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Germany Beats France 2-1 in a Friendly to End Its Winless Run Days After Removing Coach Hansi Flick 

Football - International Friendly - Germany v France - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - September 12, 2023 Germany interim coach Rudi Völler talks to Thomas Müller. (Reuters)
Football - International Friendly - Germany v France - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - September 12, 2023 Germany interim coach Rudi Völler talks to Thomas Müller. (Reuters)
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Germany Beats France 2-1 in a Friendly to End Its Winless Run Days After Removing Coach Hansi Flick 

Football - International Friendly - Germany v France - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - September 12, 2023 Germany interim coach Rudi Völler talks to Thomas Müller. (Reuters)
Football - International Friendly - Germany v France - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - September 12, 2023 Germany interim coach Rudi Völler talks to Thomas Müller. (Reuters)

From jeers to cheers inside three days.

Germany beat World Cup runner-up France 2-1 in a friendly on Tuesday in a dramatic turnaround from being whistled by the crowd in a 4-1 loss to Japan on Saturday. That defeat cost Hansi Flick his job as coach the following day.

The win lifts some of the gloom around the team hosting the European Championship next year.

“We really threw ourselves into it and I think people saw that,” goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen told broadcaster ARD. “These have been strange, difficult days and it was all the better that we could turn things around with the win. I think it gives us confidence and that was what we definitely need right now.”

Thomas Müller scored early on and Leroy Sané added a second on a late counterattack, ending the run of five winless games which led to Flick being ousted Sunday. The search is on for a new permanent coach ahead of games against the United States and Mexico next month.

Against France, Germany was coached by a three-person caretaker team including sporting director Rudi Völler. He was Germany’s coach when it reached the 2002 World Cup final but hadn’t taken charge of any game for 18 years.

France had not conceded a goal in five games since losing the World Cup final to Argentina last year, but Germany scored in just the fourth minute. Thomas Müller, brought back to the squad by Flick last week for the first time this year, controlled Benjamin Henrichs’ cross and hammered the ball past goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

France could have had a penalty when Antonio Rüdiger appeared to shove Randal Kolo Muani to the ground in the penalty area in the 20th, but the referee opted not to give it. Aurelien Tchouameni had chances to score with two first-half headers at corners and a low shot in the 57th which was saved.

Sané made it 2-0 on a swift counter in the 87th but almost immediately gave away a penalty for a foul on Eduardo Camavinga. Antoine Griezmann converted the spot-kick.

On a night when Germany far surpassed expectations, there was concern over its captain, Barcelona midfielder Ilkay Gündogan, who went off injured in the 25th after landing heavily on his back following an aerial challenge.

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Zheng Loses to No 97 Siegemund, Osaka Rallies to Advance at Australian Open

Germany's Laura Siegemund (L) shakes hands with China's Zheng Qinwen after the women's singles match on day four of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 15, 2025. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP)
Germany's Laura Siegemund (L) shakes hands with China's Zheng Qinwen after the women's singles match on day four of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 15, 2025. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP)
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Zheng Loses to No 97 Siegemund, Osaka Rallies to Advance at Australian Open

Germany's Laura Siegemund (L) shakes hands with China's Zheng Qinwen after the women's singles match on day four of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 15, 2025. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP)
Germany's Laura Siegemund (L) shakes hands with China's Zheng Qinwen after the women's singles match on day four of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 15, 2025. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP)

Distracted by a time penalty and unable to counteract No. 97-ranked Laura Siegemund's aggressive approach, Zheng Qinwen's loss in the second round Wednesday fell a long way short of last year's run to the Australian Open final.
Zheng lost the 2024 decider at Melbourne Park to Aryna Sabalenka and went on to win the Olympic gold medal in Paris and finish runner-up at the WTA Finals in a breakout season.
But her first tournament of the year ended in a 7-6 (3), 6-3 loss on John Cain Arena against 36-year-old Siegemund, who attacked from the first point and put Zheng off her game.
Zheng needed a change of shoes early in the second set, got a time warning on her serve from the chair umpire — she said she couldn't clearly see the clock — and was worried about some minor issues which sidelined her before the Australian Open.
“I feel maybe today is not my day. There’s a lot of details in the important points. I didn’t do the right choice,” The Associated Press quoted Zheng as saying.
Of a weak serve that bounced before the net, Zheng said the time warning from the umpire “obviously that one really distracted me from the match.”
“This is my fourth year in the tour, and never happen that to me.”
Both of last year's women's finalists were playing at the same time on nearby courts.
Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, extended her run to 16 wins at Melbourne Park by winning the last five games to beat No. 54-ranked Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-3, 7-5.
Naomi Osaka, another two-time Australian Open champion, reached the third round of a major for the first time since 2022 when she weathered an early barrage from US Open semifinalist Karolina Muchova before rallying to win 1-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Osaka lost in the first round here last year to Caroline Garcia in her comeback from maternity leave but avenged that with a first-round victory over Garcia this week.
Osaka said she used a loss to Muchova at the US Open as motivation.
“She crushed me in the US Open when I had my best outfit ever,” Osaka joked in a post-match interview. “I was so disappointed. I was so mad. This was my little revenge.”
Osaka will next meet Belinda Bencic, the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist who is playing in her first major since the birth of her daughter, Bella, last year.
Also advancing were No. 7 Jessica Pegula, had a 6-4, 6-2 win over Elise Mertens, and 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva, the No. 14 seed who beat Moyuka Uchijima 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (8).
The scoreline in Sabalenka's match didn't reflect the difficulty, with Bouzas Maneiro taking huge swipes at the ball in her Australian Open debut and dictating some of the points against the world No. 1-ranked player. Her serve let her down, with Sabalenka able to relieve some pressure on her own serve with five breaks.
No. 7 Jessica Pegula had a 6-4, 6-2 win over Elise Mertens to reach the third round, along with Belinda Bencic and 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva, the No. 14 seed who beat Moyuka Uchijima 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (8).
Siegemund has never been past the third round in Australia, but is taking confidence from her big upset. Her only lapse was when she was broken serving for the first set. She recovered to dominate the tiebreaker, while Zheng remained too conservative in her tactics until right near the end.
“I knew I just had to play more than my best tennis. I had nothing to lose. I just told myself to swing free,” Siegemund said. Zheng is “an amazing player. One of the best players right now, but I know I can play well and I wanted to show that to myself.”
Third-seeded Carlos Alcaraz, aiming to add the Australian Open title to complete a set of all four major crowns, advanced 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Yoshihito Nishioka.
“The less time you spend on the court in the Grand Slams, especially at the beginning of the tournament, it’s gonna be better, especially physically,” Alcaraz said. “I just try to be focused on spending as less time as I can,” on court.