After SV Werder Bremen drew 3-3 in a friendly against St. Pauli during the international break, the first of their national team players were in action on Wednesday 11th and Thursday 12th October 2023. While Rafael Borré’s Colombia remain unbeaten in World Cup qualification, Jiri Pavlenka’s Czechia suffered a disappointing defeat. Leon Opitz on the other hand enjoyed a good start to European Championship qualifying in Poland.
The Germany U19 side celebrated a 6-0 win over Kazakhstan in their first EURO qualifier in Poland. Leon Opitz came on as an 82nd-minute substitute and will hope for more minutes in their game against North Macedonia on Saturday (14th October, 15:30 CEST). Jiri Pavlenka and Czechia conversely had a Thursday evening to forget. Head coach Jaroslav Silhavy’s team played the majority of their match in Albania with ten men and eventually suffered a 3-0 defeat. On Sunday (15th October, 18:00 CEST), Pavlenka’s side are clear favourites at home to the Faroe Islands in Plzen.
Late at night in German time, Rafael Borré was also in action. The 28-year-old’s Colombia team hosted Uruguay on the third matchday of South American World Cup qualifying. Werder’s number 19 again started in attack and worked hard for his country in the 2-2 draw. Ex-Bayern star James Rodríguez scored for Colombia in the 35th minute, before Napoli’s Mathias Olivera equalised shortly after the break in the 47th. The hosts however hit back quickly as Matheus Uribe struck in the 52nd minute to put them ahead once more. After Borré had been substituted in the 80th minute, the guests found a late equaliser as Liverpool’s Darwin scored from the penalty spot in the first minute of injury time. On Wednesday (18th October, 1:30 CEST), still-unbeaten Colombia go to Ecuador.
More Werder players are set to feature at the weekend. On Friday evening (18:15 CEST), Nick Woltemade’s Germany U21s face Bulgaria looking for points on the road to EURO qualifying. Next, there will be a battle between two Bremen players in the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna, where Romano Schmid’s Austria take on his teammate Olivier Deman’s Belgium side (20:45 CEST), in a clash that will see the winner go top of the group. Milos Veljkovic is also involved in an important game in Group G, as his Serbia team face Hungary on Saturday (14th October, 20:45 CEST).
