Philipp Max graced his debut for Germany on Wednesday with an assist. PSV’s left back prepared the only goal in the 1-0 exhibition game against the Czech Republic. France surprisingly lost 0-2 against Finland in Paris and Belgium was 2-1 too strong for Switzerland at home.
In the thirteenth minute, 27-year-old Max provided the assist on Luca Waldschmidt’s goal for Germany against the Czech Republic. He passed the ball from the left, allowing Waldschmidt to simply tap in. The defender played until the 68th minute.
Max is the second Eredivisie player ever to play for Germany. He follows in the footsteps of Amin Younes, who had the scoop on behalf of Ajax in 2017. The attacker even participated in the Confederations Cup that year and scored twice as an Eredivisie player for ‘Die Mannschaft’.
It happened more often that players first played for (West) Germany and then came out in the Eredivisie. That applied to Paulo Rink (Vitesse), Heiko Westermann (Ajax), Arno Steffenhagen (Ajax), Helmut Rahn (SC Enschede) and Mario Götze (PSV).
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Antoine Griezmann is disappointed with a missed opportunity against Finland. (Photo: ANP)
First defeat in France in a year and a half
In the Stade de France, France suffered its first defeat in a year and a half against Finland. The reigning world champion fell behind after half an hour. Marcus Forss mercilessly punished the clumsy loss of the ball from ‘Les Bleus’.
Three minutes later, the Finns brilliantly doubled the margin. Onni Valakari played himself free and shot the ball hard from about 20 meters into the top left corner. The French then created the necessary opportunities, but they failed to complete.
France last suffered a defeat on 8 June 2019. Then the team of national coach Didier Deschamps lost 2-0 to Turkey in the European Championship qualification.
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Belgium celebrates Michy Batshuayi’s winning goal. (Photo: ANP)
Batshuayi leads Belgium through Switzerland
In Heverlee, Belgium fell behind Switzerland after twelve minutes. Admir Mehmedi took advantage of a mistake in the defense of ‘De Rode Duivels’ and passed Simon Mignolet with a slider in the far corner.
Michy Batshuayi led the Belgians to victory in the second half. Shortly after the break, the attacker of Crystal Palace created the equalizer with a shot in the left corner and scored twenty minutes before the end with a shot from the turn.
The defeat of Switzerland is good news for the Dutch national team in view of the draw for the World Cup qualification. Moreover, with the draw against Spain (1-1), Orange did good business in the battle for a place in pot 1. To end up in the draw, the Netherlands must be among the ten best European countries in the FIFA ranking after this international match belong.
Italy and Poland, which are part of the Orange squad in the Nations League, both won. The Italians beat Estonia in Florence 4-0 thanks to two goals from Vincenzo Grifo (one from a penalty) and hits from Federico Bernardeschi and Riccardo Orsolini (penalty). Poland beat Ukraine 2-0 in Chorzów thanks to goals from Krzysztof Piatek and Jakub Moder.
In Lisbon, Portugal won 7-0 against Andorra. Cristiano Ronaldo made his return to the home team after a corona infection. The attacker came into the field after the break and made the sixth goal of the Portuguese five minutes before time.
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Cristiano Ronaldo scored the sixth goal against Andorra. (Photo: Pro Shots)
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