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.
Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and Bayer 04 loanee Francis Onyeka are part of Germany's final squad for the U19 European Championships this summer. The tournament is in Wales from 24 June to 12 July.
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Bayer 04 are away to third-division club SV Wehen Wiesbaden in the first round of the 2026/27 DFB Pokal. That was the outcome of the draw on Saturday night, 6 June, at the German Football Museum in Dortmund. The Werkself first round tie will be played between 21 and 24 August. The exact date has yet to be finalised.
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Carles Martìnez is raring to go. The 42-year-old speaks in his first interview in Leverkusen about the club's development to date and how he wants to build on it. He describes his previous work in France, Kuwait, Qatar and his native Barcelona, his experience in developing young players, and the key steps between now and the start of pre-season training.
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New Bayer 04 head coach Carles Martínez has arrived in Leverkusen! At midday on Friday, the 42-year-old spoke in a press conference at the BayArena about his philosophy and his aims. Managing director sport Simon Rolfes also discussed the reasons for appointing the former Toulouse boss.
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