Stark misses out on Germany debut through illness

Berlin/Dortmund – it was Sod’s law: Niklas Stark was preparing to finally make his international debut having been included in the squad for a sixth time. However, the replay of the 2014 World Cup final against Argentina had to take place without the Hertha, who could only watch on as Germany drew 2-2 in Dortmund. Stark had to be added to a long list of absences for the Germany squad because of his illness. Nevertheless, the hosts started brightly and Bayern’s Serge Gnabry (15’) and Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz (22’) gave them a healthy early lead against the South Americans. “We were courageous going forward in the first half, we played with a high tempo and put together some good moves,” said head coach Joachim Löw.

However, the complexion of the game changed in the second half. Even without ‘The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2019’, Lionel Messi, the runners up from 2014 managed to draw level with goals from Leverkusen’s Lucas Alario (66’) and Sevilla’s Lucas Ocampos (85’). “Argentina played well in the second half. They brought some quality players off the bench. We gave the ball away more often and lost our confidence. We couldn’t maintain our performance from the first half for the full 90 minutes but I was happy with our approach to the game,” concluded Löw. Up next for Germany is a 2020 European Championship qualifier in Tallinn against Estonia on Sunday (13.10.19, 20:45 CEST). They will need a win if they want to ensure they fend off Northern Ireland and the Netherlands to stay top of their group. Stark will be hoping to recover before then and make his long-awaited debut.

Herthaner in action this week

Dedryck Boyata has been called up to the Belgium team for the first time since March and is set to make his 17th international appearance. “I am delighted to be back,” said the central defender, who has recently taking his place alongside Stark in the Hertha side having returned from injury. The 28-year-old and his Belgium teammates will face San Marino on Thursday (10.10.19, 20:45 CEST) and Kazakhstan on Sunday (13.10.19, 20:45 CEST). Roberto Martinez’s side lead their group, have taken the maximum 18 points from their six games of Euros qualifying so far and have a goal difference of +18. Russia are in second with 15 points.

Slovakia and the Czech Republic have not had such successful starts to their qualifying campaigns. Ondrej Duda and Peter Pekarik’s Slovakia face Wales on Thursday (10.10.19, 20:45 CEST) and are in joint second in their group, behind Croatia and level with Hungary. The team will look to defend their position before facing Paraguay on Sunday (13.10.19, 20:45 CEST). Vladimir Darida and the Czech Republic are also in second in their group. They have accumulated nine points so far, however, a defeat tomorrow against group leaders England (12 points) could see Kosovo overtake them if they beat Montenegro. On Monday (14.10.19, 20:45 CEST), they will host Northern Ireland in a friendly match.

Rune Jarstein has plenty of work to do with Norway as they prepare to face Spain on Saturday (12.10.19, 20:45 CEST) before travelling to Romania on Tuesday (15.10.19, 20:45 CEST). Norway are currently in fourth place of their group with nine points, Romania are third with ten, Sweden are second with eleven and Spain have won all six of their games. “I’m looking forward to the games. We need to take points from them if we want to make it through the qualifying stage,” said the Hertha keeper. Away from Europe, Matthew Leckie and Australia have already started their campaign for 2022 World Cup qualification. After a 3-0 win against Kuwait the team will play Nepal on Thursday in Canberra (10.10.19, 11:00 CEST) before heading to Kaohsiung to face Taiwan on Tuesday (15.10.19, 13:40 CEST).

Hertha’s international youth players

Javairo Dilrosun will be hoping to help the Netherlands secure qualification for the U21s 2021 European Championship in Slovenia and Hungary. However it is unclear whether or not the winger will be fit to play against Portugal on Friday (11.10.19) and Norway on Tuesday (15.10.19).

Germany's U19s get their European Championship qualification campaign underway, playing three games in seven days. Hertha’s Lazar Samardzic made the squad for the first time, and the attacker got his U19 career off to a flyer with a 3-0 win over Andorra in Scotland on Wednesday, scoring the third goal and grabbing an assist as well. The DFB juniors now face matches against Belarus (11.10.19, 13:00 CEST) and Scotland (15.10.19, 20:05 CEST). Daishawn Redan is also in action for the Netherlands in the same age group, with matches against Latvia (11.10.19) and Israel (14.10.19). In yesterday’s match, the Dutch youngster scored twice in a 5-0 victory over Moldova.