Two Germany wins, Pernille Harder’s milestone, Sarah Zadrazil’s comeback

Several FC Bayern Women players were in action for their country over the October international break, including wins for Germany, Sarah Zadrazil’s comeback and a landmark cap for Pernille Harder. fcbayern.com recaps the action of the last week…

Germany beat Australia

Having already qualified for next summer’s World Cup, Germany had two high-calibre friendlies arranged, but had to do without captain Giulia Gwinn after her knee injury. Christian Wück started Ena Mahmutovic, Klara Bühl and Franziska Kett against Australia in Karlsruhe. Kett saw a header saved before Melina Kössler put in the rebound for the opening goal. She got a second before Sam Kerr replied for the visitors. Linda Dallmann came off the bench to deliver the corner that Camilla Küver put away to make it 3-1. Australia got another back before Sjoeke Nüsken rounded off the 4-2 win.

Comeback against Japan

Japan were the visitors to Bremen on Tuesday, with Bayern boss José Barcala taking in the game at the Weserstadion. He watched Momoko Tanikawa put the away side ahead, but Germany hit back through more Bayern players as Kett played in Bühl, who found Dallmann. Her deflected shot then went in off the underside of the crossbar. Japan were unable to test Mahmutovic in the second half, as Bühl marked an impressive display with a low shot to earn a 2-1 win.

Tanikawa’s Japan had previously been in Paris to take on Haiti. She started that game too, providing the assist for Yui Hasegawa to get the third goal in the 5-1 victory.

Zadrazil’s international return

Austria had a two-legged tie against Kosovo as they entered the play-offs for World Cup qualification. Katharina Naschenweng missed out with a knee issue as Barbara Dunst and her team went behind in Pristina but were able to level in the first half. Zadrazil came on in the second half for her first international appearances in 494 days, with Austria going on to turn things around for a 2-1 win.

Zadrazil then got to start in the return leg in Vienna as Austria took an early lead. Dunst was brought on early on to replace Annabel Schasching in what turned into a comfortable 4-0 win. The 6-1 aggregate result means Austria advance to the second round of the play-offs to face neighbours Switzerland for a place in Brazil next summer.

Viggósdóttir’s Iceland through

Iceland captain Glódís Viggósdóttir also has her eyes set on the tournament in South America after overcoming Croatia in their play-off tie. A 4-0 first-leg win in Pula included a goal from the Bayern defender as she converted a penalty for 3-0. Back in Reykjavik, Viggósdóttir’s side raced into a 2-0 half-time lead as they won 5-0 to breeze through to the second round and a tie with Portugal at the end of this year.

Comfortable Dutch progress

Sophie Proost was named in the senior Netherlands squad for the first time, joined later by goalkeeper Regina van Eijk after she came in as a replacement for the two legs against Hungary. The Dutch made light work of the first leg not far from Budapest with an 8-0 thrashing as both Lineth Beerensteyn and Victoria Pelova bagged hat-tricks. Three more unanswered goals in the return leg sealed progress to the next round against Slovenia. Proost and Van Eijk were both unused substitutes in both games.

Harder reaches 175 caps

Pernille Harder and Stine Ballisager were in Canada for two friendlies, although teammate Vanessa Gilles had to sit out for the hosts with a muscular complaint. The sides drew 1-1 in Montreal as captain Harder gave the Danes an early lead. Ballisager came on for the second half in a much changed team. Olivia Smith levelled for Canada late on. Harder again featured in the second game in Toronto to earn her 175th cap. She marked the occasion with a goal and an assist in the 4-3 win. Ballisager played the full 90 minutes on the left of defence.

Edna’s Spain make their mark in the USA

World champions Spain took on Olympic gold medallists USA in two heavyweight friendlies. Edna Imade started for La Roja and set up Patri Guijarro’s opener as they took an early 2-0 lead in Washington, DC. The hosts had a goal ruled out for offside and missed a penalty as the scoreline remained the same.

Imade again started the second game in Chester as Spain dominated the first half and led through goals from Alexia Putellas and Salma Paralluelo. The Bayern striker was withdrawn at half-time, after which the USA hit back to draw 2-2.

Amani’s Ivory Coast close in on Olympics

Bernadette Amani was in Olympics qualification with the Ivory Coast, beating DR Congo 4-1 and 3-0. It keeps captain Amani’s side on course to feature at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

Alara & Mattner with U23s

Germany’s U23s claimed a 2-0 win in Scotland with Alara starting the friendly. She was then joined by Sarah Mattner for a goalless draw against Sweden in Bremen.

Zähringer’s first senior call-up

It was an exciting international break for Luzie Zähringer as she got her first call-up to Germany’s senior team. The 18-year-old defender, who’s currently on loan at VfB Stuttgart, was brought in as a replacement by coach Wück.

Overview of results with Bayern players

European play-offs for World Cup qualifiers:

Kosovo 1-2 Austria (Dunst, Zadrazil)

Croatia 0-4 Iceland (Viggósdóttir)

Hungary 0-8 Netherlands (Proost, van Eijk)

Iceland 5-0 Croatia (Viggósdóttir)

Austria 4-0 Kosovo (Dunst, Zadrazil)

Netherlands 3-0 Hungary (Proost, van Eijk)

Other matches:

DR Congo 1-4 Ivory Coast (Amani)

Haiti 1-5 Japan (Tanikawa)

Germany 4-2 Australia (Bühl, Dallmann, Kett, Mahmutovic)

Canada 1-1 Denmark (Ballisager, Harder)

USA 0-2 Spain (Edna)

Canada 3-4 Denmark (Ballisager, Harder)

Germany 2-1 Japan (Bühl, Dallmann, Kett, Mahmutovic, Tanikawa)

Ivory Coast 3-0 DR Congo (Amani)

USA 2-2 Spain (Edna)

U23s:

Scotland 0-2 Germany (Alara, Mattner)

Germany 0-0 Sweden (Alara, Mattner)

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