
The Werkself defender played in a back three alongside Niklas Süle and Matthias Ginter. The 23-year-old initially had little to do as Germany made an impressive start playing a high, pressing game. Leroy Sané scored the deserved opener on 12 minutes. Germany failed to maintain their early domination but recovered in the second half. Marco Reus doubled the lead on 62 minutes and he was replaced on 76 minutes by Julian Brandt. Kai Havertz remained on the bench against Belarus.
World Cup runners-up Croatia, with Tin Jedvaj in the starting eleven, beat Wales 2-1 in the Euro 2020 qualifier on Saturday night. Jedvaj was booked on 50 minutes. Lukas Hradecky was in goal for Finland as they looked to book a place at Euro 2020. The Werkself number one kept a clean sheet with Finland securing a 2-0 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina. Paulinho was also in action on Saturday for the Brazil U23s: In the final group game at the Maurice Revello Tournament, a youth tournament in Provence, Brazil beat Qatar 5-0 with Paulinho netting a double. That was on the back of 4-0 victories for the South Americans against France on Thursday and Guatemala last Sunday.
Aleksandar Dragovic played for Austria against Slovenia on Friday in the Euro 2020 qualifiers. Austria won 1-0 with Dragovic going the full distance. Julian Baumgartlinger missed out due to a late injury. "Julian Baumgartlinger suffered severe inflammation in his ankle that unfortunately rules him out for the games against Slovenia and North Macedonia," announced the Austrian FA on Twitter.
Chile won 2-1 in a friendly against Haiti on Friday. Charles Aránguiz came on just before the end of the game on 88 minutes. Jamaica faced the USA in a friendly. The Reggae Boyz won 1-0 with Leon Bailey an unused sub. The 21-year-old has to wait to make his international debut – he has another chance in the Gold Cup the week after next.
Next fixtures for our internationals:
Julian Brandt, Kai Havertz and Jonathan Tah (Germany)
Tuesday, 11 June (20.45 CET, Mainz): Germany v Estonia (Euro qualifier, Group C)
Jonathan Tah (Germany U21)
Monday, 17 June (21.00 CET, Udine): Germany U21 v Denmark U21 (Euros, Group stage)
Thursday, 20 June (21.00 CET, Trieste): Germany U21 v Serbia U21 (Euros, Group stage)
Sunday, 23 June (21.00 CET, Udine): Austria U21 v Germany U21 (Euros, Group stage)
Aleksandar Dragovic (Austria)
Monday, 10 June (20.45 CET, Skopje): North Macedonia v Austria (Euro qualifier, Group G)
Lukas Hradecky (Finland)
Tuesday, 11 June (20.45 CET, Vaduz): Liechtenstein v Finland (Euro qualifier, Group J)
Tin Jedvaj (Croatia)
Tuesday, 11 June (20.45 CET, Varaždin): Croatia v Tunisia (Friendly)
Charles Aránguiz (Chile)
Tuesday, 18 June (01.00 CET, Sao Paulo): Japan v Chile (Copa America, Group stage)
Saturday, 22 June (01.00 CET, Salvador): Ecuador v Chile (Copa America, Group stage)
Tuesday, 25 June (01.00 CET, Rio de Janeiro): Chile v Uruguay (Copa America, Group stage)
Leon Bailey (Jamaica)
Tuesday, 18 June (03.00 CET, Kingston): Jamaica v Honduras (Gold Cup, Group stage)
Saturday, 22 June (01.00 CET, Houston): El Salvador v Jamaica (Gold Cup, Group stage)
Wednesday, 26 June (02.00 CET, Los Angeles): Jamaica v Curaçao (Gold Cup, Group stage)
Paulinho (Brasilien U23)
Tuesday 11 June to Thursday 13 June: Play-offs (Maurice Revello Tournament)
Isaac Kiese Thelin (Sweden – on stand-by)
Monday, 10 June (20.45 CET, Madrid): Spain v Sweden (Euro qualifier, Group F)


The European jersey has been launched, the UEL opponents have been drawn – and anticipation for the European campaign is running high. To mark the occasion, an autograph session was held on Friday afternoon, 28 August, at the Fanwelt with current Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and official club legend Paulo Sergio.
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After six and a half years, Exequiel Palacios is leaving the Bundesliga and moving from Bayer 04 to the Premier League. The Argentine, who as a Werkself player won the World Cup with his national team four years ago and finished as runners-up at this summer’s tournament, will play for newly promoted English side Ipswich Town with immediate effect. The 27-year-old, whose contract in Leverkusen was due to run until 30 June 2030, joined Bayer 04 in January 2020 as a promising young talent. He steadily developed into one of the best defensive midfielders in the German top flight.
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When Exequiel Palacios moved from the Argentinian club River Plate to Bayer Leverkusen on 1 January 2020, the then 21-year-old could not have imagined just how successful the next six and a half years would be for him. Pala, as he is known, had already won the Copa Libertadores – the most prestigious competition in South American club football – with River Plate. But there were still so many more trophies to come.
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To mark Exequiel Palacios’s departure, we’ve put together a compilation of the midfielder’s finest and most important goals from his six-and-a-half years at the club.
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