The final World Cup qualifier in the era of Joachim Löw ended in an unexpected defeat for Germany. The German team found it hard going against a well-organised opposition, but Leon Goretzka (9') and Serge Gnabry (31') missed good chances. North Macedonia kept pressing and took the lead just before half-time (45+2') through Goran Pandev (Genoa).
Germany equalised just after the hour mark with captain Ilkay Gündogan converting a penalty but they were unable to turn the game round – on the contrary: After substitute Timo Werner missed a great chance for Germany (80'), the North Macedonian striker Eljif Elmas (Napoli) rounded off an impressive attack by the underdogs to make it 2-1 to ensure a sensational result (85'). Germany are now third in Group J. As in the previous two games the two Werkself players Jonathan Tah and Florian Wirtz did not play against North Macedonia.
The next match for Germany is the opening game in the European Championship in the summer. Germany play World Cup winners France in Munich on 15 June.
After scoring in the 3-1 win against the Faroe Islands, all did not go to plan for Aleksandar Dragovic in the international against Denmark. The Werkself defender did play the full 90 minutes in his 89th international but he was on the wrong end of a 4-0 scoreline with Austria against Denmark. Denmark scored all four goals in the second half through Andreas Skov Olsen (58', 73'), Joakim Maehle (63') and the former Bundesliga player Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg (67').
Lennart Grill has reached the quarter-finals of the European Championship with the Germany U21 team. The goalless draw against Romania in the final match of the group stage was enough for Germany on Tuesday to qualify for the knockout rounds as runners-up behind the Netherlands with the finals to be played from 31 May to 6 June. The team under coach Stefan Kuntz will play Denmark in the quarter-final on 31 May after the Scandinavians surprisingly ended up top of their group ahead of France. As in the first two group matches, Grill was on the bench against Romania.
The end of the international break did not end well for Patrik Schick either. The Werkself striker with the Czech national team lost 1-0 in Wales on Tuesday. Schick, who was unable to play in the 1-1 draw with Belgium at the weekend due to Czechia being classified as a "virus variant area", was in the starting line-up but was shown a red card at the start of the second half (48). Wales, who also finished with ten players after Connor Roberts was sent off (77'), won the game late on with a goal from Manchester United striker Daniel James (81').
On Monday, Edmond Tapsoba with the Burkina Faso national team won the final group match in the African Cup qualifiers with a 1-0 victory over South Sudan. The Werkself defender played the full 90 minutes with the winner scored by Bertrand Traoré of Aston Villa on 50 minutes. Burkina Faso finished top of their qualifying group unbeaten and will be in the finals in Cameroon next January and February.
This special event showed once again how strong Bayer 04 are as a team: As part of ‘BarmeniaGothaer gives joy’, the Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane supported the sale of individually designed T-shirts for a good cause at the Fanwelt on Thursday. Several hundred fans came to take part in the charity campaign. Leverkusen's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer donated the proceeds to the Fondation Edmond Tapsoba, which helps people in Tapsoba's home country of Burkina Faso in their challenging everyday lives.
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With three games to play before the end of the season, the Bayer 04 Women can break one record and equal another at SGS Essen. After three wins on the bounce, coach Roberto Pätzold's team are aiming to maintain the chance of third place in Sunday’s away game (14:00 CEST, Stadion an der Hafenstraße).
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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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From Ouagadougou to Leverkusen – and back: in March, Bayer 04 travelled with Edmond Tapsoba for a special project in his homeland Burkina Faso. The country where his roots and heart lie. The country where he’s more than a world-class defender: a symbol of hope and a role model for an entire generation. The result is a 45-minute documentary about Tapsoba’s long journey from Africa via Portugal to Leverkusen, which offers extraordinary, one-off and emotional insights.
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Edmond Tapsoba has signed an early extension to his contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. With two years left on his current deal, the 27-year-old Burkina Faso international has extended his contract until 30 June 2031. The centre-back joined as a young talent from Portuguese top-flight club Vitoria Guimaraes at the start of 2020.
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