Laimer leads Austria into League A, win for Ito and Japan

Two Bayern pros were in action for their national teams on 14 November: Konrad Laimer and Austria sealed promotion to League A of the UEFA Nations League, with Hiroki Ito's Japan beating Brazil in a friendly.

Laimer leads Austria to group victory

Austria with captain and starter Konrad Laimer beat Ireland 1-0 to secure top spot in League B of the UEFA Nations League. Sasa Kalajdžić scored the match-winner in the 78^th minute. Laimer played the full 90 minutes and led his team to victory with his usual aggressive tackling. “A crucial victory. In the second half in particular, we displayed really good energy, created lots of chances and deservedly got promoted,” Christoph Baumgartner commented after the match.

The victory means Austria return to League A for the next Nations League campaign. They travel to face Israel in Debrecen on 17 November at 20:45 CET.

Japan with starter Hiroki Ito beat Brazil 3-2 in a friendly in Singapore. Takefusa Kubo (15’) and Keito Nakamura (19’ ) put Japan in front, with Vinícius Júnior bagging a brace to level the scores (33’, 75’). Tatsuhiro Sakamoto sealed Japan’s victory in added time (90’+1). Bayern pro Ito was subbed off in the 86^th minute.

Head coach Hajime Moriyasu called the game “the best match in my eight years as national coach.” Japan take on Paraguay on 17 November, again in Singapore.