Three Foals made appearances for their respective national teams on Saturday evening: Jonas Hofmann was brought on as a substitute in Germany’s 1-1 draw against Italy, whilst Yvandro Borges Sanches (Luxembourg) and Rami Bensebaini (Algeria) featured from the start in their games.
The first game of Germany’s latest UEFA Nations League campaign saw Jonas Hofmann (Photo: imago / Schueler) travel with Die Mannschaft to Bologna, Hansi Flick’s side playing out a 1-1 draw with EURO 2020 champions Italy. Borussia’s midfielder came off the bench around the hour mark, replacing RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Henrichs on the right side of midfield. Not long after his introduction, Germany went 1-0 down thanks to a Lorenzo Pellegrini goal (70’). The away side hit back immediately, though, with Hofmann involved: his cross, aimed at Timo Werner, came off the foot of Joshua Kimmich, who got his name on the scoresheet with the equaliser. Next up for Hofmann and Germany in Nations League division A: a home game against England in Munich on Tuesday (20:45 CEST).
Borges Sanches also with an assist
Division C of the Nations League saw Yvandro Borges Sanches and Luxembourg get off to a winning start, with a 2-0 victory away to Lithuania. The young midfielder, who recently signed a professional contract with Borussia, started the game and set up the opening goal of the game, a Danel Sinani strike just before half time. With the assist under his belt, Borges Sanches came off after an hour, before Sinani scored again with 12 minutes to go to secure the win for Luxembourg. Tuesday evening will see Borges Sanches and his home country go to the Faroe Islands for their second game (20:45).
Bensebaini and co. make best possible start
Ramy Bensebaini’s Algeria made a positive start to their AFCON qualification run by beating Uganda 2-0. Borussia’s left-back started the game and played 84 minutes wide on the left. The games’ goals were scored by Aissa Mandi on 28 minutes, and Youcef Belaili with 10 to go, our number 25 setting the latter up from his left-wing position. The next competitive game for Algeria comes on Wednesday, as they face Tanzania in Dar-es-Salaam at 18:00 CEST – they will play a friendly against Niger at 18:30 CEST on Monday evening.
