A quintet from Leverkusen completed a perfect U19 EURO qualifying campaign with Germany, with three wins in seven days ensuring the group victory and with it a place in the finals in Lithuania (15 to 27 July). Captain Paulina Bartz particularly impressed in the games against Romania (2-0), Hungary (6-0) and Sweden (4-1) with a goal in each.
Her teammate Delice Boboy scored the fourth goal against Hungary just two minutes after coming on, shortly before assisting the fifth. In the first match she played the second half, while against the Swedes she came on after 62 minutes. Anne Moll was in goal for all three games, Julia Mickenhagen featured at left-back (46 minutes against Romania, 61 against Hungary and 90 against Sweden) and striker Estrella Merino Gonzalez also started all three matches, playing until the 72nd minute against Romania, the 71st against Hungary and the full 90 against Sweden, during which she provided the assist for the fourth goal. A sixth Leverkusen player could be part of the squad in Lithuania in 18-year-old Loreen Bender, who missed qualifying through injury.
Nothing has been decided yet in the senior Women's EURO qualifying. On the first two matchdays, two Werkself teammates came up against each other in Group 4 of League A, with Iceland's Karólína Lea Vilhjálmsdóttir kicking off against Polish duo Sylwia Matysik and Nikola Karczewska. And it was Iceland who came out on top, winning 3-0 with Vilhjálmsdóttir providing the assist for the third goal in the 66th minute. Matysik played the full game while Karczewska entered the fray on 76 minutes. The Poles were also left empty-handed after Matchday 2: in a 3-1 defeat to Austria, Matysik was again on the pitch throughout and Karczewska stayed on the bench.
For Vilhjálmsdóttir, there was another internal battle just four days later as the midfielder came up against captain Elisa Senß in the Germany starting line-up in Aachen. Senß had been an unused substitute in the 3-2 win in Austria but played 77 minutes against Iceland as the DFB team won 3-1. Vilhjálmsdóttir played 90 minutes this time. Lilla Turányi and the Hungary team have one point on the board following a 1-1 draw against Azerbaijan and a 2-1 loss to Turkey. The Leverkusen centre-back played every minute.
Three other Werkself girls were involved in friendlies with their youth national teams. Sofie Zdebel was a 78th-minute substitute for Germany U20s in a 0-0 draw against USA but didn't feature in a 4-0 win over Canada. Julie Jorde and Emilie Bragstad were on their travels with Norway U23s. After the friendly against Netherlands was cancelled due to heavy snowfall, there was a 3-2 defeat to Sweden, in which the Bayer 04 duo started. Jorde, who came off after 89 minutes, provided the assist for the opening goal. It was the Norwegians' first defeat since autumn 2022.
After Jens Nowotny was officially named a Bayer 04 honorary captain last weekend, the long-standing Werkself player is part of the Leverkusen delegation on the trophy tour to New York City next week from 11 to 14 September. In an interview with bayer04.de, the 50-year-old talked about his expectations ahead of the trip to the metropolis on the East Coast of the USA.
Show moreThe German Football League (DFL) has confirmed the dates and kick-off times for matchdays 6 to 12 of the 2024/25 Bundesliga season. Full details of the Bayer 04 fixtures.
Show moreMarkus Rehm, a long jumper at TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, won the gold medal for the fourth time in succession at the Paralympics on Wednesday.
Show moreThe fixture details for the second round of the DFB Pokal 2024/25 have been confirmed. The home tie for Bayer 04 against second division SV 07 Elversberg is on Tuesday, 29 October with the kick off at 18.00 CET (live on Sky). That was announced by the German Football Association (DFB) on Thursday.
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