The Germany team under Joachim Löw clearly dominated the first half of the game against the 2018 World Cup hosts. Leroy Sané opened the scoring for Germany on eight minutes at the end of a move involving Thilo Kehrer and Serge Gnabry. Germany remained on top with 77 possession after 15 minutes. Havertz constantly stood out - Sané had the chance to double the lead on 23 minutes from a perfect cross from Kai but the Manchester City striker was unable to direct his header on target. The next goal came two minutes later: A corner saw the ball end up at the feet of Niklas Süle and the FC Bayern pro tucked the ball away to make it 2-0 on 25 minutes. The next impressive move from Havertz came five minutes before the break: The Bayer 04 youngster picked out Gnabry with a brilliant pass and the FCB player scored with a placed shot to put Germany 3-0 up.
The game levelled off in the second half - in part due to the large number of substitutions by both sides. Russia came into the game and Germany were less dominant. After an hour, Löw brought on Jonathan Tah for Antonio Rüdiger with the Werkself central defender winning his fourth cap. Julian Brandt also came of the bench five minutes later for his 23rd game for Germany. Havertz, who had an enormous presence and was very creative, his game ended on 65 minutes. "I was really happy with Kai, he has incredibly good vision and is very confident on the ball," said Löw in praise of the 19-year-old.
With the exception of a chance for Brandt, whose shot was turned away for a corner (87'), not much else happened.
Several other Bayer 04 pros were on international duty on Thursday. Tin Jedvaj had a great night, scoring two goals in the 3-2 win for the World Cup runners-up Croatia against Spain. The Werkself defender made it 2-1 with a header on 69 minutes and, after Sergio Ramos levelled for Spain, he netted the winner in the third minute of added time. The Werkself central defender, who recently scored for Bayer 04 against Gladbach and Zürich, has shown his ability in front of goal. The victory for Croatia in the Nations League group with Spain and England puts them third on four points with every chance of progressing.
Julian Baumgartlinger captained Austria in a 0-0 draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina and he went the full distance as did Aleksandar Dragovic. Austria, on four points, remain second behind Bosnia-Herzegovina (10) in the Nations League.
Lukas Hradecky was in goal for Finland against Greece and he was on the losing side with an own goal in the 1-0 defeat. Nevertheless, the Finns are still top of their Nations League group.
Jakub Bednarczyk and Adrian Stanilewicz were in action for the Poland U20s in the Elite League in a 2-0 reverse in Portugal.
Paulinho played 75 minutes for the Brazil U20s in a 0-0 draw with Colombia.
And the next games for our internationals are:
Julian Brandt, Kai Havertz, Jonathan Tah (Germany)
Monday, 19 November (20.45 CET): Germany v Holland (UEFA Nations League)
Julian Baumgartlinger, Aleksandar Dragovic (Austria)
Sunday, 18 November (18.00 CET): Northern Ireland v Austria (UEFA Nations League)
Lukas Hradecky (Finland)
Sunday, 18 October (20.45 CET): Hungary v Finland (Nations League)
Tin Jedvaj (Croatia)
Sunday, 18 November (15.00 CET): England v Croatia (UEFA Nations League)
Issac Kiese Thelin (Sweden)
Saturday, 17 November (18.00 CET): Turkey v Sweden (UEFA Nations League)
Tuesday, 20 November (20.45 CET): Sweden v Russia (UEFA Nations League)
Paulinho (Brazil U20)
Tuesday, 20 November (17.30 CET): Brazil U20 v Colombia U20 (friendly)
Jakub Bednarczyk, Adrian Stanilewicz (Poland U20)
Monday, 19 November (19.00 CET): Poland U20 v Ukraine U20 (friendly)
The Bayer 04 women’s team secured a win in the friendly during the international break. Without a total of eight international players, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team defeated Bundesliga 2 side Borussia Mönchengladbach 3–1 at the Kurtekotten Training Centre, thanks to goals from Lobke Loonen (1’, penalty), Caroline Kehrer (41') and Valentina Mädl (66').
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Bayer 04 will have to manage without striker Christian Kofane in the coming weeks. The 20-year-old sustained a muscle injury to his left thigh on international duty with the Cameroon national team during the recent international break. This will prevent him from playing in the upcoming Werkself matches.
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FSV Mainz 05 went into the international break on the back of an away win at Borussia Mönchengladbach. Currently sixth in the table, the Rheinhessen side – who have been impressive on the road – now aim to continue their good start to the Bundesliga campaign at home when they face the Werkself on Saturday, 10 October (kick-off: 15:30 CEST). In terms of squad selection, Urs Fischer once again has more options at his disposal. Up front, the Mainz coach is likely to continue relying on what is currently the league’s most successful strike partnership. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Exciting experiences and exclusive insights into the Werkself and the BayArena awaited the young footballers from the BA04 Football Academy Guangzhou in China during their visit to the Rhineland this week. As well as taking part in a joint training session with the Bayer 04 Football Academy, the youngsters marvelled at the Bundesliga club’s stadium during a guided tour. The highlight of the visit was a private press conference with former Bayer 04 striker Stefan Kießling, during which he shared tips from his own career with the young players. On Saturday afternoon, 10 October, the group will round off their visit by supporting the Werkself in the away match in Mainz.
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Fans ask, Carolin Simon answers: As part of Bayer 04’s second Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit, the Leverkusen captain took questions from the community. The full-back, who returned to the club this summer after ten years away, set aside an hour and a half for the Q&A session with fans, offering a very personal insight into, amongst other things, her daily life as a footballer and her role as captain, as well as her passion for Pokémon.
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