With dedication and passion, Germany's U-21 footballers averted an early setback in the battle for the European Championship ticket.

Led by exceptional talent Youssoufa Moukoko, coach Stefan Kuntz's selection worked out a 3-1 (2-1) win against Latvia on Tuesday in Riga after an early deficit.

This means that the defending champion has a maximum of six points with two wins after two games.

Only the group winner can buy the ticket for the 2023 European Championship finals in Georgia and Romania.

Other opponents are Poland, Hungary and Israel.

Five days after the easy 6-0 win against San Marino, the young German footballers had a hard time against the robust Latvians and fell behind with a header from Ilja Korotkovs (8th minute).

Then the Kuntz selection fought back and turned the game around with hits from Moukoko (25th), Angelo Stiller (41st) and Malick Thiaw (48th).

The initial phase was marked by many duels.

The early backlog did not make the task any easier for the young Germans.

After a corner, the hosts used their physical superiority to make an early 1-0.

The DFB-Elf tried to give a quick answer, but hardly developed a goal danger.

A shot by Tom Krauss past the goal was still the most dangerous approach (20th).

Missed penalty

The defense in front of Hoffenheim's Luca Philipp, who had just moved into goal, repeatedly had problems.

Offensively, captain Jonathan Burkardt missed the very big chance to equalize when he slammed a penalty kick into the aluminum (25th).

Only a few seconds later, however, his strike partner Moukoko struck: With a shot from the edge of the penalty area, he scored his third U-21 goal in the second game.

The DFB selection found itself better and better in the game.

In particular, 16-year-old Moukoko - the youngest German U21 national player and U21 goal scorer since last week - repeatedly confronted the Latvian defense with problems.

The striker could have scored his second goal in several situations.

But then it was Stiller who scored a long-range shot just before the break.

After the break, Schalkes Thiaw headed after a corner. The Kuntz-Elf then managed the two-goal lead, allowed only a little defensively and secured their second victory.