
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)

Bayer 04 Leverkusen have appointed Carles Martínez Novell as the new head coach. The 42-year-old Spaniard worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. Martínez finished last term in ninth place with the club from the south of France. He will take over the Werkself on 1 July 2026 and has signed a contract to 30 June 2028. Martínez, whose contract with Toulouse expires at the end of the month, succeeds Kasper Hjulmand at Leverkusen, who is leaving the club after one season.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Carles Martínez Novell. Bayer 04 have appointed the 42-year-old Spaniard as the new head coach on a contract to 2028. Martínez most recently worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. He previously spent four years at Barcelona's legendary academy La Masia in his home city. Bayer04.de introduces Martínez in more detail.
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Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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