
Germany U19 boss Christian Wörns has named defenders Anton Bäuerle and Reno Münz on stand-by for his squad for the three qualifying games to reach this summer’s Euros finals in Northern Ireland. The team will face Croatia, Romania and Turkey between 20 and 26 March in Croatia.
Filip Milojevic and Austria will take on Kosovo, Slovenia and Spain. Noah Pesch will represent Croatia against Germany, Turkey and Romania.
The 20-man squad for Germany’s U17s includes three Leverkusen youngsters for the qualifying triple header in Portugal. Naba Mensah, Montrell Culbreath and Francis Onyeka have all been called up to take on Croatia, Ireland and Portugal between 20 and 26 March. Jesper Schlich, Francesco Buono and Ken Izekor have also been named as stand-by.
Three more Werkself youngsters are also competing for a place at the U17 Euros. Kerim Alajbegovic is with Bosnia and Herzegovina to face Poland, Czechia and Belarus. Marton Szep and Hungary take on France, England and Northern Ireland.
Artem Stepanov and Ukraine have already secured their place at the summer’s finals in Cyprus after beating Greece, Switzerland and Slovakia earlier in the month by an aggregate score of 8-0.
Germany’s U16s have two games against Spain and Italy in Pirmasens on 22 and 25 March respectively, including Ben Hawighorst and Jeremiah Mensah. Coach Marc Meister has also named Nebe Sirak Domnic on stand-by.
Germany’s U15s will be training at the DFB Campus in Frankfurt between 17 and 22 March. Christian Wück and his assistant, former Bayer 04 player Jens Nowotny, have called up Leverkusen’s Halil Koc for the camp.
Overview of call-ups for March
Germany U19: Anton Bäuerle (stand-by), Reno Münz (stand-by)
Germany U17: Naba Mensah, Montrell Culbreath, Francis Onyeka, Jesper Schlich (stand-by), Francesco Buono (stand-by), Ken Izekor (stand-by)
Germany U16: Ben Hawighorst, Jeremiah Mensah, Nebe Sirak Domnic (stand-by)
Germany U15: Halil Koc
Austria U19: Filip Milojevic
Croatia U19: Noah Pesch
Croatia U14: Gabriel Minutillo
Bosnia and Herzegovina U17: Kerim Alajbegovic
Hungary U17: Marton Szep
Ukraine U17: Artem Stepanov

With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
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A successful fourth preseason friendly ahead of the start of the training camp: The Werkself secured a 3-0 victory over Rot-Weiss Essen at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The goals in what was a commanding and dominant performance by Leverkusen from the outset were scored by Ibrahim Maza (8'), Patrik Schick from the penalty spot (23’) and, in the second half, Montrell Culbreath with a header (79’). The team set off for their training camp in Blankenhain in the Weimarer Land region after the game.
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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 personal 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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You have voted – your ‘Team of the Quarter-Century’ has been decided! This historic selection, covering the period from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2024, features honorary captains, Bundesliga champions, double winners and Champions League finalists. Edmond Tapsoba is the only player from the current Bayer 04 squad to make it into the starting XI, while his team-mate Patrik Schick is on the bench. Simon Rolfes, the current managing director sport, is also in the lie-up. A truly special team that brings together a quarter of a century of Bayer 04 history – and has left a decisive mark on the club.
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Following Patrik Schick, Mark Flekken, Ibrahim Maza and Kerim Alajbegovic earlier this week, the next World Cup participant is back on the training ground in Leverkusen: On Thursday 30 July, Malik Tillman rejoined the squad, completing his first training session under head coach Carles Martínez.
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