Football

Florian Wirtz, the 20-year-old German prodigy, etched his name into international football history with a stunning goal that propelled Germany to a 2-0 victory over France in an international friendly on Saturday.Just seven seconds after the opening whistle, Wirtz received the ball from Toni Kroos and unleashed a fierce drive that left French goalkeeper Brice Samba rooted to the spot. The ball flew under the crossbar, setting a new record for the fastest goal in German international history."I don't think anyone understood or realized what was happening," Wirtz said after the match. "We were all quite surprised, but there was obviously a lot of joy. You can't start a match any better."Wirtz's goal came close to equaling the record for the fastest international goal ever, which was set by Lukas Podolski in 2013. However, Christoph Baumgartner's strike for Austria against Andorra earlier on Saturday had already set a new mark of six seconds.Kai Havertz doubled Germany's lead just four minutes into the second half, tapping in a pass from Jamal Musiala. France, despite fielding star striker Kylian Mbappe, struggled to create clear-cut chances and were unable to find a way back into the game.Julian Nagelsmann's Germany side looked the more dangerous throughout the match, with Maximilian Mittelstaedt and Thomas Mueller both denied by fine saves from Samba. France nearly pulled one back in the 88th minute when Mittelstaedt mistimed a clearance, but Antonio Rudiger cleared the ball off the line and VAR ruled the handball to be unintentional."We can obviously be very satisfied," said Kroos. "We've taken some good steps forward, some important steps forward. These are the last few chances for us to get a bit of a feel for Euro 2024. We'll take that with us today."Both teams will continue their preparations for this summer's European Championship, with France facing Chile and Germany hosting the Netherlands on Tuesday.

Bayer Leverkusen's relentless pursuit of their maiden Bundesliga title received a significant boost on Sunday as they secured a 2-0 victory over 10-man Wolfsburg. The triumph extended their lead over Bayern Munich to 10 points, with nine games remaining in the season.Leverkusen's dominance was evident from the outset, and they were handed a major advantage when Wolfsburg's Moritz Jenz was sent off for a second yellow card after just 28 minutes. The hosts capitalized on their numerical superiority, with Nathan Tella heading in a delightful cross from Alex Grimaldo to open the scoring 11 minutes later.Florian Wirtz, who has been instrumental in Leverkusen's resurgence, added the second goal with four minutes remaining, ensuring all three points for his team. The victory marked Leverkusen's third consecutive league match where their opponents finished with 10 men, a testament to the relentless pressure applied by Xabi Alonso's high-energy football.Despite returning from a grueling Europa League match in Azerbaijan just two days prior, Leverkusen showed no signs of fatigue. Alonso made eight changes to keep his side fresh, and the hosts controlled the tempo of the game throughout.In other Bundesliga action, Freiburg maintained their Europa League hopes with a 2-1 win at Bochum. Michael Gregoritsch, who scored the only goal in Freiburg's first leg victory over West Ham, netted again to give his team the lead. Maximilian Eggestein doubled their advantage before Ivan Ordets pulled one back for Bochum.Eintracht Frankfurt extended their grip on sixth place with a 3-1 home victory over nine-man Hoffenheim. John Brooks opened the scoring for Hoffenheim but was later sent off for a last-man tackle. Frankfurt took full advantage, scoring three unanswered goals through Robin Koch, Eric Dina Ebimbe, and Mario Goetze. Hoffenheim's misery was compounded when Ozan Kabak was also shown a second yellow card.