For Charles Aránguiz and the Chile team there was a 2-1 defeat in the friendly against Honduras last night. The Werkself number 20 played the full 90 minutes in holding midfield in the away fixture in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula. After a good first 30 minutes and a deserved lead at half-time, La Roja were unable to reproduce the same performance in the second half – and they conceded two goals late on.
There was a more successful but also more relaxing time for Lucas Alario. The 26-year-old, who returned to the Argentina side after a two-year break in the goalless draw against Chile, did not play in the 4-0 victory inflicted by his fellow countryman on Mexico in a friendly. Instead he spent the 90 minutes on the bench at the Alamdome in the city of San Antonio in Texas.
Panagiotis Retsos was also able to celebrate victory for his country. Playing for the Greece U21 team, he was in the side that registered a 1-0 home win against Lithuania to further secure top spot in Group Four. As in Thursday's friendly against the Germany U21s, the 20-year-old led the Greece youngsters out as captain.
It was an evening of mixed feelings for U19 player Marc Lamti: He was on the winning side for the Tunisia U23s in a 2-1 victory against Cameroon and he did provide an assist. However, due to the away goals rule (after a 1-0 defeat in the first leg), his team just missed out on qualifying for the Africa U23 Cup of Nations as well as a place in next year's Olympic Games in Tokyo.
With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
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A successful fourth preseason friendly ahead of the start of the training camp: The Werkself secured a 3-0 victory over Rot-Weiss Essen at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The goals in what was a commanding and dominant performance by Leverkusen from the outset were scored by Ibrahim Maza (8'), Patrik Schick from the penalty spot (23’) and, in the second half, Montrell Culbreath with a header (79’). The team set off for their training camp in Blankenhain in the Weimarer Land region after the game.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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You have voted – your ‘Team of the Quarter-Century’ has been decided! This historic selection, covering the period from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2024, features honorary captains, Bundesliga champions, double winners and Champions League finalists. Edmond Tapsoba is the only player from the current Bayer 04 squad to make it into the starting XI, while his team-mate Patrik Schick is on the bench. Simon Rolfes, the current managing director sport, is also in the lie-up. A truly special team that brings together a quarter of a century of Bayer 04 history – and has left a decisive mark on the club.
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Following Patrik Schick, Mark Flekken, Ibrahim Maza and Kerim Alajbegovic earlier this week, the next World Cup participant is back on the training ground in Leverkusen: On Thursday 30 July, Malik Tillman rejoined the squad, completing his first training session under head coach Carles Martínez.
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