Nebel shines as Germany U21 record statement win

The tone for the evening at the Böllenfalltor in Darmstadt had been set just three minutes into the clash between the Germany and Spain U21 national teams. Paul Nebel played a key part in getting the ball rolling for the hosts, as he broke down the left flank before playing in teammate Nick Woltemade. The striker rounded off the move with a classy dinked finish for his first goal of the hat-trick he would ultimately score in the friendly match-up.

Nebel also had a major hand in the lanky forward’s second of the evening, only being stripped of an assist by the fact that Ansgar Knauff made slight contact with his whipped cross from the left. Mainz’s home-grown midfielder produced a stellar showing over the course of the full 90 minutes in Germany’s final tough test ahead of the summer’s European U21 Championship and against the favourites for that tournament, too. Nelson Weiper also featured, replacing Woltemade late on. Ex-05er Brajan Gruda played 73 minutes.

Lee grabs the go-ahead goal for South Korea

Jae-sung Lee and the South Korea national team had to settle for a 1-1 draw in their World Cup qualifying clash with Jordan. Lee put his nation ahead with just five minutes on the clock, turning home from a Heung-min Son corner. Andreas Hanche-Olsen and Norway were able to celebrate a 4-2 win over Israel as part of their World Cup qualification campaign, however the Mainz defender once again did not feature as was the case in the previous fixture with Moldova.

Nebel, Weiper, Lee and Hanche-Olsen are all expected to return to Mainz today. They will then re-join team training tomorrow as the side prepares for their trip to face Borussia Dortmund on Sunday (kick-off 17:30 CEST).