Havertz and Sané on target as Germany head to World Cup with ninth successive win | OneFootball

Kai Havertz and Leroy Sané extended Germany’s winning streak to nine games as they scored in a 2-1 win over the United States in the last friendly for both sides before the World Cup. The former also provided the assist for Sané, who scored an away goal for Germany for the first time since September 2021.

Germany had the perfect start in Chicago as Havertz put them ahead with the first chance of the game inside the first two minutes. Former RB Leipzig midfielder Tyler Adams conceded a free-kick in a dangerous area, and the Arsenal attacker was on hand to head home the resulting delivery from Joshua Kimmich.

Havertz joined the national team late since he was involved in the Champions League final, where he also grabbed an early goal despite Arsenal’s defeat to PSG. A few minutes later, he once again had the ball on the net, but Sané wasn’t able to keep the ball in play before his assist.

The hosts had some promising moments after that, but Julian Nagelsmann’s men were superior in one-on-one duels. The highly-coveted fullback Nathaniel Brown stopped Sergino Dest’s dangerous run before Jonathan Tah showed excellent defending to block Folarin Balogun’s attempt.

The first-half lacked clear-cut chances after that until Antonee Robinson stunned Germany with a sensational volley from outside of the box ten minutes before the break. The left-back also had a strong defensive performance against Galatasaray’s winger.

The USMNT came close multiple times to taking the lead before the whistle, with Christian Pulisic at the heart of every attack. Tah produced a stunning performance in defense as Germany failed to build on their dream start.

Both goalkeepers made saves early on after the restart before Germany retook the lead in the 57th minute. Sané ended his five-year wait for an international goal away from home with a smart finish from Havertz’s assist.

Substitute Nadiem Amiri came close to sealing Germany’s win, sandwiched by decent saves from Oliver Baumann to deny Joe Scally and Brenden Aaronson. Despite stretching their winning streak, Nagelsmann’s troops struggled to create enough chances in a game that was far from a tactical battle.

Surprisingly, there was a mass confrontation between the two sets of players in injury-time after successive strong challenges at either end. Borussia Dortmund’s duo Maximilian Beier and Nico Schlotterbeck ended up in the Chilean referee Piero Maza’s book.

The USA will host Paraguay less than 24 hours before Germany’s opening group stage fixture against debutants Curaçao on June 24th. Ecuador and Côte d’Ivoire are the other teams from the group of the four-time winners.