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19.06.2017Bayer 04

Confed Cup: Successful start for Chicharito and Aránguiz

The second day of the tournament began with an exciting 2-2 draw between Portugal and Mexico before Spain beat Cameroon 2-0. Chicharito and his Mexican team-mates twice drew level against the European Champions - the equaliser at 2-2 came in added time. Bernd Leno will be in goal against Australia.
© Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fussball GmbH

Mexico made a bright start to the game but were initially unable to create any clear-cut chances. In contrast, Portugal looked flat at first but it was the European Champions who had the first opportunity: A volley from Cristiano Ronaldo crashed against the bar on 21 minutes and Pepe was on hand to put the rebound in the net. The goal was ruled out following an intervention by the video referee. The Portuguese upped their game and their efforts were rewarded on 34 minutes when Quaresma opened the scoring. The Mexicans refused to give up and Chicharito levelled before the break with a wonderful flying header on 41 minutes.

The second half proved to be dour before coming to life again in the closing stages: Cedric made it 2-1 for Portugal on 86 minutes but the tireless Mexicans hit back as the European Champions appeared to be certain of winning the game. The central defender Moreno netted a deserved equaliser in added time. Chicharito played the full 90 minutes and he is set to play again on Wednesday at 20.00 CET when Mexico take on New Zealand.

Chile score late on against Cameroon

Charles Aránguiz, former Leverkusen player Arturo Vidal and La Roja started the game, as expected, with a dominant and aggressive approach. They succeeded in creating a number of chances in the opening minutes. There were plenty of goalscoring opportunities in the match as Cameroon showed their strength in counter-attacks and set pieces. However, the ball did not end up in the back of the net until added time in the first half. Vargas put away a diagonal ball from Vidal but the celebrations were cut short. Video evidence proved that Vargas was just offside.

The two sides competed on equal terms after the restart as Cameroon were significantly livelier. At the same time, neither side was able to finish. Chile only found their scoring boots in the closing stages of the match: Vidal scored with a header on 81 minutes and, in added time, Vargas doubled the lead after Sanchez failed to score. Aránguiz was substituted on 71 minutes and his next outing is a special match on Thursday at 20.00 CET against his team-mates Leno, Henrichs and Brandt.

Bernd Leno in goal against Australia

Germany play their first game in the tournament in Russia on Monday evening at 17.00 CET. At the press conference on Saturday, Joachim Löw confirmed Bernd Leno will be in goal against Australia for his fifth international cap. The Germany coach also has two other Bayer 04 players available in Benjamin Henrichs and Julian Brandt.

U21s beat Czech Republic in opener

The Germany U21 side started their European Championship finals on Sunday. Max Meyer scored the first goal against the Czech Republic on 44 minutes before Serge Gnabry made it 2-0 after the restart. Germany could have won by a bigger margin with Davie Selke missing a penalty. Dominik Kohr did not play. The next group match is against Denmark on Wednesday night at 20.45 CET.

© Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fussball GmbH

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