Malick Thiaw’s Germany U21s win it late on

Late winner for Germany U21s

Under new coach Antonio Di Salvo, Germany U21s narrowly avoided dropping points for the first time in their qualification group for the next European Championship. Late goals from Freiburg’s Kevin Schade (88’) and Mainz’s Jonathan Burkardt (90’) saw them record a 3-2 home win over Israel.

The away team took the lead twice in Paderborn through Doron Leidner (28’) and Omri Gandelman (51’), the first goal being cancelled out by Bayern’s Malik Tillman (34’). Malick Thiaw played the full game at centre-back.

With three wins from three, Germany top Group B ahead of Israel (6 points). Next up for Di Salvo’s team is a trip to play Hungary on Tuesday (12/10).

Japan lose, Itakura on the bench

The first game of this international break didn’t go so well for Japan and Ko Itakura. They were beaten 1-0 in Saudi Arabia on the third matchday of their final group stage in the qualification for the 2022 World Cup. The winning goal was scored by Firas Al-Buraikan in the 71st minute. Itakura didn’t feature for Japan yesterday.

Japan have three points on the board from three games, behind Australia and Saudi Arabia who both have a 100% record so far. They are next in action on Tuesday (12/10) against Australia in Saitama.

30 minutes for Mikhailov

Yaroslav Mikhailov featured on Wednesday (6/10) for Russia U19s in the first of three friendlies in a tournament in Zagreb. The midfielder came off the bench for the last 30 minutes in a 3-3 draw against hosts Croatia. Their other two matches are on Saturday (9/10) against Bulgaria and on Tuesday (12/10) against Switzerland.