The 19-year-old is currently playing for the Selecao U23s at the South American qualification tournament for the Olympics in Tokyo. For starters, Brazil beat Peru on Monday thanks to the only goal of the game scored by Paulinho. Early on Thursday (02.30 CET), Uruguay were the opponents in Colombia – and once again Paulinho and Co. were the winners in a 3-1 victory. The Leverkusen player started the game and was substituted on 67 minutes with the scoreline at 2-0.
RB Leipzig's Matheus Cunha scored from the penalty spot on the half-hour mark to make it 2-0. Brazil are top of Group B after the two wins. Next Wednesday, they take on Bolivia in the third group match (kick-off: 02.30 CET).
After yesterday's FFT session in Leverkusen, the Bayer 04 head coach Peter Bosz talked about the different approaches to the game of the last opponents SC Paderborn and the coming opposition Fortuna Düsseldorf (Sunday, 26 January, 18.00 CET). "It was an open game against Paderborn. In contrast, we’re expecting a team on Sunday that sits back and waits to play on the break," said the Dutchman. "But the challenge will be the same: We definitely want to win!"
Referee Daniel Schlager will be in charge of a Bundesliga match involving Bayer 04 for the first time on Sunday. The 30-year-old banker has Dominik Schaal and Arno Blos as his assistants and the fourth official is Michael Bacher.
"This podcast has just one subject: Simply football." That was the trailer from WDR for their "Simply football" podcast. And who could be better as an interviewee than Stefan Kießling? The long-standing Werkself player and now consultant to the Bayer 04 board was the guest for moderator Sven Pistor. The 47-year-old is the voice of the WDR 2 Bundesliga show "Liga Live" and he invited Kies along in conjunction with his ARD colleague Jürgen Bergener. The podcast will be available soon on the WDR website.
The former Werkself player Thomas Brdaric today celebrates his 45th birthday. The former Germany international played under the Bayer Cross from 1999 to 2003 and he was with Bayer 04 for the finals in the Champions League and the DFB Cup. The central striker scored 20 goals the Werkself in 126 games and provided 12 assists. After hanging up his boots, Brdaric moved into coaching and he was the manager of the North-east Regional League side Rot-Weiß Erfurt up until November last year. Bayer 04 wish him a very happy birthday!
Hansjörg Schneider (54) was a year older yesterday. The former second division player at Fortuna Köln (285 games, 15 goals) has been a physio at Bayer 04 since 2009. On the same day, albeit a couple of years later, former Bayer 04 players Jens Hegeler (32), Vladlen Yurchenko (26) and Joel Abu Hanna (22) were born. So a belated happy birthday to one and all!
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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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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The Werkself return tomorrow, Tuesday 14 July (from 11:00 CEST at the BayArena; live stream on bayer04.de, the Bayer 04 app and YouTube), with new head coach Carles Martínez leading his first training session as part of the Bayer 04 set-up. His coaching team comprises a mix of new and long-standing colleagues.
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The FIFA World Cup 2026 in the USA, Canada and Mexico is underway. A total of eight Leverkusen players are taking part in the 23rd World Cup, with 48 teams in the tournament for the first time. Bayer04.de brings you all the latest from Werkself players at the World Cup.
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