While Lennart Grill started on the bench, Florian Wirtz was in the starting eleven for the Germany U21 side at the MOL Arena in Szekesfehervar. The team under coach Stefan Kuntz took control of the game from the start but were unable to convert their apparent dominance into goals. The Danes were compact and they had the best chance of the first half in added time through Jacob Brun Larsen.
Denmark continued to pose problems in counter-attacks after the restart and Germany too often lost the ball going forwards. It was no surprise that the neighbours from the North scored the opening goal on 69 minutes through Wahid Faghir. For a long time it looked like that would be the winner for the team coached by Albert Capellas but Stefan Kuntz produced the magic touch in the closing stages. Central defender Lars Lukas Mai, who replaced Florian Wirtz on 87 minutes, headed on a corner from Arne Maier and Lukas Nmecha turned the ball over the line at the far post to make it 1-1 (88').
There was extra time full of end-to-end action. First Jonathan Burkardt was able to head home a cross from David Raum to give Germany a 2-1 lead (100') but the Denmark captain Victor Nelsson levelled from the penalty spot eight minutes later. The match went to penalties as Burkardt could only hit the woodwork with two minutes to play.
Germany had the edge in the penalty shootout. The Mainz 05 keeper Finn Dahmen saved two penalties. The victory takes the Germany team through to a semi-final against the Netherlands on Thursday, 3 June with the kick off at 21.00 CEST. The Oranje beat France 2-1 in their quarter-final.
The junior team of the World Cup winners looked in good shape for a long time in Budapest. From a Moussa Diaby corner, the Leipzig player Dayot Upamecano was able to head France into the lead on 23 minutes. However, the Dutch side grew stronger after the restart and levelled on 50 minutes through Myron Boadu. Diaby was substituted ten minutes later and the French team were hit by a knockout blow just before the end of the game. Boadu scored again to put Diaby and Co. out of the competition.
Issa Traoré is moving from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Slovakian top-flight side AS Trencin. The club has loaned the centre-back out for one year to this year’s ninth-placed team in the Slovakian league.
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Assistant coach Remzi Kahraman is leaving the Bayer 04 Women’s team with immediate effect to take up a new challenge abroad. The club has agreed to the 31-year-old’s request to leave, although his contract was originally due to run until 2027. A decision on his successor will be announced shortly.
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At the U19 European Championship in Wales, the Germany U19 national team lost their third and final group match 4-0 to Spain. Several regulars, including Bayer 04 players Montrell Culbreath and Francis Onyeka (on loan to SV Elversberg), who had combined for four goals and assists in the two previous victories, did not feature,. Germany had already secured their place in the semi-finals with a game to spare.
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Two weeks into the preseason, the Bayer 04 Women have secured their first victory. Coach Roberto Pätzold’s team won their first friendly 2–0 against Bundesliga newcomers Mainz 05. In front of 160 spectators at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre, the two summer signings, Maja Sternad (80’) and Justine Brandau (90’), scored for the Black and Reds.
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