International round-up: Stange qualifies for European Championship, Otele makes Nigeria debut

The international break is over and the nine HSV players away with their national teams have now mostly returned to Hamburg. The biggest highlight at the end of the period was surely for striker Otto Stange, who helped Germany’s U19s qualify for this summer’s European Championship on Tuesday (31st March), playing a decisive role in their 3-2 win over Austria with a brace. The 19-year-old had already impressed six days earlier in the 2-2 draw with Sweden, scoring once and setting up another.

Philip Otele also fulfilled a dream by making his debut for Nigeria. The forward came on late in the 2-2 draw against Jordan. “For any footballer, it’s an absolute highlight. Right now, though, it’s still just a dream I can only achieve step by step through hard work,” Otele had said in an interview with HSV.de only a few weeks ago. That dream has now become reality.

Miro Muheim (Switzerland) and Giorgi Gocholeishvili (Georgia) were also used from the bench. Muheim played around 15 minutes in Switzerland’s 0-0 draw with Norway on Tuesday, while Gocholeishvili was on the pitch for a few minutes in Georgia’s 2-0 win over Lithuania the day before. At his own request, the right-back was already back training with HSV on Tuesday. “He told me he really wanted to train. Of course that was great to hear. It was a really positive signal from him,” said head coach Merlin Polzin.

Fabio Balde, meanwhile, scored his first goal for Portugal’s U20s on Monday in just his second appearance for the side. The HSV academy product got their second goal in the 68th minute of their 2-1 win over Czechia in the Elite League. In the same competition, Hannes Hermann was in goal for 86 minutes in Germany U20s’ 1-0 win over Poland on Tuesday.

Luka Vuskovic due back in Hamburg on Thursday

The last HSV player in action was Luka Vuskovic, whose Croatia side faced Brazil in Orlando, USA, in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The defender came up against stars including Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid and Gabriel Martinelli of Arsenal. Croatia were beaten 3-1, with Vuskovic playing 82 minutes. After scoring his first senior international goal in the previous game against Colombia (2-1), the centre-back is now expected back in Hamburg on Thursday, according to Polzin. The 35-year-old said the travel demands on Vuskovic – and on striker Damion Downs, who was with USA’s U21s in South Korea – had been “extreme”, with both HSV players having to travel to the other side of the world. Downs rounded off the international break with a 25-minute substitute appearance in Tuesday’s 4-1 win over South Korea’s U23s.

Ransford Königsdörffer did not feature in Ghana’s 2-1 defeat to Germany on Monday. It was the Black Stars’ fourth straight loss, with former HSV man Otto Addo subsequently relieved of his duties as national team coach just two and a half months before the World Cup. Speaking of this summer’s tournament, Yussuf Poulsen and Albert Grönbaek had to watch from afar on Tuesday as Denmark missed out on qualification. The Danes lost 3-1 on penalties to Czechia in their play-off final. Poulsen and Grönbaek were unavailable for Denmark due to injury. Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the other hand, enjoyed better fortunes under their coach and HSV legend Sergej Barbarez. After a 1-1 draw, their 4-1 penalty shootout win over Italy secured one of the final World Cup spots – congratulations to the Dragons!

Overview of all games involving the Rothosen:     

Philip Otele
27.03.2026, Friendly: Iran 1-2 Nigeria
31.03.2026, Friendly: Jordan 2-2 Nigeria

Miro Muheim
27.03.2026, Friendly: Switzerland 3-4 Germany
31.03.2026, Friendly: Norway 0-0 Switzerland

Giorgi Gocholeishvili
26.03.2026, Friendly: Georgia 2-2 Israel
29.03.2026, Friendly: Lithuania 0-2 Georgia

Luka Vuskovic
27.03.2026, Friendly: Colombia 1-2 Croatia
01.04.2026, Friendly: Croatia 1-3 Brazil

Ransford Königsdörffer 
27.03.2026, Friendly: Austria 5-1 Ghana
30.03.2026, Friendly: Germany 2-1 Ghana

Damion Downs
28.03.2026, U21 friendly: Japan 0-2 USA
31.03.2026, U21 friendly: South Korea 1-4 USA

Fabio Balde
27.03.2026, U20 Elite League: Portugal 3-0 Switzerland
30.03.2026, U20 Elite League: Czechia 1-2 Portugal

Hannes Hermann 
26.03.2026, U20 friendly: Germany 2-1 Czechia
31.03.2026, U20 friendly: Poland 0-1 Germany

Otto Stange
25.03.2026, U19 EUROs Elite round: Germany 2-2 Sweden
28.03.2026, U19 EUROs Elite round: Germany 1-0 Greece
31.03.2026, U19 EUROs Elite round: Austria 2-3 Germany