International roundup

Romano Schmid with a bouncing ball in front of him.

Perfect timing: Romano Schmid assisted Austria’s second goal (Photo: imago).

Following a fifth win in their last six international games, Austria showed that they will be a force to be reckoned with at the European Championships despite facing France and the Netherlands in their group. Two Werder players are hoping to be in action for their nation at the tournament in Germany in the summer in the shape of Marco Friedl and Romano Schmid. The latter is currently a permanent fixture in Austria head coach Ralf Rangnick’s squad and came on in the 71st minute in the 2-0 win against Slovakia. The 24-year-old showed great vision to set up Andreas Weimann for Austria’s second goal with a fine square ball, registering his first goal contribution for the national team in the process. Schmid can consequently hope to make his second start for Austria against Turkey at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion at Tuesday (26.03., 20:45 CET). Schmid’s teammate Christoph Baumgartner had earlier scored the fastest goal in Austria’s history as he found the net after just seven seconds.

Olivier Deman started for the second time in Belgium’s last three games. Werder’s number 2 played the whole game in Domenico Tedesco’s side’s 0-0 draw against the Republic of Ireland. The “Red Devils” had to get through a critical period when goalkeeper Matz Sels saved a penalty from Evan Ferguson (28’). Deman put in a confident performance on the left-hand side of the back four and demonstrated his composure. The 23-year-old currently has a good chance of making Belgium’s squad for EURO 2024 and facing off against Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine or Iceland as group favourites.

Woltemade misses out of winning goal, Hansen-Aorøen grabs an assist

“I want to keep getting game time in order to put my stamp on the game,” said Nick Woltemade ahead of the European qualifiers with the Germany U21 national team. The Werder attacker was subbed on in the 71st minute in the 0-0 draw against Kosovo and almost had the impact he desired in the form of a winning goal. However, the substitute shot straight at the impressive Mustafe Abdullahu in goal (76’), just as his teammates had beforehand.

Isak Hansen-Aarøen duelling with an opponent.

Isak Hansen-Aarøen helped provide Norway with a win against the Netherlands (Photo: imago).

After dropping points for the first time in their fifth group game, Antonio di Salvo’s side would like to return to winning ways against Israel in Halle on Tuesday (26.03., 18:00 CET). “A tough battle is awaiting us,” said di Salvo at ProSieben Maxx. “Israel have a good side and their points tally doesn’t reflect what they are capable of. We know that this is a very tough group. However, our goal is to win it.”

Whilst Germany U21s’ most formidable opponent is Poland, Norway have to keep up with Italy and the Republic of Ireland in their group. The Scandinavians had an excellent dress rehearsal on Thursday evening and ran out 2-1 winners in a friendly against the Netherlands. Werder’s new signing Isak Hansen-Aorøen was subbed on at half time and set up his teammate Andreas Schjelderup for the winning goal (55’). As a result, Werder’s number 21 made his case for a starting eleven berth in the qualifier against San Marino in Stavanger on Tuesday afternoon (26.03., 17:00 CET).