The Germany camp reacted with satisfaction after a competitive tie played in pouring rain. “I can only sum it up in the words of my players: It was an awesome game,” said coach Horst Hrubesch. “It was fun. I’m proud of what the team did, how they fought back and never gave up. You could see we’re lacking rhythm and fluency at the moment. But we are in the tournament.” Germany sporting director Hansi Flick said “It’s fantastic the way the team fought back and levelled twice. You have to say the performance after just five training sessions and no warm-up games is sensational.”
Mexico gained the upper hand early on with some aggressive pressing and the FC Köln keeper Timo Horn was called into action on several occasions. After the break Oribe Peralta put the Olympic champions ahead on 52 minutes with a header that Julian Brandt unsuccessfully attempted to clear off the line. Germany drew level six minutes later through substitute Serge Gnabry (Arsenal) who replaced the captain Leon Goretzka. Rodolfo Pizarro restored Mexico’s lead just after the hour mark but Germany levelled again: A pinpoint corner from Julian Brandt was converted by Borussia Dortmund’s Matthias Ginter to make it 2-2 on 79 minutes. Lars Bender lined up alongside his twin brother Sven in holding midfield.
South Korea cruise to victory
Germany’s next game on Sunday (21.00 CET, live on ZDF) is against South Korea. The Koreans routed Fiji in their opening match with an 8-0 victory including a hat-trick from Seung-Woo Ryu and a penalty scored by Heung-Min Son.
It was a perfect start for Bayer 04: in Carles Martínez's first competitive match as Leverkusen head coach, Patrik Schick broke SV Wehen Wiesbaden's resistance shortly before half-time. The Black-and-Reds pulled clear in the second half, winning by a final score of 4-0. There was also good news on the personnel front. The Werkself Review of the 2026/27 DFB Pokal first-round clash.
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After the 4-0 win at SV Wehen Wiesbaden in the first round of the DFB Pokal, goalscorers Lucas Vázquez and Nathan Tella spoke to Werkself-TV...
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 4-0 win at Wehen Wiesbaden in the first round of the DFB-Pokal 2026/27...
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Bayer 04 have comfortably reached the DFB Pokal second round thanks to a 4–0 victory away to Liga 3 side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. Patrik Schick put the Werkself ahead in the first 45 in the first competitive match under head coach Carles Martínez with debuts for new signings Miguel Gutiérrez, Afonso Moreira and Facundo Medina. After the break, Lucas Vázquez (47'), Nathan Tella (69') and Christian Kofane (79') also found the back of the net.
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