09 June 2018
Two wins and a draw represented a strong return for those Bianconeri in international friendly action on Friday night, ahead of the World Cup kicking off in Russia next Thursday.
A Croatia team, in which Mario Mandzukic led the line for 45 minutes, clinched a hard-fought comeback victory at home to Senegal, with Marko Pjaca rested this time out.
Goals by Ivan Perisic and Andrej Kramaric overcame Ismaila Sarr’s opener for the African outfit, who will compete in the same World Cup group as Juan Cuadrado’s Colombia and Wojciech Szczesny’s Poland.
It would be an identical 2-1 scoreline for Germany, as they saw off Saudia Arabia in the BayArena thanks to Timo Werner’s strike and an own-goal by Omar Hawsawi in the first half. Taisir Al-Jassim scored the consolation goal late on for the visitors.
Just as Rodrigo Bentancur had done the night before, Sami Khedira played the full 90 minutes in midfield, alongside Real Madrid’s Toni Kroos.
Meanwhile over in Poznan, Szczesny spent the first 45 minutes between the sticks, as Poland were held to a 2-2 draw by Chile. Robert Lewandowski and Piotr Zielinski had given the hosts a healthy lead before the South Americans responded through Diego Valdés and Miiko Albornoz.
Flying the flags for their countries tonight will be Medhi Benatia, as Morocco take on Estonia in Tallinn (18.00 CEST), and Blaise Matuidi, with Frnace entertaining the United States in Lyon (21.00 CEST).
