Captain Julian Draxler scored a first-half penalty and collected the man-of-the-match award during Germany s 3-2 Confederations Cup win over Australia – just don t expect him to shout about it from the rooftops.
Lars Stindl and Leon Goretzka scored their first international goals either side of the Paris Saint-Germain star s spot-kick and victory would have been achieved by a more handsome margin but for two errors from Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
Draxler is skippering Die Mannschaft in Russia after Joachim Low opted to rest a number of his established stars and the 23-year-old told a post-match news conference he is a man who intends to lead by actions and not words.
I wanted to lead by example and help the team, he said. I know the prefaces, I kn…
Alvaro Morata must improve his condition to be ready for the new Premier League season, believes Chelsea boss Antonio Conte.
Club-record signing Morata made his first start for Chelsea in a 2-1 International Champions Cup defeat to Inter in Singapore on Saturday, with Stevan Jovetic and Ivan Perisic on target for the Serie A side before Geoffrey Kondogbia s comical own goal.
The striker, who joined from Real Madrid for a reported £70million fee, started on the left of a front three with Michy Batshuayi playing down the middle, but the Spain international struggled to make an impression.
And Conte accepted Morata has work to do on his fitness, with the Community Shield against Arsenal set to get Chelsea s campaign under way on August 6.
Morata is just s…