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Stefan Kuntz clapped his players with relief, but otherwise the cheers after the successful start of the European Championship for the German U21 footballers were rather restrained.

The ultimately sovereign 3-0 (0-0) against co-hosts Hungary was no more than a mandatory victory for the German offspring in the fight for the quarter-finals.

Thanks to the success well deserved in the end, the selection of coach Kuntz on Wednesday created a good starting position in the group with the Netherlands and Romania.

"We turned a few screws at half-time," said Kuntz at ProSieben.

“Then they suddenly played football very freely.” Only thanks to the increase in performance after the break did Torgarant Lukas Nmecha and double-goal scorer Ridle Baku save their team from a false start.

"You can be very, very satisfied with today's performance," said Baku.

“It's always nice when you start with a win, score three goals and play to zero.

That's a little exclamation point.

It can carry on like this."

The two best teams in the group of four with Romania and the Netherlands make it into the knockout phase.

On Saturday, the duel with group favorites Netherlands is on, who did not get beyond a 1: 1 (1: 1) against Romania at the beginning.

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The hitherto inconspicuous Nmecha met after a cross from Wolfsburg Baku for the important 1-0 (61st minute) against the offensively harmless Hungarians.

“That was the door opener,” said Kuntz, relieved that “we managed to do it that way”.

The other two goals were scored by Baku, who is the only U21 player with experience in the senior national team, himself (66./73.)

This rewarded the German team for a dominant appearance, even if without the missing Dortmund Youssoufa Moukoko the goal threat was missing for a long time.

Mihaly Kata and Lukas Nmecha in a duel

Source: AP / Tibor Illyes

On the edge of the field, Kuntz clenched his fists after the important 1-0.

The coach kept pushing his team on with loud commands.

Kuntz watched the game in a black hooded jacket standing in his coaching zone, his arms mostly crossed or his hands in his trouser pockets.

The 58-year-old was particularly in focus in the summer after speculation about his future and the possible successor to national coach Joachim Löw.

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Kuntz had adjusted his team well despite the short preparation time of only two days, the DFB-Elf started focused and dominant.

The defensive around goalkeeper Finn Dahmen cleared up the few dicey situations with ease.

Kuntz had decided on the 22-year-old from FSV Mainz 05 as number one just a few hours before kick-off.

Above all, Dahmen proved his strengths with the ball on his feet and energetically directed his front men.

Favorite Germany put a lot of pressure on in the early stages.

However, there were hardly any compelling chances to score.

The Hungarians, who were shaken by several corona cases and the injury-related cancellation of ex-Herthaner Palko Dardai before the tournament, held up well, but remained offensive but completely harmless.

Even after half-time, the DFB selection against the supposedly easiest group opponent initially had a hard time.

It wasn't until Nmecha's header after an hour that the game decided.

Subsequently, more and more rooms opened up for the DFB selection, which Baku used for two more worth seeing goals.

The DFB-Elf was now absolutely superior and could have won even higher.