
The South American championship, with a total of twelve teams taking part (ten South American plus Japan and Qatar), sees the Werkself midfielder playing for the holders – Aránguiz was in the Chile teams that won in 2015 and in the special competition held in 2016 to celebrate the centenary of the South American Football Association (CONMEBOL). Ahead of the tournament, La Roja first have a warm-up game in a friendly against Haiti (6 June) before they start the group stage against Japan on 18 June followed by matches against Ecuador (22 June) and Uruguay (25 June).
Leon Bailey is about to make his international debut for Jamaica. Jamaica have called up the 21-year-old for the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's football championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region. The Reggae Boyz have a friendly against the USA (6 June) ahead of group matches against Honduras (18 June), El Salvador (22 June) and Curacao (26 June).
Julian Baumgartlinger and Aleksandar Dragovic have also been called up for international duty with the Austria squad. The Austrians have two European championship qualifiers against Slovenia (7 June) and North Macedonia (10 June) – as does Lukas Hradecky with Finland playing Bosnia-Herzegovina (8 June) and Liechtenstein (11 June). Paulinho is part of the Brazil U23 squad at the Maurice Revello tournament in Provence to be held from 1 to 15 June 2019 that involves top youth teams from across the world. Our number seven is set to play in the group stage against Guatemala (2 June), France (5 June) and Qatar (8 June). Isaac Kiese Thelin can now go on holiday. The forward was in the preliminary Sweden squad but has not made the cut. However, he will need to pack his football boots as the 26-year-old is on standby for the European Championship qualifiers against Malta (7 June) and Spain (10 June).
Jonathan Tah, Kai Havertz and Julian Brandt were called up to the Germany squad last week for the European Championship qualifiers in Belarus (8 June) and against Estonia in Mainz (11 June). The Germany senior squad come together in the Dutch city of Venlo on 2 June for a short training camp. After that, Jonathan Tah will take part in the U21 European Championships (16 to 30 June in Italy and San Marino). The Croatia Football Association have already announced that Tin Jedvaj will be in the World Cup runners-up squad for the European Championship qualifier against Wales (8 June) and a friendly against Tunisia (11 June).


With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
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A successful fourth preseason friendly ahead of the start of the training camp: The Werkself secured a 3-0 victory over Rot-Weiss Essen at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The goals in what was a commanding and dominant performance by Leverkusen from the outset were scored by Ibrahim Maza (8'), Patrik Schick from the penalty spot (23’) and, in the second half, Montrell Culbreath with a header (79’). The team set off for their training camp in Blankenhain in the Weimarer Land region after the game.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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You have voted – your ‘Team of the Quarter-Century’ has been decided! This historic selection, covering the period from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2024, features honorary captains, Bundesliga champions, double winners and Champions League finalists. Edmond Tapsoba is the only player from the current Bayer 04 squad to make it into the starting XI, while his team-mate Patrik Schick is on the bench. Simon Rolfes, the current managing director sport, is also in the lie-up. A truly special team that brings together a quarter of a century of Bayer 04 history – and has left a decisive mark on the club.
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Following Patrik Schick, Mark Flekken, Ibrahim Maza and Kerim Alajbegovic earlier this week, the next World Cup participant is back on the training ground in Leverkusen: On Thursday 30 July, Malik Tillman rejoined the squad, completing his first training session under head coach Carles Martínez.
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