A heavily depleted Borussia Dortmund U19 side went down 2-0 to VfB Stuttgart in the DFB's special match round and thus ended the 2022/23 season on a losing note. 

16-year-old central defender Elias Benkara, who suffered a cruciate ligament tear in August which sidelined him for several months, celebrated a maiden appearance for the U19s. 

VfB Stuttgart snatched a 1-0 lead in the 68th minute thanks to a goal from Tom Barth, then Eliyah Rau netted in the closing stages to double the advantage. The Black & Yellows defended well and created a few good opportunities, but just seemed to lack energy and ambition after a long and draining season. 

''The lads gave a good showing, especially in the first half, against a full-strength Stuttgart U19 team. Unfortunately they weren't able to get a goal despite some good attacking play,'' said coach Mike Tullberg after the final whistle. 

Noa-Gabriel Simic, Farouk Cisse, Hendry Blank, Michel Ludwig, Isaak Nwachukwu and Vasco Walz all made their final appearances for the club at academy level. After a five-week summer break, Mike Tullberg will commence preparations for the 2023/24 season on 25 June. 

BVB: Lisewski (78, Aabro) – Ubani (46, Simic), Benkara (46, Nwachukwu), Cisse, Blank – Krevsun, Lubach, Ludwig (46, Walz), Onofrietti, Korzynietz – Rijkhoff (59, König)

Kjell Wätjen scores for the Germany U17s in 3-0 win over Scotland

With Borussia players Paris Brunner and Kjell Wätjen in the starting line-up, the Germany U17 national team made it three wins from three in the European Championship being held in Hungary. After the 4-0 triumph over Portugal and the 3-1 win over France, the young German team coached by Christian Wück defeated Scotland 3-0 and will now face either England or Switzerland in the quarter-finals on Saturday. 

With a first-place finish in the group already secured, Almugera Kabar was rested, while Charles Herrmann was not substituted on until the 71st minute. Paris Brunner, who missed three good chances to score in the first half, was given a rest in the second half to prepare for the knock-out stage. Wück gave Kjell Wätjen his first start, and he repaid his faith with an impeccable performance and a goal to make it 3-0 after Noah Darvich (SC Freiburg) and Bence Dardai (Hertha BSC) had scored earlier. (wiwi)