Hansi Flick’s Germany continued to suffer as Japan’s Wataru Endo put in a “dominant” performance for Liverpool to secure a 4-1 triumph.
Since joining Liverpool, Endo has played in three games for a total of 88 minutes, but on Saturday night, he played the whole 90 minutes for his nation.
The 30-year-old played a key role as his team scored four goals in a humiliating friendly loss for Germany in Wolfsburg, starting in a double pivot with Hidemasa Morita.
Leroy Sane scored for the hosts to tie the score after Japan took the lead in the 11th minute. However, Endo’s team went on to score three more goals, the last two coming in the 90th and 90+2nd minutes.
Germany suffered their biggest defeat since 2020, their fourth loss in their past five games, and an important Endo contributed to the strain on Flick.
In a performance dubbed “dominant” by Japan Times, Liverpool’s new No. 3 won seven duels, all four of his tackles, made six recoveries, and intercepted two passes.
They acknowledge that Endo’s avoidance of a penalty after knocking over Nico Schlotterbeck was fortunate, but that he was essential to the outcome due to his overall performance both off and on the ball (88 percent passing accuracy).
Endo’s performance at Liverpool proves that before we see him at his best, he needs some time to adjust. He did not aid his transition by playing two of his three games with 10 men.
On Tuesday afternoon, the captain of Japan will lead his squad against Turkiye before heading back to Liverpool.
Clark was a threat the entire time and assisted in setting up Southampton’s Dominic Ballard’s goal, which was England’s second of the game.
Trent Kone-Doherty, 17, was a “bright spark” for the Ireland U19 team in their 1-1 draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina, with his “close control and dribbling” being a particular highlight of his performance.
