
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)


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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