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.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have signed 16-year-old midfield prospect Gabriel Minutillo on a long-term contract. The Germany youth international will play for the U19s this season.
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Bayer 04 preparations for the 2026/27 season are in full swing, with the first friendly now under their belts. Although there are still around seven weeks to go until the first Bundesliga home game in early September, there is already huge anticipation for the start of competitive action for head coach Carles Martínez’s team at the BayArena. For the Bundesliga home matches of the new season, here is the latest information regarding the first phase of single-match ticket sales. The tried-and-tested early-bird phase remains in place. From 23 to 31 July, tickets for matches will go on sale on weekdays; the early-bird phase ends on 5 August at the latest – provided tickets are still available by then.
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Like last year, Bayer 04 Women held their summer training camp in Rieden. Coach Roberto Pätzold gives his assessment of the time in the Upper Palatinate, discusses the integration of the 11 new players and the unusual team building measures, gives his thoughts on the friendly and looks ahead to the start of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga season in August.
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Just in time for the start of the summer holidays in North Rhine-Westphalia, the Werkself will hold another open training session on Tuesday 21 July. The session at the BayArena is scheduled to start at 11:00 CEST and will again be available to watch in a live stream. The fans who are there can look forward to a very special surprise.
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Bayer 04 Women rounded off their one-week training camp in the Upper Palatinate with their second friendly win of pre-season. Coach Roberto Pätzold's side beat Czech top-flight outfit Slovan Liberec 6-0 in a match consisting of 4 x 30 minutes. Maja Sternad (8'), Caroline Kehrer (55'), Natasha Kowalski (67', 84') with two direct free kicks, Valentina Mädl (97') and Justine Brandau (107') scored the goals for Leverkusen at 1.FC Rieden's Fenstertechnik-Weinfurtner-Arena.
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