But that was no surprise. The youngster has made fantastic progress in the past few weeks and he reached another milestone in Serraville on Friday night.
“I think I need another two nights before I can take it all in,” beamed Henrichs after the 8-0 win in San Marino. “The lads have been brilliant and I really feel at home in the team. Serge and me should give a speech, sing or something similar. We’d be happy to do that after a game like that,” said Benny with a smile after the expectedly high win against the absolute underdogs.
Youngest-ever Germany international in Bayer 04’s history
19 years and 262 days: That is how old Henrichs was on his full international debut for Germany. That makes him the youngest-ever Germany international at Bayer 04. Gonzalo Castro, the previous record holder, was a month older when he made his debut in 2007.
Henrichs showed no signs of nerves on the night. The full back even had the first chance on the match but he just missed the target from 14 yards out on two minutes. The goals started coming a few minutes later with the captain Sami Khedira making it 1-0 on seven minutes. Serge Gnabry, the second debutant alongside Henrichs, doubled the lead two minutes later.
Henrichs chances on goal
The team coached by Joachim Löw dominated proceedings after the early brace and plenty of goalscoring opportunities followed. One of them again fell to Benny Henrichs but the homegrown Bayer 04 talent again missed the target. On 32 minutes, Jonas Hector scored the third goal on the night. Half-time came with the scoreline still 3-0 in favour of Germany.
Volland like Gerd Müller
Germany still retained complete control of the game after thec restart. Serge Gnabry netted his second goal on his international debut on 58 minutes to put Germany 4-0 up. Jonas Hector bagged his second just after the hour mark and goal number six was also scored by Werder Bremen’s Gnabry (75’).
And the goal fest carried on – thanks to Kevin Volland. The Werkself striker, introduced on 70 minutes, put in a pin-point cross on 82 minutes and the ball was put into the San Marino net by one of their own players. Three minutes later it was Volland who got onto the scoresheet with a goal on the turn like Gerd Müller at his best to round off the scoring at 8-0. That was the first international goal for Volland and the result strengthens Germany’s lead in Group C with a five-point lead over second-placed Northern Ireland.
Aránguiz makes a point with Chile
Charles Aránguiz was in action on Thursday night with Chile in a 0-0 draw with Colombia in the South American World Cup qualifiers. Aránguiz went off injured on 73 minutes. The Chileans are now fifth in the table behind Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay and leaders Brazil.
This special event showed once again how strong Bayer 04 are as a team: As part of ‘BarmeniaGothaer gives joy’, the Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane supported the sale of individually designed T-shirts for a good cause at the Fanwelt on Thursday. Several hundred fans came to take part in the charity campaign. Leverkusen's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer donated the proceeds to the Fondation Edmond Tapsoba, which helps people in Tapsoba's home country of Burkina Faso in their challenging everyday lives.
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With three games to play before the end of the season, the Bayer 04 Women can break one record and equal another at SGS Essen. After three wins on the bounce, coach Roberto Pätzold's team are aiming to maintain the chance of third place in Sunday’s away game (14:00 CEST, Stadion an der Hafenstraße).
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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 personalised 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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From Ouagadougou to Leverkusen – and back: in March, Bayer 04 travelled with Edmond Tapsoba for a special project in his homeland Burkina Faso. The country where his roots and heart lie. The country where he’s more than a world-class defender: a symbol of hope and a role model for an entire generation. The result is a 45-minute documentary about Tapsoba’s long journey from Africa via Portugal to Leverkusen, which offers extraordinary, one-off and emotional insights.
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Edmond Tapsoba has signed an early extension to his contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. With two years left on his current deal, the 27-year-old Burkina Faso international has extended his contract until 30 June 2031. The centre-back joined as a young talent from Portuguese top-flight club Vitoria Guimaraes at the start of 2020.
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