I need to carry on working hard and sticking at it.” His next chance for international minutes comes on Monday, 14th October, when the U20s have another friendly against Ghana.

Balde's HSV academy teammate Bilal Yalcinkaya was also in action at the weekend. He was named in the starting eleven for Germany U19's eventual 2-0 defeat to Romania. Emir Sahiti meanwhile has been called up for international duty with Kosovo, though he did not make an appearance in their 2-1 UEFA Nations League victory over Lithuania. Sahiti, along with all of HSV's players away with their countries, will keep on working over the next few days.