Newcastle United striker Nick Woltemade led the line for Germany as they beat Ghana 2-1 in an international friendly in Stuttgart on Monday night.
Germany are hoping to raise Woltemade’s confidence levels after a bruising second half of the season with Newcastle United.
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Still, Woltemade was not able to find the back of the net across two appearances – albeit one was off the bench – during the international break.
Here’s how the German media rated his performance against Ghana.
The bad news is that Kai Havertz and Deniz Undav, the two players with whom Woltemade is most directly competing for a starting berth, scored the goals that beat Ghana.
Notably, reports claimed that the home crowd were chanting for Undav to come on, although it should be said that he’s a current Stuttgart player so was always going to be likely to prove a popular choice.
Still, BILD say of the Newcastle striker: “Things aren’t going quite so well for Havertz’s replacement and Undav’s striker rival, Woltemade.
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“The former Stuttgart player fails to capitalise on his golden opportunity in the 4th minute, his low shot going just wide of the left post. ARD [German TV] expert Bastian Schweinsteiger commented on the chance: “He has to score that.”
Sportschau said: “It was a game emblematic of Nick Woltemade’s current situation. Whenever he got the ball in the attacking third, Germany looked dangerous. The Newcastle United man was a real asset in the team’s combination play, had great ideas, created chances, but then squandered them and was also unlucky in one or two situations. A player of his calibre, regardless of age, has to convert one of his clear-cut chances if he wants to be a regular starter at the World Cup.”
Kicker, meanwhile, simply headlined an article: “Woltemade misses.”
While the Newcastle United star does seem set to go to the World Cup in at least some capacity later this summer, it seems that he has not done his chances of starting in the tournament much good during this international break.
Nick Woltemade heads the ball during Germany's international friendly with Ghana.
Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
Nick Woltemade stats for Germany vs Ghana
As per FotMob data, Woltemade missed one big chance when he ended up hitting the woodwork with a header.
The Toon star, however, did win all four of his ground duels and completed both of his dribbles. Seven of his 27 touches came in the opposition box, which feels like a significant improvement on what he’s done at club level in recent weeks.
Fortunately for all involved, Woltemade is soon expected to return to playing as a striker for Newcastle now that Eddie Howe has more time on the training pitch.
What happens beyond then, however, is up for debate because Woltemade’s long-term future at Newcastle is uncertain.
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