Werner hits twice against North Macedonia: switched on

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Up and away: Timo Werner at tempo dribbling

Photo:

Federico Gambarini / dpa

The rehabilitation of the game:

In the 1: 2 first leg defeat against North Macedonia in March, Timo Werner was still one of the tragic figures. Free standing from nine meters, the attacker had passed the ball past the goal, it was a downright funny miss. Since then, Werner has not exactly shot the nets, in the Premier League, the professional of Chelsea FC only met twice in the last six months. And Werner also struggled for a long time on the rain-soaked lawn in Skopje, putting a great chance on the post shortly before the break. But the supposed death of chance did not open up, scored with a volley (70th minute) and a flick (73rd) for a double before Hansi Flick took him off the field. Under the new national coach, Werner has so far scored an average of one goal in every game - despite "small" opponents, the rate of a clipper.

The result:

4: 0 (0: 0) against North Macedonia, 18: 1 goals and 15 points from the first five international Flick matches - the German national team is once again living up to its own standards. You can find the match report here.

Space and interpreter: National

coach Hansi Flick allowed himself five changes in the starting line-up compared to the 2-1 win over Romania. Manuel Neuer was fit again, and Lukas Klostermann and Kai Havertz were also allowed to start. Thomas Müller celebrated his return to the starting lineup, the Bayern professional was given all the freedom in attacking midfield. It was even a debut in the DFB's starting line-up for David Raum: The U21 European champion defended at the back left, was hard-working offensively and, as a fine technician, was even allowed to share the corners with Joshua Kimmich. Defensive work was like four-dimensionality: space still needs time.

The first half:

The German team got off to a good start, Joshua Kimmich placed a cross from Kai Havertz with his head too central (2nd). Stole Dimitrievski in the North Macedonian goal blocked the attempt just before the line. Then it got tougher: The DFB-Elf made very little of their superiority, on the side of the hosts, in addition to a few nervous counterattacks, the most conspicuous action came from a fan who had made it his business to close Kimmich with a laser pointer at standards annoy.

Falling out of time:

international season, that has also meant for a while: RTL time. The private broadcaster holds the exclusive rights to broadcast the German team's World Cup qualifiers. What he makes of it is often shallow: some small talk about sport, here a competition, little that would be bothered by. At least until Havertz and Arijan Ademi collided in the 22nd minute, in which Ademi was injured. In slow motion you could see the twisted knee of the North Macedonian - co-commentator Steffen Freund took this as an opportunity to advise the »women« in front of the screens that they should »please look away«. The sexist cliché was hardly served to the end, when the European champion from 1996 had already become the trigger for the collective eye roll on social media.

The second half:

It wasn't actually a classic »game of the two halves«, the first 45 minutes had already taken place somewhere between the German pressure phases and small episodes of idling. The difference between two was the two passes: a through pass from Serge Gnabry before the opening goal, a direct transfer from Müller to Werner before the 2-0 dream passes, partly due to North Macedonian mistakes, partly simply impossible to defend. With the lead behind him, the result became even clearer when Flick made multiple changes.

New Kitz on the block:

The reason for this was called Jamal Musiala. After assisting his co-youngster Karim Adeyemi, the Bayern professional made it to the final score (83rd) and seems to be adding new qualities to his strength profile week after week. The filigree dribbler, sometimes called "Bambi" by colleagues because of his thin legs, should challenge the top dogs on the offensive if the pace of development remains the same. For the moment, the certainty remains that you have become the youngest DFB goalscorer in 111 years.

We're going to Qatar:

The superior victory in connection with an Armenian 0-1 defeat in Romania means for the DFB-Elf that the suitcases for Qatar can be packed.

The qualification for the 2022 World Cup is wrapped up, the other two qualifying games have the character of a test game.

By the way, DFB vice Peter Peters had ruled out a boycott of the tournament in the emirate, despite the human rights situation in Qatar.