Hofmann makes competitive international debut in 2-0 win against Liechtenstein

Hansi Flick made his bow as German national team coach on Thursday evening, winning 2-0 against Liechtenstein in St. Gallen, Switzerland. Foals midfielder Jonas Hofmann came into the game after an hour, with Florian Neuhaus left out of the squad. Ramy Bensebaini’s Algeria won 8-0 against Djibouti, with the left-back scoring his fifth international goal.

Germany

The German national team secured their third win in qualification for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, with a 2-0 victory against Liechtenstein in St. Gallen, Switzerland. The game, Hansi Flick’s first in charge of Die Mannschaft, saw Florian Neuhaus left out of the squad, with Jonas Hofmann (Photo: imago images / Sven Simon) starting on the bench. After an hour, the 29-year-old came on to make his competitive debut in an international shirt.

When Hofmann entered the fray, Germany were leading 1-0 through a Timo Werner goal shortly before half time, the Germans struggling to break down Liechtenstein’s strong defensive line. Hofmann was brought in along with Serge Gnabry and the returning Marco Reus, in the hope of injecting some extra energy into the game. He was effective after just a few short minutes of coming on, finding Leroy Sané who shot over, and Robin Gosens later on. Liechtenstein defended astutely for large parts of the game, but a goal from Leroy Sane in the 77th minute secured the win for Germany.

Germany now sit on nine points in group J of the World Cup qualifiers. They face group leaders Armenia in Stuttgart on Sunday (20:45 CEST), before travelling to Rekjavik to face Iceland next Wednesday (20:45 CEST).

Algeria

The Algerian national team and Ramy Bensebaini have successfully qualified for the second stage of World Cup qualification, following an 8-0 win against Djibouti in Bilda. Foals left back Bensebaini started the game and scored Algeria’s third goal in the 27th Minute. The goal was the defender’s fifth for his country, coming in his 39th international cap. Next Tuesday, the Algerians meet Burkina Faso in Marrakech, Morocco, before completing qualifying group A against Niger.

Ireland U21

Conor Noß and his Irish Under-21 squad start their U21-Euros qualifying campaign against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Zenica on Friday (16:30 CEST), for the 2023 EUROs in Romania and Georgia. They then face Luxembourg in Düdelingen the following Tuesday (16:00 CEST). Their other opponents in group F are Montenegro, Sweden and Italy.