Germany suffered a 2-0 home loss to Colombia in a friendly on Tuesday in their latest setback less than a year before they host Euro 2024, while Senegal thumped Brazil 4-2 in Lisbon with Sadio Mané scoring twice.
Luis Díaz’s 54th-minute header and Juan Cuadrado’s penalty in the 82nd gave the visitors their first victory over the Germans, who were booed at the end. Germany, who have less than a year to build a battle-hardened team for the continental tournament, had needed two late goals to draw 3-3 with Ukraine last week before Friday’s 1-0 loss to Poland.
The four-time world champions have won just one of their last five matches since their shock World Cup group stage exit in December. They have also won only three of their last 11. “Obviously I am very disappointed that we could not apply what we had set out to do,” said their coach Hansi Flick. “There are things that we wanted to try but they backfired.”
Flick, who took over in 2021 and is under mounting pressure since the early World Cup elimination, said after the game at Schalke’s Veltins Arena his players were lacking in confidence. “What can I say? The arguments are not on our side at the moment. We have to analyse it, draw our lessons,” he said after three games without a win.
“This is a cycle that we need to break through. In September we have to bring a different performance. We will see a different team and then the results will start coming,” he said. “We are convinced we have a good team and good players.”
Former Liverpool forward Mané made it a night to remember for Senegal after West Ham midfielder Lucas Paquetá had put Brazil ahead in the 11th minute. Habib Diallo equalised for Senegal before an own goal from Marquinhos early in the second half gave Aliou Cissé’s side the advantage. Bayern Munich forward Mané found the net twice in the second half including a late penalty as Marquinhos scored at the right end but Senegal become the first African team to score four goals against Brazil in amatch.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a stunning late goal as Portugal beat Iceland 1-0 on Tuesday to extend their perfect record in Euro 2024 qualifying Group J on an historic night for the forward who became the first player to make 200 international appearances.
Ronaldo already held the record for most international appearances when he surpassed Kuwait’s Bader al-Mutawa, who held the record of 196 matches, during Portugal’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Liechtenstein in March.
Ronaldo had to wait two minutes to celebrate the winner as the referee first ruled out his close-range strike in the 89th minute for offside, but the goal was given after the VAR replay showed he was fractionally onside. It was his 123rd goal for Portugal, extending his record as the all-time leading international goalscorer.
Stand-in captain Romelu Lukaku scored twice in three minutes and Johan Bakayoko netted his first international goal as Belgium ended a tumultuous few days with a 3-0 victory over Estonia in their Euro 2024 Group F qualifier on Tuesday.
The visitors had been rocked by a row between new coach Domenico Tedesco and veteran goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in the build-up to the game, and made a slow start before Lukaku pounced with two close-range finishes towards the end of the first half.
Norway’s Erling Haaland scored twice in the second half as they cruised to a 3-1 win over Cyprus on Tuesday to get their Euro 2024 Group A campaign back on track after a shock 2-1 home defeat to Scotland in their previous game.
The win lifts the Norwegians to third in the five-team group on four points from four matches, behind second-placed Georgia on goal difference.
