After drawing 2-2 with Mexico in the opening match Germany faced another thriller in the second game – and the team coached by Horst Hrubesch again showed great commitment to the cause. As in the encounter with Mexico the German team succeeded in coming from behind twice to get a result against South Korea with former Werkself pro Heung-Min Son in their line-up. The opening goal from Hwang on 25 minutes was cancelled out a Serge Gnabry strike on 33 minutes with Brandt providing the assist. The live wire Brandt fired in a shot on goal but the Korea keeper Kim turned it away for a corner. Germany took a 2-1 lead through Davie Selke (55’) but Son levelled two minutes later. A Brandt volley flew past the upright on 85 minutes. With three minutes to play the Koreans regained the lead but a deflected effort from Gnabry in added time found the back of the net to make it 3-3.
Germany escaped an early exit from the Olympic football tournament at the last minute – and their fate is back in their own hands. If the match between Mexico and South Korea on Wednesday produces a winner then Germany only need to beat Fiji in Belo Horizonte to progress to the quarter-final stage as group runners-up. If Mexico and South Korea draw then Bender, Brandt and Co. will need to win by five goals to overtake Mexico who beat Fiji 5-1. South Korea secured an 8-0 victory over Fiji in their first match.
“It was a nail-biter and I would have preferred an easier game,” admitted Hrubesch. “But we’re still in it!” The Germany coach feared in added time, “that I would have to congratulate our opponents but then I said: We’ll get another chance – and that’s what happened.”
Women earn point late on
The Germany women’s team with Annike Krahn also earned a last-minute reprieve to make good a two-goal deficit in a 2-2 draw with Australia. Sabrina Däbritz netted the first before Saskia Bartusiak forced an Australian own goal. Germany, on four points, are one ahead of Australia. The final group match is against leaders Canada on six points. Krahn was substituted at half-time.
Attacking midfielder Paulina Bartz is leaving Bayer 04 Leverkusen for good on a permanent move to Hamburger SV in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga. The 21-year-old, who was on loan to the newly promoted side in the winter, originally had a contract to 2027.
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The Bayer 04 Football School opened in 2007 – now this successful programme is getting a new name and a new logo: with immediate effect, the Bayer 04 Football School powered by BarmeniaGothaer is becoming the Bayer 04 Football Academy powered by BarmeniaGothaer.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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The sustainable use of the BayArena seats removed as part of the current stadium upgrade has taken on a new dimension: Following on from numerous Bayer 04 fans receiving their ‘Undefeated Champions seats’ and various clubs and community organisations from Leverkusen and the wider region having collected the dismantled seats, Blau-Gelbe Kreuz e.V. also made their way to the BayArena recently. The German-Ukrainian aid organisation took away around 2,100 seats; in Ukraine, these will be used to upgrade the sports infrastructure of two clubs.
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