Germany also strikes late in thousandth international: 3-3 against Ukraine

The thousandth international game of “die Mannschaft” ended in a close draw. Germany played a 3-3 draw against Ukraine in a benefit game.

All proceeds from the match in Bremen will go to charities in Ukraine. The shirts of the German players will be auctioned and the arbitration will also donate its fee to war victims.

What was supposed to be a festive evening for the German team threatened to turn into a disaster ten minutes before time. Ukraine was leading 3-1, but Kai Havertz provided the tying goal with a placed shot.

In injury time the Germans equalized, Joshua Kimmich exploited a penalty kick. Ukrainian goalkeeper Anatolii Trubin was still close, but the ball went in via the inside of the post.

Until the closing stages, Germany had a very difficult time with Ukraine, which led 1-2 at halftime. Nicklas Fullkrüg opened the scoring early on, becoming only the fifth German to score in five consecutive international matches.

But Ukraine came back strongly. Viktor Tsygankov soon provided the equalizer and shortly thereafter German defender Antonio Rüdiger shot the ball into his own goal.

But the biggest blunder was yet to come. With a curious pass, Julian Brandt put his teammate Matthias Ginter in trouble. The defender took the ball in his own penalty area so lousy that Tsygankov could easily score. It was not enough for a Ukrainian victory, as so often the Germans struck in the closing stages.

Ukraine still plays in the European Championship qualification this month against North Macedonia and Malta. Germany, as hosts, is automatically seeded and plays practice matches with Poland and Colombia.