The Eagle Owls secured a comfortable 3-0 win against rivals Liechtenstein in front of 10,000 fans in Helsinki and are guaranteed second place in Group J behind Italy with a game to play. With the injured Werkself striker Joel Pohjanpalo looking on, Lukas Hradecky kept a clean sheet and ended up celebrating wearing an eagle owl mask. The Finland goals were scored by Jasse Tuominen (21’) and Teemu Pukki (64’, 75’).
Lucas Alario also had reason to celebrate with Argentina. In the clash with Brazil, a friendly played in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, the Gauchos won 1-0. The winner was scored by Lionel Messi on 14 minutes and Alario came off the bench with two minutes of normal time to play
Moussa Diaby, playing for the France U21s, celebrated a fortunate 3-2 win against Georgia to clock up a third win in the third Euro qualifier (Group B). The winner was scored in added time from the penalty spot by Odsonne Edouard. Georgia levelled through goals from Giorgi Kokhreidze (58’) and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (60’) after France had gone 2-0 up with a brace from Jeff Reine-Adelaide (15’, 54’). Diaby started on the right wing and played until being substituted on 83 minutes.
It was not a very happy night for Panagiotis Retsos. He led out the Greece U21s as captain in a Euro qualifier against Scotland in Edinburgh but ended up being sent off on 63 minutes after being shown a second yellow card. In spite of being a man down, his team-mates went on to win the game thanks to a penalty in added time scored by Dimitris Nikoalou. That leaves Greece top of the table in Group D. Paulinho (Brazil U23s) and Adrian Stanilewicz (Poland U20s) were in action on Thursday. Paulinho and the Brazil Olympic team beat USA 1-0 in a friendly played in the Spanish city of Las Palmas, Stanilewicz celebrated a runaway 5-1 victory over Switzerland with the Poland U 20 side in the Elite League. The young Werkself pro watched from the bench.
Germany, with Jonathan Tah and Nadiem Amiri in the squad, play Belarus in a Euro 2020 qualifier tonight (kick- off: 20.45 CET). At the same time, Austria play North Macedonia with Julian Baumgartlinger as captain and Aleksandar Dragovic also set to play.
New signing Miguel Gutiérrez arrives in Leverkusen having won the Champions League, the Spanish league title and an Olympic gold medal. However, the 25-year-old Spaniard, signed from Napoli, is looking to the future – he wants to write the next chapter of success with the Werkself. Bayer04.de takes a closer look at the skilful, attack-minded left-back, who will wear the number 3 jersey.
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The Werkself's training camp in Weimarer Land all in one place: in our daily blog you'll find all the insights and updates from the day. Day three (Tuesday 4 August) begins with a thorough open session on the pitch. After lunch, some players have media engagements at the team hotel, and then the team come together for a barbecue in the evening.
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Nine matches against teams from nine countries, two penalty shoot-outs won, and encounters that went far beyond football: As with last year, the Inklusionswerkself enjoyed an extraordinary week at the Genuine Cup 2026 in Houston, USA, and made memories that will last a lifetime. This year, the Leverkusen side took part as Germany’s official representatives and, accordingly, took to the pitch in Germany kit. Together with 53 teams from 53 nations, the Black and Reds once again sent a powerful message of inclusion and participation – and also impressed on the pitch by winning their group.
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The Werkself training camp in the Weimarer Land all in one place: in our daily blog, you’ll find all the insights and updates from the day. The programme for day two (Monday, 3 August) centres on two training sessions – one in the morning (open to the public) and one in the early evening (behind closed doors) – at the nearby training grounds. In the afternoon, fans can look forward to a big fan meet-up with club legend Paulo Sergio at Schloss Blankenhain.
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