Under the leadership of Uwe Schubert, home-grown players have repeatedly made the leap into the professional squad of MSV Duisburg in the past. One youth team stands out in particular. Ahmet Engin, Lukas Daschner, Julian Hettwer, Caspar Jander and, most recently, Max Braune and Jan-Simon Symalla: the list of former MSV Duisburg youth players who have made the leap into professional soccer is long. The long-standing work of Uwe Schubert, who has managed the youth academy for many years and had a lasting influence on it, is therefore highly regarded at Westender Straße. The only current A-youth player who has already had a taste of professional football is goalkeeper Jihan Masseling. The 17-year-old traveled to the training camp in the Netherlands in the summer and was given 30 minutes of playing time in the final test match in Sonsbeck. However, no U19 players will be boarding the plane to Belek this winter. “As things stand at the moment, that is not planned,” head coach Dietmar Hirsch explained last week. However, the ongoing injury woes could still cause a turnaround. Accordingly, it is unlikely that further talents will be ready to make the leap into the professional squad in the short term. Nevertheless, it is worth taking a closer look at the first half of the year for the four NLZ teams from the performance area (U15 to U19):
The U19 team, coached by Marcus Jahn, which has been an integral part of the U19 Bundesliga West from 2006 to 2024, has been playing in the newly created U19 DFB youth league since fall 2024. In preliminary round group G, the Zebras finished fifth with 13 points from twelve games – behind reigning champions 1. FC Köln, Mainz 05, Viktoria Köln, and Fortuna Düsseldorf. From 2026, the battle to avoid relegation will begin in the main round league B.
The U17 team finished third in their preliminary round group in the DFB youth league behind 1. FC Köln, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, and Borussia Mönchengladbach. Here, too, the new year will see the team continue in the main round B. The U15 team currently occupies fifth place in the Regionalliga West, Staffel 1.
The U16 team, coached by Fabian Springob, has been particularly successful: after winning the B-Junioren-Niederrheinliga championship in the summer, the team is also confidently leading the table in the newly created WDFV U16 Youth Cup for the current season. The youth teams from Mönchengladbach, Bochum, Cologne, Leverkusen, Schalke, Essen, and Dortmund are well behind the newly crowned autumn champions.
“We have remained unbeaten for 14 months across two seasons. That is almost unheard of in youth football. In addition, we were able to guide 17 out of 18 players across clubs into the U17 Bundesliga and even train some of them to become national players. That is worth much more than just results,” Springob praises.
“Of course, we want to continue this process and these successes together beyond the summer,” adds the 31-year-old teacher from Solingen, who previously coached the Wuppertaler SV U19 team and worked as assistant coach under Daniel Berlinski at Rot Weiss Ahlen.
The development of the youth teams shows that MSV Duisburg continues to build on a stable foundation. Although breakthroughs to the very top are not to be expected in the near future, in the long term it is probably only a matter of time before the next name of a Meiderich homegrown player appears on the professional list.