Nations League: Germany vs Ukraine: A match that shouldn’t have been better



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A farce: Four Ukrainian players and the team manager tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday. According to the guests, of course, they had no close contact with their teammates. The Leipzig health department, which can only trust the honesty of the information, had to accept this. The players in Poland have been on the pitch together, they traveled together to Leipzig, they lived together in a hotel, but, how lucky they were, as it happens they were always far enough away from their teammates so that the team did not have to be put in. quarantine. Try them all again, ignoring the incubation period, and you might play.

The result: Germany won the Nations League match against Ukraine 3-1 (2-1). Click here for the match report.

The first half: Roman Yaremchuk had put the visitors ahead in the 12th minute, Leroy Sané with a deviation from the right flank in the center and a finish in the left corner ensured the equalizer (23rd). At 33 ‘Timo Werner scored 2-1 for DFB-Elf. Leon Goretzka had prepared both goals, the first with a nice through ball, the second with a technically strong direct transfer to Werner.

First nothing, then a lot: Sané had not scored at all in his first 15 international games, and in the following nine he joined the scorer list six times. With a defender like Matthias Ginter behind him, Sané was also able to focus almost exclusively on the offensive.

The second half: Oleksandr Zinchenko hit the post in the 52nd minute after a deflected shot from Niklas Süle, Werner moved up to 3-1 in the 64th minute after Ginter’s preparatory work. Marlos put the ball on the post for the second time (75th), the third goal was on behalf of Júnior Moraes (82nd). Striking: After a long phase of “Knowledge is more important than results”, national team manager Joachim Löw seems to have returned to “Internationals should be won” mode: he left his leading team intact until the last quarter from now and changed only in the 76th minute for the first time.

Manuel Neuer on par with Sepp Maier: The national team goalkeeper met Sepp Maier in his 95th national team game. No goalkeeper has played more games for the German national team than either of them. Maier’s 95th and final international match was a 3: 1 in Iceland, Neuer also enters his only record game with a 3: 1 swing.

Matchday number six: Said game will likely take place for Neuer on Tuesday in Spain (20:45, live ticker: SPIEGEL.de). With a draw there, after the Spanish draw in Switzerland, a group win for Löw’s team and participation in the Final Four tournament would be perfect. More importantly, by beating Ukraine, you secured your spot in the number one lottery pot in the upcoming World Cup qualifier draw, thus avoiding the toughest opponents.

Lost opportunity: Obviously the match against Ukraine was played according to the rules. No Uefa guidelines were broken, no veto from the health department ignored. “We trust the health authorities who have worked hard,” said national team Twitter account team doctor Tim Meyer. “Furthermore, the double negative test gives confidence, most recently even in the afternoon before the game,” said Meyer. Meanwhile, the Nations League match between Romania and Norway scheduled for Sunday was canceled on Saturday night. Due to full-back Omar Elabdellaoui’s positive test on Friday, local health authorities are demanding that the entire team be quarantined for ten days. Reason according to information from Norwegian broadcaster NRK: Despite negative tests, players could be infected. A risk that the Leipzig players could have saved.

Icon: the mirror

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