Germany's Woltemade happy about another hat-trick, at U21 Euros
Portugal's Ruben Dias and Germany's Nick Woltemade battle for the ball during the UEFA Nations League semi final soccer match between Germany and Portugal at Allianz Arena. Peter Kneffel/dpa
Nick Woltemade has added to his scoring credentials with a second straight hat-trick to give Germany a winning start into the under-21 European championships and further make a name for himself.
The 24-year-old from VfB Stuttgart scored all goals in Thursday's 3-0 over Slovenia, after also netting three times in a 3-1 over Spain in the team's previous match in March. He has 10 goals from 13 U21 matches overall.
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Woltemade has enjoyed a meteoric rise this year, freely scoring for Stuttgart in the final weeks of the season which has generated interest from other clubs, with Chelsea and Bayern Munich reportedly monitoring his progress.
Woltemade shrugged off this aspect, saying that "these are things I am honestly not dealing with. I am very happy to be here and to have scored three goals."
"It was a very good start and I think it can continue like this. The three goals did me good. And I think they also did the team good."
Germany have big ambitions at the tournament, and Woltemade found the net again after failing to score in his first two senior national team matches last week in the Nations League against Portugal and France.
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Coach Antonio di Salvo hopes that Woltemade's run continues, saying: "The streak with us is scary, but it can go on like this."
Germany next face the Czech Republic on Sunday and defending champion England on Wednesday. Victory against the Czechs could see Germany clinch a place in the quarter-finals.
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