Sardar Azmoun was the first Black and Red player to start matchday two in the World Cup group stage. The Iran striker started up front against Wales. The Iranians, who lost 6-2 against England on matchday one, had the better chances in this game. Werkself player Azmoun was involved in nearly every attacking move and he appeared to have provided an assist for the opening goal – however the Iran goalscorer was offside when Azmoun played the pass. The Leverkusen player hit the post at the start of the second half (51'). Azmoun, who had been out of action for six weeks before the World Cup, was substituted on 68 minutes.
Iran pressed hard and they had an extra man after 86 minutes. However, it took until the ninth minute of added time before the deadlock was broken with a long-range effort. Iran doubled their lead in a counter-attack for the final score of 2-0 two minutes later. Azmoun and Co. go into the final matchday second in Group D. The game against the USA is on Tuesday 29 November (kick-off: 20.00 CET).
Argentina, with the Werkself player Exequiel Palacios in the line-up, clocked up their first three points on matchday two. Following the surprise 2-1 defeat against Saudi Arabia in the opening match, the Albiceleste beat Mexico 2-0. Lionel Messi opened the scoring just after the hour mark with Enzo Fernandez settling the victory with a late goal. Palacios came off the bench on 69 minutes to make his World Cup debut.
Argentina, currently second with three points, play group leaders Poland (four points) on matchday three in Group C. The game kicks off at 20.00 CET on Wednesday 30 November.
Matchday two brought a head-to-head in Group A with Jeremie Frimpong’s Netherlands playing Ecuador with Piero Hincapie. The Oranje player Cody Gakpo opened the scoring on six minutes with Enna Valencia netting the leveller at 1-1 just after the restart (49'). Hincapie played the full 90 minutes for Ecuador with Frimpong remaining on the bench.
Both the Netherlands and Ecuador go into the final group match on four points with Senegal just behind on three points. Hosts Qatar, up against the Netherlands at 16.00 CET on 29 November, are pointless to date. Ecuador play Senegal at the same time.
Decision made: Germany will submit a bid to the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to host the 2036, 2040 or 2044 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Munich. The representatives of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) voted for Munich over Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr at their extraordinary meeting in Baden-Baden on Saturday 26 September. Berlin had already withdrawn from the vote a few days earlier.
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Former Werkself star Michael Ballack, who won the German Footballer of the Year award in 2002 while playing in Leverkusen, celebrates his 50th birthday on Saturday. Bayer 04 sends him its best wishes!
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A challenging start to what will hopefully be a long journey: The Bayer 04 women’s team kick off their new DFB Pokal campaign on Sunday (14:00 CEST) against second-division leaders FC Viktoria Berlin. Coach Roberto Pätzold expects stiff resistance in the capital – and is counting on his team’s strong away form in the Bundesliga so far this term.
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Attention Werkself fans: In addition to tickets for the floodlit home match against Werder Bremen, tickets are now also available for the Bayer 04 women’s team’s two subsequent fixtures against Eintracht Frankfurt and Hamburger SV at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. Both matches in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga will take place at family-friendly kick-off times on Saturday afternoons. Here is the latest information on matchday ticket sales.
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