About once every transfer window, there's a transfer that makes you stop, do a double take, and say "wow."
When PSV Eindhoven announced the signing of Mario Götze on a free transfer last week, many soccer fans (myself included) were shocked to see a global superstar leave Germany for the lesser Eredivisie.
COLOGNE, Germany — Germany twice had to come from behind to earn a rollercoaster 3-3 draw against visitors Switzerland in an exciting Nations League group game packed with incident on Tuesday.
The result moves Germany within a point of League A Group Four leaders Spain, who lost 1-0 away to Ukraine, while the Swiss, who are still without a win, remain bottom.
Germany striker Timo Werner is fully fit for their Nations League game against Switzerland on Tuesday but there are still doubts about Julian Draxler, Lukas Klostermann and Marcel Halstenberg, coach Joachim Loew said on Monday.
Germany will need all the attacking power they can get after narrowly beating Ukraine 2-1 on Saturday for their first win in the last four internationals. They drew the previous three games after leading in all of them.
German prosecutors and tax authorities searched offices of the German Football Association (DFB) as well as private homes of current and former officials on suspicion of serious tax evasion, the Frankfurt prosecutors' office said on Wednesday.
It said six unnamed former and current officials of the DFB were suspected of having intentionally falsely declared income from advertising in soccer stadiums during home games of the national team in 2014 and 2015 as income from asset management, leading to $5.5 million in unpaid taxes.
Manchester United made four signings on transfer deadline day, including Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani while European champions Bayern Munich strengthened with two new arrivals. But the biggest single move of the final day of deal-making was midfielder Thomas Partey making a $58.46 million switch from Atletico Madrid to Arsenal.
United signed Cavani on a free transfer, Brazilian left back Alex Telles from Porto, Uruguayan 18-year-old winger Facundo Pellistri and reached an agreement to sign Atalanta's teenage winger Amad Diallo.
Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski scored four goals including a stoppage-time penalty to give the German champions a 4-3 home win over Hertha Berlin in a pulsating Bundesliga clash at the Allianz Arena on Sunday.
The result left Bayern fourth in the standings on six points from three games, one behind the top three led by Leipzig on goal difference, while Hertha slipped to 13th on four points.
Lewandowski fired Bayern into a 2-0 lead with two trademark goals before the visitors hit back through Jhon Cordoba and Matheus Cunha to set up a frantic climax.
In a way, it can be a bit exhausting following all the young American stars in Europe these days. As soon as we get used to Weston McKennie playing for Italy’s most famous club, Sergiño Dest moves to Barcelona. As soon as we finish gushing over a performance from Tyler Adams, Giovanni Reyna does something like he did on Saturday. It might just be a golden age for Americans abroad, and we’re not going to complain, nor are we going to stop celebrating these Americans, because everyone who grew up in the 90s or earlier can really appreciate just how special this moment in time is.
Having spent much of my sports writing career covering Texas high school football, which at most levels draws more fans than USL matches, I found that more than anything Texas high school football coaches care about effort. And by that barometer, Joshua Kimmich’s game-winner against Borussia Dortmund in the German Supercup on Wednesday was among the greatest goals of all time.
The biggest matchup in Germany will see its latest edition play out on Tuesday as Bayern Munich will take on Borussia Dortmund with the German Supercup on the line.
Bring on the Supercup
FC Bayern
Supercup
9/30/20
2:30 PM ET / 19:30 BST / 20:30 CEST
Allianz Arena pic.twitter.com/WpywCSUPYm— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) September 29, 2020
Daniel Thioune's Hamburg completed a successful comeback late on to secure a 4-3 victory over Paderborn in the 2. Bundesliga on Monday.
After narrowly missing out on promotion back to the top flight last season following a late collapse, Hamburg has won its first two games of the new campaign. It had gone up 2-0 after 24 minutes thanks to goals from Manuel Wintzheimer and Simone Terrode, but Hamburg squandered the lead and found itself down 3-2 all before halftime.