DFB president Reinhard Grindel, Germany coach Joachim Löw and manager Oliver Bierhoff attended the event held at the Kremlin concert hall.
Back in Leverkusen, Bernd Leno, Julian Brandt, Benny Henrichs and Jonathan Tah took particular attention of Germany's opponents in the group stage. The Bayer 04 quartet are currently in the extended Germany squad heading for Russia to defend their title. Leno (6 international caps), Brandt (13) and Henrichs (3) played in the World Cup qualifiers. Tah (3) last played for his country in a 0-0 draw in a friendly against Italy in November 2016. Bayer 04 striker Kevin Volland must also have high hopes making it to the World Cup finals.
The first group match could see the Werkself pros meet up with a former team-mate in Chicharito. Germany kick off their title defence against Mexico on Sunday 17 June at the Luzhniki Park in Moscow. The second group game follows on 23 June with the Löw eleven taking on Sweden in Sochi before the final group encounter against South Korea in Kazan on 27 June. Former Werkself winger Heung-Min Son is sure to be in their squad.
Admir Mehmedi, Tin Jedvaj, Lucas Alario and Wendell are also in with a shout of playing at the World Cup. Mehmedi, who has won 56 caps for Switzerland to date, played for his country at the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016. Switzerland are in Group E along with Brazil, who may have Bayer 04 defender Wendell in their squad . Up to now, he has made seven appearances for the Brazil U23s and he could see his dream of playing at the World Cup for the Selecao come true. The other two teams in the group are Costa Rica and Serbia.
Tin Jedvaj, who has eight caps for Croatia to date, and was at the European Championships in France, will do all he can to be in the squad going to Russia. He could face Leverkusen team-mate Lucas Alario as Croatia are also in Group D. Alario has made two full international appearances for the two-time World Cup winners. The other group opponents for Croatia and Argentina are Iceland and Nigeria.
32 teams are taking part in the World Cup in Russia in eight groups. The tournament starts on 14 June 2018 with the opening game between hosts Russia and Saudi Arabia and ends on 15 July 2018. The final will be played at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
All the fixtures are available here: http://calovo.de/wm2018
It's time for the first friendly of this summer's pre-season: the Werkself visit Rot-Weiss Essen this evening, Friday 26 July (kick-off 19:00 CEST). All the info on the match at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße.
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Martin Terrier's great anticipation for his first season outside his native France was noticeable. The 27-year-old forward beamed as he described his reasons for the move to the German double winners and his first impressions of day-to-day life in Leverkusen in his first press conference as a Werkself player. Terrier, who like team-mate has joined from Stade Rennes, also spoke about the competition for places in attack, Bayer 04's profile in France and his unusual goal celebration.
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Time to roll up the sleeves and do some good again: At what was now the eighth edition of the BAYER 04 HILFT Day, staff and players once again dedicated an entire day to a good cause this year. Following last year's efforts at NaturGut Ophoven, this time the Bayer 04 team restored the outdoor area of a Leverkusen children's day-care centre with great support from Lebenshilfe-Werkstätten Leverkusen and club partner Coca-Cola.
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With weloveholidays, Bayer 04 Leverkusen welcomes another official partner to the German champions and DFB Cup winners’ Sponsors Club. As part of the British loveholidays group, weloveholidays is one of Europe’s biggest and fastest growing online travel companies. The partnership between the Bundesliga club and the company, which has been active in Germany since May 2023, is set to run until 30 June 2026.
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