In their 1000th international match against Ukraine, the German national soccer team had to settle for a flattering draw – and in the process revealed defensive weaknesses again.
Viktor Tsygankov (18th minute/56th) and Antonio Rüdiger (own goal, 23rd) scored the goals for Ukraine in the 3:3 in the Weserstadion in Bremen, which was sold out with 35,975 fans. Niclas Füllkrug (6th), Kai Havertz (83rd) and Joshua Kimmich (90th + 1) scored penalties for the team of national coach Hansi Flick. Around a year before the start of the European Championships at home, Flick still has a lot of work to do. Germany remains unbeaten in their ninth international match against Ukraine.
Kimmich: “Two stupid goals conceded”
The national coach Flick and his players then agreed in the analysis that they were concerned about goals that could have been avoided. “We made it too easy for the opponent to score goals”said Flick of the sports show. “We make too many simple mistakes”said Kimmich. And Antonio Rüdiger said: “We give the opponent the goals.”
DFB donates the proceeds
The fact that the German team played Ukraine in the anniversary game was highly symbolic because of the Russian war of aggression against the country. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the Ukrainian Ambassador Oleksii Makeiev were guests of honor at the benefit party. The German Football Association donates the income from the TV contract and ticket sales to people affected by the war through its foundation.
Frankfurt’s Kevin Trapp was able to prove himself in the German goal for the first time in 15 months. In defense, Flick trusted a back three with Rüdiger, Matthias Ginter and Nico Schlotterbeck. The flanks are occupied by Marius Wolf and David Raum. Kimmich as captain and his Munich teammate Leon Goretzka also played in midfield, as did Leroy Sané and Julian Brandt. The two offensive forces were absent from the first games of the year in March. Füllkrug played as a centre-forward, it was a home game for the man from Werder Bremen.
Filling pitcher meets at home
And after just 90 seconds, Füllkrug should have taken the lead. Mykhaylo Mudryk played a back pass in the direction of goal right at the Bremen player, but he fired the shot completely unhindered to the right of Anatoliy Trubin’s goal. Wolf made it better in the 6th minute. After a chip ball from Kimmich in the middle, the Dortmunder put himself through nicely and pulled the ball on goal from close range, and Füllkrug deflected from an untenable way.
The Germans stayed. In the 11th minute, after a nice pass from Brandt, Raum only hit the side netting. “We dominated the game in the first 20 minutes and created a lot of chances. It felt a bit too easy.”said the trainer Flick of the sports show.
Only after almost 15 minutes did the Ukrainians come forward on the offensive for the first time. Taras Stepanenko narrowly missed Tsygankov’s cross from a free kick. That gave the guests a boost and they promptly equalized in the 18th minute. Tsygankov completed a spotless counterattack with a shot into the far corner. Referee Anasthasios Sidiropoulos from Greece initially ruled offside, but the video referee corrected him.
Classically offset
The Flick team then lost the thread. In the 24th minute, Raum failed to build up the game when the opponent was pressing hard, and then things went quickly again. Schlotterbeck looked bad in the running duel with Oleksandr Tymchyk, Mudryk put his pass from the baseline into the backcourt on goal, Rüdiger deflected.
Germany responded and got stuck in the Ukraine half before the break. There was a lot of possession, but there weren’t more than a few half-chances. It was almost 3-1 just before the break: Andrey Yarmolenko and Tymchyk whirled around in the penalty area, the latter only hit the side netting. A sign of hope for the Germans shortly before the half-time whistle: Sané hit the bar with a free kick from 18 meters.
Tsygankov uses Ginter’s blunders coldly
In the 56th minute, the burgeoning hope was disappointed after a slow start to the second half. Ginter was unable to control a half-high back pass from Brandt. Artem Dovbyk grabbed the ball, put it across to Tsygankov and he didn’t let it go.
This initially pulled the plug on the German offensive efforts. Nervousness spread, the Bremen audience became restless. The Germans were afraid of running into the next counterattack by the Ukrainians at any time.
Havertz creates the turning point
In the 74th minute another chance for the DFB-Elf, but Rüdiger put the ball wide of the goal from 14 meters after the Ukrainians had cleared too briefly. A little later, Sané fired a shot wide of the post from the left.
Havertz’s goal after a nice individual performance came out of nowhere. It was Havertz who took the penalty in stoppage time, which Kimmich used to make it 3-3. A year before the European Championships at home, Germany is far from the hoped-for title form. The team once again revealed huge shortcomings, the experiment with a triple chain and a double lead didn’t work and was canceled. Basic things were missing, especially physicality, sharpness of pass, concentration – but at least the morale was right.
The German team continues on Friday (June 16, 2023) with another test match. Then Poland is the opponent in Warsaw.