Neymar, who opened the scoring on 27 minutes, converted the winning spot-kick after the keeper Weverton saved the previous penalty from Nils Petersen. Max Meyer levelled at 1-1 just before the hour mark. “It’s not a bitter blow. We knew it could end in penalties. We had the chance to win the game before that. Before the penalties I told the lads they’d done something outstanding. We leave here as winners not losers,” said coach Trainer Horst Hrubesch after his last match in charge for Germany: “Of course, I did want a gold medal as did the lads but I’m still happy. We spent the last four days in the Olympic Village and that was a fantastic experience.”
Brandt strikes first
Julian Brandt provided the first excitement in an incredibly intensive encounter when he rifled a shot against the bar from the edge of the box on 11 minutes. Brazil had more luck when Neymar hit a free kick just under the bar to give Brazil the lead on 27 minutes. The bar intervened again to frustrate a shot from Meyer (31’) and a header from Sven Bender (35’) – three times against the goal frame is a lot of woodwork.
Bender goes off
The deserved equaliser came after the restart: Julian Brandt put Jeremy Toljan through on the right and his cross was met by Meyer who turned it into the bottom corner to level at 1-1 on 59 minutes. A setback followed as the battler Lars Bender had to go off injured after putting in an heroic defensive run to keep out Renato Augusto on 65 minutes.
It was a no-holds barred encounter all the way with Brandt having another effort on goal in extra time but his impressive shot flew just over the target on 97 minutes. Brandt converted his penalty in the shoot-out as the third German player up with a shot into the right corner. The two sides remained inseparable until Weverton saved from Petersen and Neymar took the roof off the Maracana with the winning penalty.
A sensational effort by Germany ended in silver – and the recognition that a team put together late on could have a fantastic tournament. Well done, Lars and Julian.
The Werkself kicked off the final international break of the current season on Monday morning with the first of three open training sessions this week. While eleven Bayer 04 players will be away on international duty in the coming days, the other players will be working together in Leverkusen. The next challenge in the Bundesliga awaits on Saturday, 4 April (kick-off: 15:30 CEST) with the home game against VfL Wolfsburg.
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Due to maintenance work, the online shop and other digital services from Bayer 04 Leverkusen will be temporarily restricted or unavailable from Monday, 23 March (18:00 CET) to Thursday, 26 March. Bayer 04 will provide immediate updates via the club's official channels if the work is completed earlier than planned. The overview.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-0 win against FC Carl Zeiss Jena on the 21th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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Thanks to a masterstroke from Katharina Piljic, the Werkself secured their eleventh win of the season in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga. On Sunday evening, coach Roberto Pätzold's team beat FC Carl Zeiss Jena 1-0. Midfielder Piljic scored the winning goal with a volley into the corner from the edge of the box (19’) in front of 633 spectators at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium - and ensured that Leverkusen moved up to fifth place in the table for at least one night with 34 points.
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Bayer 04 will have to make do without forward Martin Terrier in the next few weeks. The Frenchman sustained a muscle injury in his right hamstring in Saturday's 3-3 draw at Heidenheim in the Bundesliga.
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