Raum impresses, Kramarić & Dabbur score

The latest in a line of impressive performances from David Raum came on Tuesday evening as traditional rivals Germany and the Netherlands went head-to-head in a friendly in Amsterdam. The TSG man was once again included in the DFB team's starting line-up and again shone at full-back in an extremely atmospheric stadium, delivering many crosses, winning admirers like he did in the victory over Israel and almost making it 2-0 following some great link-up play. In light of that, nobody really blamed him for losing an aerial battle in the lead-up to the equaliser. Instead, his performance will be remembered more for his excellent tracking back to win the ball back from Paris St. Germain player Georginio Wijnaldum, whom Raum chased with an impressive defensive sprint and dispossessed. The 1-1 draw (Müller, 45+1 / Bergwijn, 68) saw Germany coach Hansi Flick extend his unbeaten start to nine matches. Reflecting on an intense match, Flick was satisfied: "It was a very good game from two teams that want to play football. We played some really good football for 60 minutes and could have made it 2-0 through David Raum. The team played with enormous intensity, we were very courageous and gave a very good account of ourselves."

Two Hoffenheim forwards also had cause for celebration. Andrej Kramarić was the man of the match after coming on as a 60th-minute substitute (60th) and setting up the leveller and scoring the winner in a 2-1 victory – as was Munas Dabbur, who bagged a brace (57/85) in Israel's 2-2 draw with Romania to salvage a draw for his team.

Austria also drew 2-2 following their bitter World Cup elimination in Wales. Christoph Baumgartner came on as a substitute in the 60th minute with the score 2-0 to Scotland and played an important role in the comeback. Jacob Bruun Larsen also made a substitute appearance for Denmark. The TSG man entered the fray in the 57th minute and experienced a special moment: Christian Eriksen, who almost lost his life after suffering a cardiac arrest playing in the same stadium during the EUROs a year ago, scored a dream goal from 20 metres to complete a 3-0 victory.

Meanwhile, Diadie Samassékou had a disappointing evening as Mali missed out on a World Cup berth to Tunisia. The Hoffenheim man, who once again made the starting XI, saw his country held to a 0-0 draw and subsequently get eliminated, having lost the first leg 1-0.

A number of players featured in youth internationals as well. Angelo Stiller celebrated an important success with the U21s, who won 1-0 in Israel. The Hoffenheim player, who played the full 90 minutes, and his country now have a five-point lead over Israel in EURO qualifying and are on the verge of booking their place at the tournament, which will be held in Romania and Georgia in 2023. However, the U20s lost 3-1 (1-0) in England, with Marco John playing the opening 45 minutes. Following his recent impressive performances for the U17s, Tom Bischof did not feature on Tuesday evening as Germany ran out 5-2 winners over Czechia in Israel.

Elsewhere, Justin Che was involved in a thriller. He helped the US U20 side come from three goals down to beat the U20s of Buenos Aires-based side River Plate 5-3 in Argentina. 

 

The internationals involving TSG players at a glance

David Raum (Germany)

Germany 2-0 Israel, Saturday 26 March (Friendly, in Sinsheim)  

Netherlands 1-1 Germany, Tuesday 29 March (Friendly)

Christoph Baumgartner and Stefan Posch (Austria)

Wales 2-1 Austria, Thursday 24 March (World Cup qualifier)

Austria 2-2 Scotland, Tuesday 29 March (Friendly)

Andrej Kramarić (Croatia)

Croatia 1-1 Slovenia, Saturday 26 March (Friendly)

Croatia 2-1 Bulgaria, Tuesday 29 March (Friendly)

Munas Dabbur (Israel)

Germany 2-0 Israel, Saturday 26 March (Friendly, in Sinsheim)

Israel 2-2 Romania, Tuesday 29 March (Friendly)

Jacob Bruun Larsen (Denmark)

Netherlands 4-2 Denmark, Saturday 26 March (Friendly)

Denmark 3-0 Serbia, Tuesday 29 March (Friendly)

Diadie Samassékou (Mali)

Mali 0-1 Tunisia, Friday 25 March (World Cup qualifier)

Tunisia 0-0 Mali, Tuesday 29 March (World Cup qualifier)

Angelo Stiller (Germany U21s)

Germany U21s 4-0 Latvia U21s, Friday 25 March (EURO qualifier)

Israel U21s 0-1 Germany U21s, Tuesday 29 March (EURO qualifier)

Georginio (France U21s)

France U21s 2-0 Faroe Islands U21s, Thursday 24 March (EURO qualifier)

France U21s 5-0 Northern Ireland U21s, Monday 28 March (Friendly)

Marco John (Germany U20s)

Italy U20s 1-1 Germany U20s, Thursday 24 March (Friendly)

England U20s 3-1 Germany U20s, Tuesday 29 March (Friendly)

Justin Che (USA U20s)

Argentina U20s 2-2 USA U20s, Saturday 26 March (Friendly)

River Plate U20s 3-5 USA U20s, Tuesday 29 March (Friendly)

Tom Bischof (Germany U17s)

Germany U17s 3-0 Georgia U17s, Wednesday 23 March (Friendly)

Germany U17s 4-0 Scotland U17s, Saturday 26 March (Friendly)

Czechia U17s 2-5 Germany U17s, Tuesday 29 March (Friendly)