Substituted at half time
©IMAGO
The World Cup course is right. After numerous changes in the second half, local hero Deniz Undav scored the German national team’s second win in the second test match of the year. In the 2-1 (1-0) win against Ghana, the 52,723 fans in Stuttgart celebrated the VfB professional after his winning goal in the 88th minute. Three days after the wild and high-scoring 4:3 in Switzerland, the German offensive lacked effectiveness apart from a converted hand penalty by Kai Havertz (45th + 3) and Undav’s joker goal.
The defense, which had hardly been challenged for a long time, was surprised by a counterattack by the four-time African champions. Abdul Fatawu Issahaku scored the 1-1 in the 70th minute after an attack from the left wing without interference in the penalty area. There is still something to do for national coach Julian Nagelsmann in the tournament preparation that begins on May 25th so that he can travel to America at the beginning of June with a good feeling. But after seven wins in a row, the direction is right.
At the last viewing before the World Cup squad was nominated on May 12th, Nagelsmann wanted to see as many players as possible and changed a total of eight times after the break. However, the German game overall lacked determination, precision and luck in finishing, for example when Nick Woltemade’s header hit the crossbar (53′). It would have been 2-0. Ivory Coast was originally supposed to be the third-to-last friendly opponent before the World Cup finals starting on June 11th. But then the Ivorians were drawn into the German group with Curaçao and Ecuador as other opponents.
The DFB reacted and chose Ghana as a replacement. The team of former Dortmund professional Otto Addo arrived from Vienna with a 1:5 defeat against Austria. Above all, the World Cup participant didn’t want to lose again, so he defended compactly and deep. Nagelsmann made four changes to the starting line-up. He had announced the use of Stuttgart’s Alexander Nübel in goal and Frankfurt’s Nathaniel Brown, who had good performances as a left-back.
Pascal Groß and Woltemade were also added. The latter was preferred offensively over Undav, who scored 18 times for VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga. Nevertheless, Undav had to go back to the bench, as did Leroy Sané, who had been ineffective in Switzerland for a long time.
“Last year in particular, I think I scored some pretty important goals and had good games,” Woltemade said on “ARD” after arriving at the stadium. “I’m happy that I’m playing here,” he said about returning to Stuttgart. And the tall Schlaks had already made it 1-0 in the 4th minute. But after a pass from Havertz, Woltemade aimed just past the left post.
The DFB team stayed on the trigger and combined patiently in the narrow spaces. Wirtz, the outstanding double goalscorer against Switzerland, curled a free kick onto the outside post (6th). Ghana’s defense was shaky, but they were lucky to keep the score 0-0. Goalkeeper Benjamin Asare successfully threw himself into a shot from central defender Jonathan Tah (31′) after a missed cross.
When Havertz successfully changed a nice combination shortly afterwards, the goal didn’t count because Woltemade was just offside when he put it down. The video assistant also intervened when Angelo Stiller’s shot hit the spread arm of defender Jonas Adjetey, who plays for VfL Wolfsburg. There was a penalty later, Havertz stepped up and scored.
By the middle of the first half, shouts of “Deniz Undav” were already echoing through the stadium. The Stuttgart audience demanded their local hero. He grinned mischievously on the bench and waved to his fans. Nagelsmann substituted the VfB striker after the break along with Lennart Karl and Antonio Rüdiger. Undav then appeared as a goal scorer very late. Bayern youngster Karl delighted with some dribbling beforehand. The many changes were not good for the flow of the German game. But Nagelsmann had taken that into account.
