Euro 2024 hosts Germany kicked off their preparations for the tournament with a routine 2-0 victory over Peru in a friendly on Saturday.
Hansi Flick went strong with his lineup in search of an early lead and they got exactly that as Niclas Fullkrug powered home from close range after 12 minutes, having seen an excellent header kept out just moments earlier.
Peru stopper Pedro Gallesse was busy all evening and had to be sharp with a couple of excellent saves to keep Florian Wirtz and Timo Werner out, but Fullkrug proved to be too much to handle once again soon after.
Marius Wolf’s low cross invited a routine finish from the Werder Bremen striker, who now has five goals from just four appearances for his country.
There should have been a third goal for Germany before the break. Fullkrug saw an effort blocked and David Raum’s rebound was deflected away, before Emre Can’s attempt to turn the ball back towards goal was mis-hit and squirmed awkwardly onto the top of the net.
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Germany’s pressure continued after the break and Serge Gnabry, whose nose had been bloodied in a collision with Gallesse, dusted himself off to strike the bar with an overhead kick as the clock ticked over to the hour mark.
It looked like that third goal was finally going to come when VAR awarded Germany a penalty for a foul on Nico Schlotterbeck, but Kai Havertz was unable to convert from 12 yards. The Chelsea forward struck the post and then turned in his own rebound but, with no other player touching the ball first, his effort was correctly ruled out.
Germany pushed and pushed for more goals but they ultimately had to settle for two on a night which was more about the performance than the result.
GK: Marc-Andre ter Stegen (6); RB: Marius Wolf (8); CB: Matthias Ginter (7); CB: Nico Schlotterbeck (8); LB: David Raum (7); DM: Emre Can (6); DM: Joshua Kimmich (7); AM: Florian Wirtz (6); AM: Kai Havertz (7); ST: Timo Werner (6); ST: Niclas Fullkrug (9)
Substitutes: Serge Gnabry (7); Leon Goretzka (6); Mario Gotze (7); Kevin Schade (6)l Mergim Berisha (6); Thilo Kehrer (N/A)
Credit: 90min.com
