Germany continues, England and Brazil snatch a draw on the wire

By Maël Chrétien

Published yesterday at 11:46 p.m., Updated now

Jude Bellingham, as decisive in the selection as with Real Madrid. Carl Recine / REUTERS

Several friendly matches took place this Tuesday evening, across Europe, including Germany’s victory over the Netherlands and the draws during England-Belgium and Spain-Brazil.

England – Belgium: 2-2

After a failed first friendly against Brazil on Saturday evening, England had to reassure themselves and consolidate their status as favorite less than three months before Euro 2024 in Germany. With an avalanche of injuries complained of by Gareth Southgate, the English eleven was not as flashy as one might imagine against Belgium, without Kane, Saka, Walker, Maguire and Alexander-Arnold. And the result isn’t either (2-2), but it could have been worse…

Very early on, the match heated up after Pickford missed his restart in the 11th minute, giving Tielemans the opener. The Three Lions reacted thanks to Toney, with a penalty obtained following a foul by Vertonghen on the scorer. But this lead did not last long, Tielemans and Lukaku found themselves with their eyes closed. The Red Devils captain delivered a magnificent cross with the outside of his foot for his teammate, who finished with a beautiful diving header. Like Brazil on Saturday, Belgium dampened the atmosphere at Wembley.

After insisting for a long time, the English relied on their star Jude Bellingham. As with Real Madrid, the young prodigy saved his team from a defeat by scoring the equalizing goal in stoppage time (95th). The number 10 avoided the worst for Southgate’s men, who could have had two defeats in a row before the Euro. Note that the Belgians know the last team in their group at the Euro: Ukraine punched their ticket by defeating Iceland (2-1) and completes group E.

Germany – Netherlands: 2-1

In search of more certainty, Nagelsmann made no changes to his starting XI to face the Netherlands compared to the one who beat the Blues 2-0 in style last Saturday. The message was clear: confirm the performance achieved in Lyon. And victory was on the cards again (2-1). But unlike Saturday evening, it was they who conceded a quick opening score, on an applied volley from Veerman. The Mannschaft revolted immediately, Mittelstädt smashed Verbuggen’s cage to equalize. In the second half, chances were few and far between until Germany got a corner 5 minutes from time. In a general incomprehension, Niclas Fullkrug deflected the ball with his shoulder in the middle of the crowd, his attempt barely crossed the line and the goal was awarded. Without being as brilliant as against France, the Germans were full of confidence before their Euro at home.

Slovenia – Portugal: 2-0

With Cristiano Ronaldo back at the forefront of the attack, Portugal traveled to Slovenia confident. Roberto Martinez’s record so far? 100% wins. Premiere night. The Slovenes actually beat the Portuguese (2-0). 2 small shots on target: the visitors lacked inspiration. In less than ten minutes, the Slovenes scored two nice goals from Gnezda Cerin and Elsnik (72nd and 80th), which had the gift of annoying Ronaldo. His teammates had never been led so far under Roberto Martinez. This is their very first defeat since the elimination in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup against Morocco.

Spain – Brazil: 3-3

This gala meeting between Spain and Brazil was dedicated to the fight against racism. And finally ended in a perfect tie (3-3). In a packed Santiago Bernabeu, Vinicius entered his garden with a captain’s armband on his arm, he who has suffered so many racist attacks since his arrival on Spanish soil. Once the stakes were put aside, and the game began, the home side made their dominance felt. First Rodri opened the scoring from the penalty spot (12th), then Olmo made fun of the Brazilian defense with the break goal, a real gem (36th).

Everything was going well, until Unai Simon revived the Seleçao by offering a ready-made lob to Rodrygo (40th). In the second half, Dorival Junior decided to use his secret weapon, the nugget Endrick, 17, already a scorer at Wembley against England on Saturday evening. And only 4 minutes after coming into play, the ‘crack’ struck. On a corner, the future Real Madrid player deceived Simon with a left-footed volley, all in front of his future supporters in his next stadium. The story is beautiful.

At the very end of the match, Carvajal collapsed in the area, and Rodri took advantage of this opportunity to score his double from the penalty spot (87th), and thought he was giving victory to his country. Like the course of this meeting, a final twist came to change the script of this one. In added time, Brazil also obtained its penalty, transformed by Lucas Paqueta in the 90+7th minute. The show was complete, from start to finish. Now heading to the United States and the Copa America for the Seleçao, direction Germany for the Roja.