Plattenhardt draws with France as Leckie reaches Russia

Berlin– 2017 has been pretty much perfect for Die Mannschaft. World Cup qualification secured with record figures, a Confed Cup title and a run of 15 games unbeaten.

Hertha’s own Marvin Plattenhardt made five appearances in that run, with the last of which coming on Tuesday night in Germany’s 2-2 with France in Cologne, as Lars Stindl’s last-minute equaliser sealed a perfect 15-0 record for the year for Joachim Löw’s side.

Plattenhardt completed 90 minutes against France and was a key cog in the German attacking wheel for much of the second half. 

Leckie qualifies

If Plattenhardt does make the Germany squad for next summer’s tournament in Russia then he will be joined by team mate Mathew Leckie, who booked his FIFA World Cup ticket with Australia on Wednesday. Going into the second leg of their play off tie with Honduras locked at 0-0 the Soccerroos couldn’t afford to go behind in Sydney. But three second half goals were enough for Leckie – who played 90 minutes - and co to reach Russia.

Hertha round-up

 Rune Jarstein’s 50th appearance for Norway was spoiled somewhat as Peter Pekarik’s and Ondrej Duda’s Slovakia ran out 1-0 winners thanks to a last gasp strike. Valentino Lazaro played the last 15 minutes of Austria’s 2-1 win over Uruguay in Vienna, while Genki Haraguchi played the full 90 minutes in Japan’s 1-0 defeat to Belgium. 

U21s end year on top

Germany under-21s, who won the European Championships in June thanks to tournament goals from Davie Selke and Mitchell Weiser, ended the year top of threir EURO 2019 qualifying group after a 5-2 win over Israel. Jordan Torunarigha was an unused sub for Stefan Kuntz’s team during the game. 

Maximilian Mittelstädt and Sidney Friede both played from start to finish as Germany under-20s defeated England 2-1. International football is now over 2017, with the next round of fixtures between countries set to take place in March next year, when preparations for Russia 2018 will start to intensify.