Germany into Nations League quarters, France and Italy win

Middelburg farmer Reinardt  Steyn and his two co-accused.
Alleged underworld boss, Nafiz Modack and former Rugby player Zane Kilian have pleaded not guilty to murdering Anti Gang Unit investigator Charl Kinnear.
PARIS – Germany secured a place in the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals with a 1-0 win over old rivals the Netherlands on Monday, while France won in Belgium and Italy continued their recent revival.
Jamie Leweling of Stuttgart scored on his debut to give Germany victory over the Netherlands in Munich and guarantee them one of the top two spots in Group 3 of League A.
It was the eighth meeting of the teams in the last six years but, for the Dutch,  there was nothing familiar about Leweling.
The 23-year-old was an addition to the Germany squad for this month’s games following an injury to Jamal Musiala.
He was then called off the bench to start the game after an injury to club teammate Deniz Undav in the warm-up.
Leweling found the net after just two minutes only for that effort to be ruled out for an offside in the build-up, but he then blasted in the winner on 64 minutes.
“Jamie had an outstanding debut — it’s not often the Allianz Arena gives you a reception like that — he did well,” said captain Joshua Kimmich.
Germany have 10 points from four games and will definitely take part in the quarter-finals next March.
The Netherlands, who were without the suspended Virgil van Dijk, are level on five points with Hungary.
The Hungarians won 2-0 on Monday away in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with captain Dominik Szoboszlai, of Liverpool, opening the scoring late in the first half and adding a penalty after the break.
Italy remain top of Group A2 after easing to a 4-1 win at home to Israel in Udine.
Mateo Retegui opened the scoring with a penalty shortly before half-time and captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo netted twice in the second half.
Davide Frattesi also scored for Italy, with Mohammad Abu Fani pulling one back for Israel.
 
– Kolo Muani double downs Belgium –
 
France are a point behind Italy after they again won in the absence of Kylian Mbappe, a double by Randal Kolo Muani securing a 2-1 victory in Belgium.
Kolo Muani’s opener from the penalty spot in the 35th minute at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels was cancelled out by Lois Openda in first-half stoppage time.
But Kolo Muani, who has had a difficult start to the season with his club, then headed in the winner just after the hour mark.
France, who saw Belgium’s Youri Tielemans squander an early spot-kick, held on with 10 men after stand-in captain Aurelien Tchouameni was sent off late on.
The result was France’s second win in as many games in this international break, despite them being minus skipper Mbappe, who was allowed to sit out the matches following a recent thigh injury.
As Les Bleus took to the field in the Belgian capital, a newspaper report in Sweden emerged claiming that Mbappe was being investigated for rape following a visit to Stockholm last week.
Mbappe claimed in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that there was a link with his hearing before a French league committee on Tuesday in his bitter dispute over unpaid wages with his former club Paris Saint-Germain.
“FAKE NEWS !!!!. It’s becoming so predictable, on the eve of the hearing, as if by chance,” Mbappe posted.
It remains to be seen if the Real Madrid star will be back for the last Nations League group games next month, when France can secure a place in the quarter-finals, but Kolo Muani staked a claim to keep his place.
“I am happy for him,” coach Didier Deschamps told L’Equipe TV.
“Randal is performing very well for us. He is full of confidence and the first game (against Israel) did him a lot of good too.”
Elsewhere on Monday, Turkey won 4-2 in Iceland to stay top of Group B4, with all their goals in Reykjavik coming in the final half-hour.
Irfan Can Kahveci, Hakan Calhanoglu of Inter Milan, Real Madrid’s Arda Guler and Kerem Akturkoglu all scored for Turkey.
With 10 points, they are two ahead of Wales in the race for promotion to League A.
Crag Bellamy’s team beat Montenegro 1-0 in Cardiff thanks to a Harry Wilson penalty.
The Czech Republic are top of Group B1 after a 1-1 draw against Ukraine, while Albania defeated Georgia 1-0.
In Group C1, Sweden won 3-0 in Estonia and Slovakia beat Azerbaijan 3-1 away.
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By Andy Scott
AFP