Maximilian and Johannes Eggestein are back in Bremen. On Wednesday afternoon, the Green-White brothers returned from international duty. In short: two debuts, two goals and brilliant experience. “We can both take lots from these last two games. For me, it was great match practice and new experiences at a high, international level,” Johannes Eggestein said to WERDER.DE.
The younger Eggestein brother celebrated his first goal for the Germany U21s on his debut against Hungary. Shortly after coming onto the pitch, he proved his eye for goal. Looking back, the 19-year-old admits he was “just a tiny bit” surprised to be called up and given a cap for the team. He bypassed the U20 side to play for the U21s. Along with Aymen Barkok, he was one of the youngest members of the squad who won the European Championships in the summer. Being named in Stefan Kuntz’s squad was “a reward and recognition of all the hard work I put in, day in, day out”, Eggestein said.
Johannes paid this trust back with a goal off the bench. “The debut couldn’t have gone better for me personally. I came on, scored and played well enough to make me stand out. If we’d won the game, it would’ve been the perfect start,” commented Eggestein, who had made his Bundesliga bow the weekend before against FC Bayern.
That also put Johannes Eggestein a step ahead in the family battle. His performance didn’t put any extra pressure on his brother’s shoulders though, the eighteen-month-older brother Maxi assured. “I was of course happy to even it up but it is more his job to score as a striker than it is mine. I didn’t feel under pressure at all,” Maximilian Eggestein said to WERDER.DE with a chuckle.
The two games weren’t just the midfielder’s first games in a Germany shirt in two years but his winner in the 1-0 European qualifying victory over Kosovo was also his first goal for the Germany junior side. “I wanted to show that I justified my selection in the squad. I’m really happy to score but the more important thing is that we won and started our qualification campaign well.”
Alexander Nouri, Werder’s head coach watched the game first-hand in Osnabrück and was impressed. “Both of them played really, really well. I was very happy with both of our boys,” Nouri exclaimed. After their return, both Eggesteins trained individually on Wednesday but they will both be available for selection for the Hertha match. “We want to get three points in Berlin and to have the confidence from the U21s victory is great,” Maximilian Eggestein said.
