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.
Winger Synne Skinnes Hansen is leaving Bayer 04 Leverkusen at the end of the season. The 29-year-old, who will be out of contract, is set to join Valerenga IF back home in Norway.
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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 personalised 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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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have agreed to loan U19 striker Artem Stepanov to FC Nürnberg, currently tenth in Bundesliga 2, for the 2025/26 season. The Ukrainian centre-forward is set to gain match practice at a high level under the guidance of FCN coach and World Cup winner Miroslav Klose. The loan is due to run for twelve months.
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The last home game of the season for the Bayer 04 Women against RB Leipzig on Saturday (12:00 CEST) will be a special experience for fans. As part of the family matchday, Bayer 04 are offering fans a wide-ranging programme of events in and around the Ulrich Haberland Stadium similar to the game against Werder Bremen. This will include three special prizes for supporters to win.
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