
After the matches against Nigeria (1-0) and Mexico (0-0), Piero Hincapie and Ecuador remained unbeaten in the third and final friendly against Cape Verde in Fort Lauderdale with a 1-0 win on Saturday 11 June. The goalscorer for La Tri was Jordy Caicedo (38'). The Werkself number 33 played the full 90 minutes.
Odilon Kossounou played his second and last match in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers for the Ivory Coast on Thursday 9 June. The game against Lesotho ended in a goalless draw. The Black and Red defender was in the starting line-up and came off at half-time. The Ivorians are currently top of the table after the draw and the previous 3-1 win against Zambia. The next match in the AFCON qualifiers is against Comoros in September.
Mitchel Bakker also has a spotless record with the Netherlands U21 side in the European Championship qualifiers. In the match against Wales on Saturday, Bakker & Co won 1-0 with a late goal from Lutsharel Geertruida (86’). Bakker played the full 90 minutes. The ‘JongOranje’ secured convincing wins in the previous matches against Moldova (3-0) and Gibraltar (6-0) and were already qualified for the U21 Euros top of the group (26 points) ahead of the final game.
After two draws against Italy and England, Germany again ended all square in the UEFA Nation's League. The match in Budapest against Hungary on Saturday evening ended with a 1-1 scoreline with Jonas Hofmann scoring on nine minutes. Werkself defender Jonathan Tah was an unused sub. The Flick team are currently third with three points in Group A3 behind Italy (five points) and Hungary (four points).
Moussa Diaby and France drew 1-1 with Austria in the UEFA Nations League. Kylian Mbappé put the Équipe de France level on 63 minutes. Diaby started and completed the game. Austria are in second place and France are in fourth with two points from three games. The leaders in Group 1 are Denmark in spite of their latest 1-0 defeat against Croatia.
Werkself captain Lukas Hradecky was on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline on Saturday in Finland's game against Romania in the UEFA Nations League. The Leverkusen keeper was not in goal and instead watched the game from the bench. The Scandinavian side are second in Group B3 after three matchdays four points behind Bosnia-Herzegovina.
REMAINING INTERNATIONAL FIXTURES:
Jonathan Tah – Germany
14 June, 20.45 CEST: Germany vs Italy (UEFA Nations League)
Lukas Hradecky – Finland
14 June, 20.45 CEST: Bosnia-Herzegovina vs Finland (UEFA Nations League)
Moussa Diaby – France
13 June, 20.45 CEST: France vs Croatia (UEFA Nations League)

In mid-August, the Werkself will set off on a four-day trip to England to play their final two friendly matches of the 2026/27 pre-season against Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. The match in Nottingham against the Tricky Trees is on Wednesday 12 August at 20:45 CEST (19:45 BST) at the City Ground. The game against the Magpies in Newcastle is on Saturday 15 August at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST) at the atmospheric St James’ Park. Details on ticket sales for both matches.
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Black and Red talent development at the highest level – even off the pitch: Apprentices Jule Suermann, Leandra Bellia and Julia Niederheide have successfully completed their two- or three-year apprenticeships at the club. Bayer 04 honoured the trio at the BayArena on Tuesday.
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Rieden reloaded: Just like last year, the Bayer 04 Women’s team are spending their summer training camp in this idyllic corner of Bavaria. From this Sunday, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team will be based in Rieden in the Upper Palatinate for a week.
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Following the summer break, most of the players are back in Leverkusen. While two Bayer 04 first-team players are still in action at the World Cup, the players present officially kicked off the new season with fitness assessments. At the Werkstatt, the Bayer 04 rehabilitation and training centre, Robert Andrich, Edmond Tapsoba and the rest of the squad worked up quite a sweat in the sweltering summer heat. New signings Afonso Moreira and Kennet Eichhorn also successfully completed the day’s sessions alongside their new team-mates.
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