A brace and two starts

Following his assist in the 2-0 win against Slovakia and words of praise from Austria head coach Ralf Rangnick, Romano Schmid was rewarded with a place in the starting eleven in Austria’s 6-1 win against Turkey. It was Werder’s number 20’s second international start following his first goal contribution against Slovakia, and he built on Saturday evening’s performance. Schmid played a role in Xaver Schlager’s early opening goal as he won the ball back (2’), whilst the 24-year-old provided the assist for Michael Gregoritsch’s header to put Austria 3-1 up from a corner (48’). Schmid was eventually replaced after 81 minutes following a successful performance.

Olivier Deman, who played the whole game in Belgium’s 0-0 draw against the Republic of Ireland, was an unused substitute in the Red Devils’ 2-2 draw against England. National team head coach opted to give Arthur Theate (Rennes) a start at left-back at Wembley. Deman will hope to stake his case for the final international fixtures ahead of EURO 2024 against Montenegro (05.06.) and Luxembourg (08.06.) with good performances during the run-in.

Hansen-Aorøen scores wonder goal, Woltemade impresses for Germany U21s

Isak Hansen-Aaroen celebrates with his teammates.

Isak Hansen-Aarøen scored a brace against San Marino (Photo: imago).

Isak Hansen-Aorøen made his case for a start in Norway U21s’ European qualifier against San Marino with an assist in the 2-1 friendly win against the Netherlands. Werder’s new signing needed just five minutes to repay his coach Jan Peder Jalland’s faith. Following an attack down the right flank, Hansen-Aorøen produced an instinctive volley from a ball into the box from the by-line and gave his side an important early lead (5’).

However, Werder’s number 21 wasn’t finished there – after the break, Hansen-Aarøen left two defenders trailing in his wake before deftly finishing into the top corner from a tight angle (61’) for the third goal in Norway’s 4-0 victory. The win moves Norway to within three points of Italy and just one of Ireland in Group A. Norway’s next competitive U21 fixtures will come against Latvia (06.09) and Italy (10.09) in September.

Germany’s U21s find themselves in an even better position as the Group D table-toppers triumphed 2-0 over Israel to maintain their unbeaten record. Nick Woltemade was again named in the starting XI for Antonio di Salvo’s side, and played a key role, being heavily involved in the build-up for both Brajan Gruda’s opener (14’) and Merlin Röhl’s second (56’).