Friday internationals for four Blue-Whites

Berlin – The first internationals have taken place. Karim Rekik played the full 90 in central defence as the Netherlands beat Scotland 1-0. Memphis Depay scored the winning goal for the Netherlands, netting in the 40th minute.

Germany U21s recorded their third qualifier win out of four against Azerbaijan. Stefan Kuntz’s team won 7-0 with Marcel Hartel getting a hat-trick. Jordan Torunarigha, picked for the U21s for the first time, didn’t play.

Friede scores on debut

Maximilian Mittelstädt and Sidney Friede took part in a 2-2 thriller between Italy and Germany. Mittelstädt played the entire game for Germany, while Friede came on after 20 minutes, scoring the equaliser within eight minutes. TSG’s Robin Hack put Germany into the lead, but Edera’s strike meant the game ended in a draw.

Plattenhardt on the bench

It’s been a tight schedule for the Germany first team. After completing their final training session at the Berlin Olympiapark, the squad travelled to the airport to fly to London ahead of the England friendly. Plattenhardt will start on the bench, allowing Marcel Halstenberg of RB Leipzig to make his first start. “Halstenberg will start because he’s enjoying a really good spell at Leipzig. I would like to see how he performs out there,” explained Löw.

Japan waiting for a win

Genki Haraguchi was the first Blue-White to represent his country when Japan lost 3-1 to Brazil. It was Haraguchi’s 28th national cap, and the eighth time in ten games Japan have lost to the 2014 World Cup hosts. The other two games ended in a draw. Haraguchi started the game and was subbed off in the 70th minute.

Peter Pekarik and Ondrej Duda missed out on World Cup qualification with Slovakia, but the pair are playing Ukraine in a friendly on Friday (10.11). It’s a finely-poised contest. In the five times they have played each other, there have been three draws and one win apiece.

Mathew Leckie and Australia can still qualify for the World Cup. The Socceroos must beat Honduras over two legs in their intercontinental playoff. The first game is on Friday at 23:00 CET in Honduras, the second on Wednesday (15.11) in Sydney. Leckie is suspended for the first game.