Hoffenheim's Nico Schulz marks debut with winner as Germany edge Peru
Hoffenheim left-back Nico Schulz marked his Germany debut with the winning goal on his home ground as Germany beat a spirited Peru side 2-1 at the WIRSOL Rhein Neckar Arena on Sunday night.
Germany fell behind against the run of play when former Hoffenheim defender Luis Advincula finished off a fine counter-attack with a near-post finish, but the hosts were level barely two minutes later when Julian Brandt clipped a neat finish over the goalkeeper from Toni Kroos' through ball.
Both sides had good chances in the second half but it was Joachim Löw's side that made theirs count when Schulz, making his international debut together with Kai Havertz crowned a solid display with a goal, albeit a scrappy one under the Peru goalkeeper's arm.
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WATCH: Kai Havertz's Bundesliga goals and assists
Line-ups
Germany: ter Stegen – Ginter (Kehrer 72'), Süle, Boateng (Rüdiger 46'), Schulz – Kimmich, Kroos (c) – Brandt (Petersen 70'), Gündogan (Müller 84'), Reus (Draxler 46') - Werner (Havertz 88')
Unused substitutes: Neuer, Hector, Tah, Goretzka
Coach: Joachim Löw
Peru: Gallese – Santamaria, Araujo, Trauco, Advincula – Yotun (Calcaterra 76'), Flores (Lopez 67') – Aquino, Cueva – Farfan (c), Ruidiaz (Pena 86')
Unused substitutes: Abram, Sandoval, Cartagena, Madrid, Ramos, Alvarez, Loyola, Carvallo, Carillo, Benavente
Coach: Ricardo Gareca
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Match stats
- Havertz, Kehrer and Schulz were the only three uncapped players in Löw’s squad and they all made their debuts against Peru.Leverkusen midfielder Havertz has turned out 56 times in the Bundesliga since making his top-flight debut at the age of 17. He was recently awarded the Fritz Walter gold medal as Germany's best U19 player of 2018.Schulz, 25, has represented Germany at every junior level from the U15s through to the seniors.Six Bayern players started for Germany against France: Jerome Boateng, Goretzka, Mats Hummels, Kimmich, Thomas Müller and Neuer. Löw’s starting line-up also included five members of the 2014 FIFA World Cup-winning squad, as well as five 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup winners.Farfan registered 39 goals and 48 assists in 170 Bundesliga appearances for Schalke.Germany's next games are against the Netherlands (13 October) and France (16 October) in the Nations League.
As it happened