For Charles Aránguiz and the Chile team there was a 2-1 defeat in the friendly against Honduras last night. The Werkself number 20 played the full 90 minutes in holding midfield in the away fixture in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula. After a good first 30 minutes and a deserved lead at half-time, La Roja were unable to reproduce the same performance in the second half – and they conceded two goals late on.
There was a more successful but also more relaxing time for Lucas Alario. The 26-year-old, who returned to the Argentina side after a two-year break in the goalless draw against Chile, did not play in the 4-0 victory inflicted by his fellow countryman on Mexico in a friendly. Instead he spent the 90 minutes on the bench at the Alamdome in the city of San Antonio in Texas.
Panagiotis Retsos was also able to celebrate victory for his country. Playing for the Greece U21 team, he was in the side that registered a 1-0 home win against Lithuania to further secure top spot in Group Four. As in Thursday's friendly against the Germany U21s, the 20-year-old led the Greece youngsters out as captain.
It was an evening of mixed feelings for U19 player Marc Lamti: He was on the winning side for the Tunisia U23s in a 2-1 victory against Cameroon and he did provide an assist. However, due to the away goals rule (after a 1-0 defeat in the first leg), his team just missed out on qualifying for the Africa U23 Cup of Nations as well as a place in next year's Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The European jersey has been launched, the UEL opponents have been drawn – and anticipation for the European campaign is running high. To mark the occasion, an autograph session was held on Friday afternoon, 28 August, at the Fanwelt with current Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and official club legend Paulo Sergio.
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After six and a half years, Exequiel Palacios is leaving the Bundesliga and moving from Bayer 04 to the Premier League. The Argentine, who as a Werkself player won the World Cup with his national team four years ago and finished as runners-up at this summer’s tournament, will play for newly promoted English side Ipswich Town with immediate effect. The 27-year-old, whose contract in Leverkusen was due to run until 30 June 2030, joined Bayer 04 in January 2020 as a promising young talent. He steadily developed into one of the best defensive midfielders in the German top flight.
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When Exequiel Palacios moved from the Argentinian club River Plate to Bayer Leverkusen on 1 January 2020, the then 21-year-old could not have imagined just how successful the next six and a half years would be for him. Pala, as he is known, had already won the Copa Libertadores – the most prestigious competition in South American club football – with River Plate. But there were still so many more trophies to come.
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To mark Exequiel Palacios’s departure, we’ve put together a compilation of the midfielder’s finest and most important goals from his six-and-a-half years at the club.
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