In front of 12,000-strong crowd at the A. Le Coq Arena in the Estonian capital of Tallinn, a brace from Ilkay Gündogan after half-time (51’, 57’) put Germany on the way to victory and substitute Timo Werner rounded off proceedings with the third goal on 71 minutes.
Germany, with Kai Havertz in the starting line-up on the right side of midfield in his seventh international, were a man down for 75 minutes of the game after the former Leverkusen player Emre Can was shown a red card for a professional foul (14’). The German team struggled as a result for much of the game. Nadiem Amiri came off the bench on 86 minutes to win his second cap. Germany are level on points with Holland in second place in Group C with two games to play.
Austria also remain on course to qualify for the European Championships finals. The team coached by Franco Foda beat Slovenia 1-0 in Group G. With Slovenia struggling to make an impression in the game, Stefan Posch scored the winner with a header on 21 minutes. Austria are second to Poland, who are already through to the finals, with a five-point lead over North Macedonia. Skipper Julian Baumgartlinger and Aleksandar Dragovic went the full distance in the win for Austria.
Argentina romped home with a 6-1 victory over Ecuador in a friendly on Sunday. Four days after his goal in the 2-2 draw with Germany, Lucas Alario opened the floodgates on 20 minutes – with another header. The other goals for Argentina in a game played in the Spanish city of Elche were an own goal by Jhon Espinoza (27’) plus strikes from Leandro Parades (32’ pen.), German Pezzella (66’), Nicolas Dominguez (82’) and Lucas Ocampos (86’). Ecuador’s Angel Mena scored a consolation goal on 49 minutes. Alario started but was substituted on 57 minutes.
Joel Pohjanpalo celebrated his return to the Finland team on Saturday. After nearly 18 months ruled out through injury, the Werkself number 17 came on for the second half in the Euro qualifier against Bosnia-Herzegovina and he scored the only goal for the Finns in a four-one defeat. Finland were unable to build on their previous performances in the qualifiers and conceded as many goals in this game as in all the previous matches in the qualifying group. The goals for the hosts were scored by Izet Hajrovic (29’), Miralem Pjanic (37’, 58’ pen.) and Armin Hodzic (73’). Lucas Hradecky was in goal for the Eagle Owls and he produced numerous saves to prevent an even greater defeat. Finland remain in second place in Group J behind Italy who have already qualified. The next game for Finland is against third-placed Armenia on Tuesday (18.00 CET).
The head coaches of the U16 to U19 youth teams at Bayer 04 welcome some new faces to the coaching staff for the 2025/26 campaign. Overview of new set-up.
Show moreThe Bayer 04 Women are enjoying their richly deserved summer break up to 23 June following the best Bundesliga season in the club’s history. Six weeks after last season’s final matchday at VfL Wolfsburg (1-3), head coach Roberto Pätzold will welcome his squad for the first training session at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre on Monday morning. There will be a break in the preseason from 20 July to 3 August before training resumes on Monday, 4 August.
Show moreThe Werkself summer timetable is taking shape. The team under head coach Erik ten Hag will play four friendlies following the training camp in Rio de Janeiro (14 to 24 July). Bayer 04 are away to VfL Bochum, Fortuna Sittard and Chelsea. Another friendly is planned for the season opener at the BayArena.
Show moreBayer 04 Leverkusen have signed the Germany U17 international Osman Turay. The 17-year-old joins the Werkself for the new season on a free transfer from Schalke 04. The talented left-back will strengthen the Bayer 04 U19 squad.
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