Barreiro scores, Widmer assists, Stach makes competitive debut

The Mainz players on international duty can now finally go on their summer holidays after the final round of UEFA Nations League games were completed yesterday. Leandro Barreiro, Karim Onisiwo, Anton Stach and Silvan Widmer were all in action with their nations.

After two wins to start their group, Luxembourg and Barreiro took on Turkey on Saturday night, but lost 2-0. Our midfielder once again played the full game. They rounded off the international break with a 2-2 draw against the Faroe Islands on Tuesday evening. Barreiro captained the side and put them 2-0 up at the start of the second half.

Stach, who made his debut for Germany in March, was again called up by Hansi Flick for these four games. He didn’t feature against Hungary (and former Zerofiver Ádám Szalai) on Saturday evening in a 1-1 draw, but did make his competitive debut in the stunning 5-2 win over Italy on Tuesday. He came off the bench for goalscorer Ilkay Gündogan in the 87th minute and almost got his first international goal, hitting the side-netting three minutes after coming on.

Widmer sets up Switzerland’s early winner

Austria and Mainz striker Onisiwo managed to pick up a point against world champions France on Friday evening. Karim came on for Marko Arnautovic in the 63rd minute. Ralf Rangnick’s side were then beaten 2-0 by Denmark on Monday. Onisiwo came on for the second half with his side already two goals behind. Austria are sat in third in Group 1 after four matchdays.

Mainz right-back Widmer has been representing Switzerland in Group 2. They were defeated 1-0 by Spain, with Widmer playing the full game. Following three straight defeats, the Swiss earned their first win of this Nations League campaign by winning against Portugal on Sunday evening. Widmer started again and set up their early goal in the first minute, a Haris Seferovic header, which turned out to be the winner. Their next games are in September.