“Special moments” for Dudziak and Fein

Every footballer dreams of this moment: walking out onto the pitch with your country’s flag on your chest before listening to the national anthem. For HSV midfielder Jeremy Dudziak this dream became reality last Friday night. The 24-year-old, having worked his way through the German national youth sides, appearing 37 times for the land of his birth from under-15 right the way up to under-21 level, celebrated his full international debut for Tunisia, the country that his father calls home. Everything happened so quickly for Dudziak, firstly receiving a surprise call-up two weeks ago, before completing the necessary forms, meeting his new teammates and then being put straight into the starting line-up for Tunisia’s friendly against Mauritania. Muscular problems meant the midfielder had to be replaced at half-time, but Dudziak was thrilled to have played a part in the Tunisians’ 1-0 win: “It was very special to play for my country. The whole experience, from walking onto the pitch, to the national anthem being played and the general hubbub which comes with an international fixture was very exciting, meaning I was a bit nervous before the match started but I think that’s natural. Coming away victorious was important and the atmosphere in the stadium was amazing, even if I had to subbed off at half-time.” Jerry has the opportunity to double his tally of international appearances this evening when the Tunisians come up against two-time African champions (1992 and 2015) Ivory Coast.

Whilst Dudziak was living the dream of appearing for the national team, teammate Adrian Fein was continuing his rise through the ranks with Germany. After twelve appearances for the under-18, under-19 and under-20 sides, the 20-year-old was handed his debut by under-21 manager Stefan Kuntz on Thursday evening. Fein was part of a solid performance in the team’s friendly against Greece, with Wolfsburg’s Lukas Nmecha and Heidenheim’s Niklas Dorsch grabbing the goals in a 2-0 victory. As well as being given a starting berth, Fein was chosen by the fans as the man-of-the-match, something the native Munich man wasn’t getting too carried away with: “For me it was a special moment to be chosen to play for the under-21s. I hope I can fight for my place in the team here and that we can be as successful as possible as a squad.” Just like club teammate Dudziak, the 20-year-old gets another opportunity to show his quality this evening, with the first European Qualifier of the new cycle for the German side against Wales in Wrexham.