Results to forget

For Hertha’s internationals, Monday (04.09.17) was not a day to celebrate. Rune Almenning Jarstein with Norway, Vladimir Darida with Czech Republic, and Peter Pekarik and Ondrej Duda with Slovakia, must all move on from defeats. At least Jordan Torunarigha came away with a draw from Germany U20’s game against Czech Republic. The Hertha man played 78 minutes, and so was not on the pitch to prevent Czech Republic’s equalizer in injury time, making it 2-2. Hertha keeper Jarstein had an especially hard time of it. He was often not protected well enough by the defenders in front of him, and consequently had to pick the ball out of his net six times, as Norway lost 0-6 to Germany. “We knew how good Germany were going to be, but if you give them as much time and space as we did…you’re always going to have a tough time,” observed Hertha’s number 22 after the game. National coach Lars Lagerbäck labeled the game as a learning experience.

World Cup 2018 without Czech Republic – Slovakia still in the race

Czech Republic and Vladimir Darida, who scored a sensational equalizer against Germany last Friday, can no longer qualify for World Cup 2018 after losing 2-0 to Northern Ireland. With the Hertha man in the starting XI, the Czechs dictated the game, but the visitors took their chances. After a corner, Evans headed in the subsequent cross to give Northern Ireland the lead after 28 minutes. Shortly before the break Brunt doubled this advantage directly from a free-kick; and despite all their efforts in the second half, Darida’s side could make no inroads into the opposition’s lead.

Also in the UK, Slovakia and Peter Pekarik got off to a dream start against England. After only three minutes, Lobotka finished off Nemec’s good work to give the guests a 1-0 lead. It took “The Three Lions” until the middle of the first half to get into the match, after which Eric Dier equalized from a corner to make it 1-1.  Slovakia were unfortunate not to get a penalty right before the half-time whistle, as Walker challenged Nemec in the box. Rashford’s long shot put England ahead after an hour, and Slovakia were unable to find an equalizer. Pekarik and Duda with Slovakia missed their chance to overtake England at the top of Group F, meaning they remain in second place, but still have a good chance of World Cup qualification.

Four games until the end of the international break

Before all the Hertha players return to Berlin to prepare for this week’s game against Werder Bremen, there are still four more international games to be played on Tuesday. At 12:00 Mathew Leckie will be lining up for Australia against Thailand; while at 19:30 Genki Haraguchi will be playing for Japan against Saudi Arabia, and Salomon Kalou will be lining up for Ivory Coast against Gabun. A quarter-hour later Florian Baak, Arne Maier, and Palko Dárdai’s game against England with the Germany U19 side will be kicking off.