Tah, who suffered a dead leg in the final group match against Austria and wasn't able to train fully, was fit again in time for the semi-finals. The former Leverkusen player Benjamin Henrichs missed out due to a one-match ban. The Germany coach Stefan Kuntz replaced him at right back with Lukas Klostermann. Nadiem Amiri started up front in place of Marco Richter.
The Germany team started by pressing forward into the opposition box at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara. Rumania focused on their defensive game with counter-attacks and set pieces while Germany looked good up front. It turned into a lively game with Germany having more of possession while Rumania always looked capable of posing a threat. On 21 minutes, Amiri broke through the middle in a counter-attack with the Hoffenheim player scoring with a low drive from 17 yards out to make it 1-0. Rumania had more possession after going behind and looked to find a solution on the pitch. Tah and Co. were lucky when George Pușcaș hit the post on 24 minutes a minute later Rumania found the back of the net from the penalty kick (25'). Rumania were were inspired and Germany looked right after a second drinks break on the half-hour mark. Rumania then hit back again just before the half-time whistle as they turned the game round: Tah endeavoured to stop Andrei Ivan on the edge of the box but his cross found Pușcaș in the middle and he was able to nod Rumania into a 2-1 lead.
Tah was shown the yellow card two minutes after the restart: After losing the ball in midfield the captain held onto the double goalscorer to frustrate a counter-attack. Germany fought their way back into the game as the Kuntz half-time talk appeared to do the trick. Germany then won a penalty on 50 minutes. Luca Waldschmidt tucked the penalty away into the right corner – 2-2. Germany were on top in the second half but were unable to take the lead. Rumania were no longer capable of the counter-attacking style of the first half. In temperatures of almost 40 degrees, Waldschmidt was able to prevent the game going into extra time. The Freiburg player hit a free kick through the wall to make it 3-2. Germany finally wrapped up proceedings in added time: Rumania's Alex Pascanu was shown a red card for pulling the shirt of substitute Lukas Nmecha and Amiri converted the spot kick to make it 4-2.
The final on Sunday night at 20.45 CET as against winner of the second semi-final between Spain and France.
A Werkself pro is in the final of a continental championship and two others are aiming for the semi-finals. Chile with Charles Aránguiz play Colombia on Saturday 29 June (01.00 CET). Leon Bailey and Jamaica are looking to go through to the last four in the Gold Cup – late on Saturday night (23.30 CET) the Reggae Boyz play Panama. Bayer 04 U19 player Marc Lamti is in the second group match for Tunisia at the Africa Cup.
Bayer 04 midfielder Ibrahim Maza was honoured in Paris in the Best Algerian Young Player category at the Fennec d'Or awards for the Algerian Footballer of the Year, organised for the first time by the football journal La Gazette du Fennec. "It's an honour for me," said the 19-year-old, delighted with the award.
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On the back of two wins within four days, Bayer 04 Women round off an intensive Bundesliga week in the Black Forest. Roberto Pätzold's side have the chance to move back up to third place against SC Freiburg in the final fixture of Matchday 10 on Monday (18:00 CET) and draw level on points with second-placed VfL Wolfsburg.
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The last international break of this calendar year features the final qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. An overview of who's playing where and when from a Leverkusen point of view.
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Never before have Bayer 04 led 4-0 so early in the Bundesliga, never before have they won a Bundesliga home match by a higher margin. Leverkusen's exhibition display against 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 produced many stories, records and debuts. While Kasper Hjulmand's side celebrated the rousing performance properly with the fans, Jonas Hofmann and Co aren't losing focus: "We have to be careful that we don't just praise ourselves. The games come thick and fast again after the international break." The Werkself Review has all the reaction and analysis of the 6-0 victory at the BayArena.
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