The Fritz-Walter medal is a very notable award in Germany, given to the best talents in Germany. It is named after, well, Fritz Walter, who was the first Germany captain to lead his nation to World Cup glory, sensationally overcoming Hungary’s golden generation in 1954. 3 years after Walter’s death in 2002, the award was created and named after him. Since then, the three deemed the top talents in Germany at both U-17 and U-19 level (2008 and 2006 age groups, this year) have been awarded the gold,
silver or bronze medals.
This year, as captured by the Bundesliga’s official website, four players managed to make the top three in their respective age groups. The one male Bayern youngster who made the list was of course Lennart Karl, who was awarded the silver medal for the 2008 age group. The top three was closed out by Eintracht Frankfurt’s Alexander Staff with the gold and Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Elias Vali Fard with the bronze.
Meanwhile, three female Bayern youngsters made the list. Luzie Zähringer won the gold for the 2008 age group, while Marie Gmeineder ended up with bronze. Lotta Wrede of Hamburger SV ended up with silver. Bayern ended up with a second gold medal winner in Alara, with Estrella Merino Gonzalez of Bayer Leverkusen and Thea Farwick of Meppen rounding out the list with the silver and bronze medals of the 2006 female age group respectively.
There were some other recognizable names in the 2006 male group, with Finn Jeltsch of VfB stuttgart, Said El Mala of 1. FC Köln and Max Moerstedt of TSG Hoffenheim making up the top three.
