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Germany recall Goretzka and Adeyemi for Italy Nations League tie

Germany recall Goretzka and Adeyemi for Italy Nations League tie
Bayern Munich midfielder Goretzka last played for Germany in 2023 but has regained the form of a few years ago. (Reuters)
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Updated 15 March 2025
AFP

Germany recall Goretzka and Adeyemi for Italy Nations League tie

Germany recall Goretzka and Adeyemi for Italy Nations League tie
  • Nagelsmann, who coached him at Bayern, said: “Leon is in a very good phase from a sporting perspective“
  • Adeyemi has not pulled on a Germany senior shirt since 2022 and this is the first time Nagelsmann has selected him
Updated 15 March 2025
AFP

BERLIN: Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann on Thursday recalled the in-form Leon Goretzka and Karim Adeyemi to his squad for the two-legged Nations League quarter-final tie with Italy.
Injuries to key players including Florian Wirtz, Kai Havertz, Niclas Fuellkrug and Marc-Andre Ter Stegen necessitated several changes as Germany look to reach the final four of the Nations League for the first time.
Bayern Munich midfielder Goretzka last played for Germany in 2023 but has regained the form of a few years ago.
Nagelsmann, who coached him at Bayern, said: “Leon is in a very good phase from a sporting perspective.”
Adeyemi has not pulled on a Germany senior shirt since 2022 and this is the first time Nagelsmann has selected him.
Appointed Germany manager in September 2023, Nagelsmann has repeatedly selected on form rather than reputation, having regularly left big names out of the squad.
On Thursday, Nagelsmann said he selected “players who play regularly for the club” and added he wanted players to be “on fire (and) show their spirit even if they don’t play from the start.”
Midfielder Nadiem Amiri has been chosen for the first time in five years as he benefits from Mainz’s rise to third spot in the table.
Inter Milan center-back Yann Aurel Bisseck, 24, is the only debutant.
“We’ve got great respect for him,” Nagelsmann said of Bisseck, adding “he’s got a lot of talent and brings plenty to the table.”
Manchester City back-up Stefan Ortega joins Hoffenheim’s Oliver Baumann and Stuttgart’s Alexander Nuebel, on loan from Bayern, as the goalkeepers.
Nagelsmann did not indicate which of the three would play but said he would opt for the same player for both games.
The coach complained about the scheduling of the Bundesliga, with seven members of the national squad involved when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen and last season’s runners-up Stuttgart play on Sunday.
Nagelsmann said he would now have “the shortest training period” he has ever had as Germany coach.
They face Italy in Milan on March 20 before hosting the Italians in the return leg in Dortmund on March 23.
Italy eliminated Germany with two goals in extra time at the same venue in the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup.
Germany had never beaten Italy at a major tournament until winning on penalties in the quarter-finals of Euro 2016.

Squad
Goalkeepers: Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Alexander Nuebel (Stuttgart), Stefan Ortega (Manchester City/ENG)
Defenders: Yann Aurel Bisseck (Inter Milan/ITA), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Robin Koch (Eintracht Frankfurt), Maximilian Mittelstaedt (Stuttgart), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Antonio Ruediger (Real Madrid/ESP), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen)
Midfielders: Karim Adeyemi (Borussia Dortmund), Nadiem Amiri (Mainz), Robert Andrich (Bayer Leverkusen), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich), Pascal Gross (Borussia Dortmund), Jamie Leweling (Stuttgart), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Leroy Sane (Bayern Munich), Angelo Stiller (Stuttgart)
Forwards: Jonathan Burkardt (Mainz), Tim Kleindienst (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Deniz Undav (Stuttgart)

Topics: Germany UEFA Nations League Julian Nagelsmann Leon Goretzka

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In Morocco, exiled Afghan women footballers find hope on the pitch

In Morocco, exiled Afghan women footballers find hope on the pitch
Updated 05 November 2025
AFP

In Morocco, exiled Afghan women footballers find hope on the pitch

In Morocco, exiled Afghan women footballers find hope on the pitch
  • The team played their first international matches at the FIFA Unites: Women’s Series late last month in Morocco
  • Twenty-year-old midfielder Mina Ahmadi said “a dream was taken away from us” back home, “but when FIFA recognized us, it was as if a part of that dream came true“
Updated 05 November 2025
AFP

CASABLANCA: Manoozh Noori said she “wanted to die” when the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021. That meant she could no longer do what she loved most: playing football.
Noori, now 22, fled the country where the United Nations say authorities have implemented a “gender apartheid,” and has been playing in a team of Afghan refugee women, recently taking part in a first-of-its-kind tournament in Morocco.
“I had asked myself: do I want to stay in this country with people who want to forbid women from studying, from playing football, from doing anything?” Noori told AFP.
The Taliban authorities, who say that women’s rights are protected by Islamic law, have banned girls and women from schools beyond the age of 12, and also from most jobs and public services — and from playing sports.


Noori had defied family pressure to represent Afghanistan professionally by playing for the country’s national women’s squad before a Taliban government returned to power.
She said she buried her trophies and medals in her family’s backyard and left the country for Australia.
Noori’s team, Afghan Women United, was formed between Europe and Australia, where other teammates have also been living since 2021.

- ‘A beautiful story’ -

The team played their first international matches at the FIFA Unites: Women’s Series late last month in Morocco — and Noori scored the team’s first goal in the opening game against Chad.
They went on to lose both to Chad and Tunisia although they registered a big 7-0 win against Libya. But the tournament overall was a major win for the Afghan women.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who attended one of their games, described their participation as “a beautiful story” that the women were writing “for so many girls and women all over the world.”
Nilab Mohammadi, a 28-year-old striker and former soldier who also represented the Afghan national team, said football was “not just a sport — it represents life and hope.”
“There is no more freedom in Afghanistan, especially for Afghan women,” Mohammadi added. “But now, we are going to be their voice.”
Twenty-year-old midfielder Mina Ahmadi said “a dream was taken away from us” back home, “but when FIFA recognized us, it was as if a part of that dream came true.”
“This new adventure is a happy moment for us,” added Ahmadi, who is now studying medical sciences in Australia.
“It won’t stop anytime soon, because we will keep moving forward.”

- ‘Just to play football’ -

FIFA has yet to decide whether the refugee team can compete in official international matches as representing Afghanistan, but the players remain determined to get there.
The Afghan Women United now have one goal: to have the squad recognized by FIFA as the Afghan national women’s team since women in the country are not allowed to play the game.
“These women are incredible,” said Aish Ravi, a researcher on gender equity in sports who worked with several of the players when they first arrived in Australia in 2021.
“They are strong and inspiring,” she added. “They’ve had to overcome enormous adversity just to play football.
“This sport is more than a game,” Ravi said. “It symbolizes freedom for them.”
Ahmadi said she dreamed of playing in Europe one day, but being far from home can prove difficult.
“It’s very hard to get used to a country where you didn’t grow up,” she said. “You miss your family and friends... But we have to keep moving forward.”

Topics: Morocco Afghan Women United FIFA

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