Yesil raring to go for Germany

Germany, many people's UEFA European Under-17 Championship favourites, fell 2-0 in their opener against the Netherlands – but having watched from the sidelines, leading scorer Samed Yesil is keen to put that right on Friday.

A yellow card in Germany's last elite round game ruled Yesil out of the first match here in Serbia, and his team-mates drew a blank in a Group B reverse. Yesil, scorer of eight goals in qualifying is available again to face the Czech Republic in Smederevo and cannot wait to get going.

"Unfortunately I could not help my team against the Netherlands, but in the next match I will do my best to help my team," the Bayer 04 Leverskusen forward told UEFA.com. "I will give everything I have for the 80 minutes and we will see what the result will be."

Yesil, who struck 23 goals in 20 youth league games this season for Leverkusen, gave credit to the Netherlands team but believes the Czech Republic's 1-1 draw with Romania keeps matters in Germany's hands. "The Netherlands were the better team and they deserved to win," he said. "But that does not mean that we played badly. The other match in our group was a draw so it is still in our own hands. If we win the next two matches we are in the semi-finals."

All six of Yesil's competitive international appearances this season have ended in victory for Germany, a tremendous run in the first tournament campaign of coach Steffen Freund – a man with plenty of success to his name as a player.

"I have played for the last 18 months under Steffen Freund and we worked really hard to qualify for this tournament – we are really happy to be here in Serbia," Yesil said. "Certainly it helps to have a coach who was a successful football player in his own right. He sometimes tells us stories from his own career. He always has useful tips for us which we willingly absorb."

Just as Freund was in the Germany squad that won the senior European title in 1996, so their youth teams have been laden with trophies in recent years, including this U17 title in 2009. But Yesil points out: "The success of the other German youth national teams does not put us under pressure. We have to forget the defeat against the Netherlands. You always have to deal with defeats and now we have to keep our heads up and carry on."