
Led by captain Julian Baumgartlinger and Aleksandar Dragovic, Austria took a big step towards qualifying for next year's European Championships. The Austrians produced a good performance to register a 3-1 win against Israel in the Group G match at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna. Eran Zahavy (34') gave the visitors the lead before the former Hertha Berlin player Valentino Lazaro (41') plus Eintracht Frankfurt's Martin Hinteregger (56') and Leipzig's Marcel Sabitzer (88') scored to turn the game round. Baumgartlinger played the full 90 minutes in defensive midfield and Dragovic also went the distance in central defence. Austria are now in second place in the group behind Poland having gone ahead of their next opponents in the qualifiers, Slovenia (Sunday, 13 October, 20.45 CET).
In the U21 Euro qualifiers, Panagiotis Retsos captained Greece in a 1-1 draw in the Czech Republic that keeps them top of Group 4. Playing with ten men for much of the game after a sending off on 24 minutes, Greece took the lead just before half-time with a strike from Giannis Bouzoukis (45') but the hosts levelled on 76 minutes with Adam Hlozek getting on the scoresheet. Retsos played in defensive midfield for the full 90 minutes. The 21-year-old should be in the senior Greece squad on Tuesday (15 October, 20.45 CET) for European qualifier against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Moussa Diaby was in the France U21s for a convincing 5-0 home win against Azerbaijan in Group 2 in the European qualifiers. The French side dominated proceedings from the start in Calais – Odsonne Édouard (2', 36') gave the hosts the lead before Dortmund's Dan-Axel Zagadou converted an assist from Diaby to make it 3-0 on 40 minutes. Houssem Aouar (51') and Arnaud Nordin (76’) rounded off the scoring in the second half. The Werkself number 19 played the whole game on the right wing.
The Brazil Olympic team beat Venezuela 4-1 in a friendly. Paulinho, who was on the left wing for the full 90 minutes, provided both assists for Antony just after the restart to put the SeleçãoOlímpica on course for victory at the Estadio dos Aflitos in Recife. Before that, Cristian Cásseres Jr. (37') levelled the score after Douglas Luiz gave the hosts the lead on 24 minutes. Pedro made it 4-1 for the Brazil U23s with the final goal on 73 minutes.
Adrian Stanilewicz celebrated a last-minute win with the Poland U20s against Germany: The winner in the Elite League match came in the final minute as Poland won 4-3. In front of a crowd of 2,000 in Norderstedt in Schleswig-Holstein, Tomasz Makowski opened the scoring for the visitors in the first minute before the Germany U20s turned the game round with goals from Manuel Wintzheimer (7', 21' pen.) and John Yeboah Zamora (36'). In the end Marcel Zylla (40'), Dawid Kurmiokowski (48') and Lukasz Poreba (90') secured the win for Poland. Stanilewicz played for 62 minutes.


Bayer 04 preparations for the 2026/27 season are in full swing, with the first friendly now under their belts. Although there are still around seven weeks to go until the first Bundesliga home game in early September, there is already huge anticipation for the start of competitive action for head coach Carles Martínez’s team at the BayArena. For the Bundesliga home matches of the new season, here is the latest information regarding the first phase of single-match ticket sales. The tried-and-tested early-bird phase remains in place. From 23 to 31 July, tickets for matches will go on sale on weekdays; the early-bird phase ends on 5 August at the latest – provided tickets are still available by then.
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Like last year, Bayer 04 Women held their summer training camp in Rieden. Coach Roberto Pätzold gives his assessment of the time in the Upper Palatinate, discusses the integration of the 11 new players and the unusual team building measures, gives his thoughts on the friendly and looks ahead to the start of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga season in August.
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Just in time for the start of the summer holidays in North Rhine-Westphalia, the Werkself will hold another open training session on Tuesday 21 July. The session at the BayArena is scheduled to start at 11:00 CEST and will again be available to watch in a live stream. The fans who are there can look forward to a very special surprise.
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Bayer 04 turned in a dominant performance in a 7-0 win against fifth-tier side Sportfreunde Baumberg in their first friendly ahead of the 2026/27 season. A brace from debutant Afonso Moreira (19', 27') either side of a Christian Kofane strike (23') put the Werkself 3-0 up in the first of the two 35-minute halves in Monheim am Rhein. After the break, Victor Boniface (49', 53'), Robert Andrich (56') and Nathan Tella (67') scored for the completely changed Leverkusen team. It was therefore a successful friendly debut for new head coach Carles Martínez and his team, although the hosts also had something to celebrate despite the defeat: the match marked the inauguration of Baumberg's new ground, the MEGA Stadion.
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