Germany into Nations League quarters, France and Italy win
PARIS: Germany secured a place in the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals with a 1-0 win over the Netherlands on Monday, while France won in Belgium and Italy continued their recent revival.
Jamie Leweling scored on his debut to give Germany victory over the Netherlands in Munich and guarantee them one of the top two spots in Group 3 of League A.
It was the eighth meeting of the teams in the last six years but, for the Dutch,there was nothing familiar about Leweling.
Leweling, 23, was an addition to the Germany squad for this month’s games following an injury to Jamal Musiala.
He was then called off the bench to start the game after an injury to club team-mate Deniz Undav in the warm-up.
Leweling found the net after just two minutes only for that effort to be ruled out for an offside in the build-up, but he then blasted in the winner on 64 minutes.
“Jamie had an outstanding debut — it’s not often the Allianz Arena gives you a reception like that — he did well,” said captain Joshua Kimmich.
It felt like a new era for Germany, with Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller and Ilkay Gundogan all given a fond farewell before the game. Together with Toni Kroos, who wasn’t there in person due to commitments at his youth academy, the four players won more than 450 caps.
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann is bringing through younger players, with Aleksandar Pavlovic, 20, and Angelo Stiller, 23, handed first starts. At the other end of the age scale, goalkeeper Oliver Baumann became the third oldest debutant for Germany — at 34 years, 134 days.
Baumann produced a brilliant flying save to deny Netherlands substitute Donyell Malen and keep a clean sheet, ensuring the Oranje’s 13-match unbeaten streak in the group stage of the Nations League came to an end.
Germany are on 10 points from four games, five more than both the Dutch and Hungary.
The Hungarians won 2-0 on Monday away in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with captain Dominik Szoboszlai, of Liverpool, opening the scoring late in the first half and adding a penalty after the break.
Italy remain top of Group A2 after easing to a 4-1 win at home to Israel in Udine.
Mateo Retegui opened the scoring with a penalty shortly before half-time and captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo netted twice in the second half.
Davide Frattesi also scored for Italy, with Mohammad Abu Fani pulling one back for Israel.
Stringent security measures, including armed military personnel on the roof of the 25,000-seater stadium in Udine, were in place as Israel played their first match outside neutral Hungary this year. It came amid Israel’s ongoing conflict in the Middle East which has spread to Lebanon after more than a year-long war with Palestine.
Around 1,000 people took part in a pro-Palestine demonstration in the city centre before the match. Areas around the stadium were blocked off 48 hours before kickoff and declared a “red zone,” while hundreds of extra police officers were called up from surrounding areas.
France are a point behind Italy after they again won in the absence of Kylian Mbappe, a double by Randal Kolo Muani securing a 2-1 victory in Belgium.
France were forced to hang on to preserve their third win in four group matches after Aurelien Tchouaméni, their captain in the absence of Mbappe, was shown a second yellow in the 76th for tripping midfielder Youri Tielemans.
Tielemans had earlier lifted a penalty kick over the bar in the 23rd at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, only for Kolo Muani to convert his own spot kick after Wout Faes was penalised for handball.
Loïs Openda headed in the equaliser from Timothy Castagne’s cross, with the goal initially ruled out for offside but awarded after VAR check in first-half stoppage time.
Kolo Muani, who has started only two games for PSG this season, grabbed the winner in the 62nd in Brussels by heading in Lucas Digne’s left-wing cross.
As Les Bleus took to the field in the Belgian capital, a newspaper report in Sweden emerged claiming that Mbappe was being investigated for rape following a visit to Stockholm last week.
Mbappe claimed in a post on X that there was a link with his hearing before a French league committee on Tuesday in his bitter dispute over unpaid wages with his ex-club Paris Saint-Germain.
“FAKE NEWS !!!!. It’s becoming so predictable, on the eve of the hearing, as if by chance,” Mbappe posted.
It remains to be seen if the Real Madrid star will be back for the last Nations League group games next month, when France can secure a place in the quarter-finals, but Kolo Muani staked a claim to keep his place.
“I am happy for him,” coach Didier Deschamps told L’Equipe TV. “Randal is performing very well for us. He is full of confidence.”
Elsewhere on Monday, Turkey won 4-2 in Iceland to stay top of Group B4, with all their goals in Reykjavik coming in the final half-hour.
Irfan Can Kahveci, Hakan Calhanoglu of Inter Milan, Real Madrid’s Arda Guler and Kerem Akturkoglu all scored for Turkey.
With 10 points, they are two ahead of Wales in the race for promotion to League A.
Crag Bellamy’s team beat Montenegro 1-0 in Cardiff thanks to a Harry Wilson penalty.
The Czech Republic are top of Group B1 after a 1-1 draw against Ukraine, while Albania defeated Georgia 1-0.
In Group C1, Sweden won 3-0 in Estonia and Slovakia beat Azerbaijan 3-1 away.
Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2024