UNDAV SCORE TWICE TO LEAD GERMANY TO 2-1 WIN OVER BOSNIA
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Deniz Undav’s first-half brace gave Germany a 2-1 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Zenica on Friday, putting them one win away from the Nations League quarter-finals.
Undav’s two goals came in six first-half minutes.
Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz laid on a backheel for Undav’s opener after 30 minutes and the Stuttgart forward made it two when he turned in Maximilian Mittlestaedt’s cross shortly after.
Buoyed on by a sell-out crowd of 13,500, Bosnia hit back with 20 minutes remaining when veteran former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko headed in from a corner, but Germany held on to win.
“After they scored, things heated up a bit, but we controlled things confidently,” Undav told Germany’s RTL network.
Wirtz said Germany “made things a little bit difficult for ourselves,” adding “we could have definitely scored a few more goals.
“But we didn’t let much in, which we can be happy with.”
The victory means Germany are one win away from reaching the quarter-finals with their next match against the Netherlands in Munich on Monday.
Wirtz said Monday’s match “should be a similar affair… against the Netherlands is always something special, but also a bit tough — we’re looking forward to it.”
Julian Nagelsmann’s Germany had a difficult preparation for the match, with the coach making seven changes to his squad in the lead-up to Friday’s trip to Bosnia.
Benjamin Henrichs’ late withdrawal meant Germany travelled to Zenica with 22 players, one less than the full allocation of 23.
The absence of goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen meant Alexander Nuebel made his Germany debut while Stuttgart teammate Undav made only his second national team start.
Undav, who made his Germany debut aged 27, started up front alongside fellow late bloomer Tim Kleindienst, who was playing his first match in international colours at the age of 29.
Undav linked with Wirtz, the team’s youngest starter, to give Germany the lead, hammering in a clever pass from the Leverkusen man.
Germany were 2-0 up just six minutes later when Undav found himself in the right place at the right time to score from a Mittelstaedt pass.
The former Brighton forward looked to have scored a third early in the second half but his chances of a hat-trick were snuffed out due to a foul in the build-up.
Dzeko capitalised on some lethargic Germany defending from a set-piece to score in the 70th minute, the 38-year-old forward’s 67th goal in his 138th game for Bosnia.
AFP
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