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Germany manager Hansi Flick’s position looks uncertain after an embarrassing 4-1 home friendly defeat to Japan on Saturday. The former Bayern Munich boss has now overseen four defeats in the last five games, which comes on the back of a group-stage exit at last year’s World Cup. The pressure is increasing on the 58-year-old, with director of the Germany national team Rudi Voller noticeably evasive when asked about his manager’s future. Voller said in a television interview, reported by German newspaper De Bild: “We should collect ourselves first. There will be a bit of training tomorrow. Then we play against France. Afterwards, we should first reflect and think about what happens next. Let’s see.” Japan, whose 2-1 victory in Qatar sent Germany home from the World Cup, went ahead through Junya Ito before Leroy Sane levelled. But second-half goals from Ayase Ueda, Takuma Asano and Ao Tanaka saw Japan coast to victory in Wolfsburg, where the crowd turned on their side at full-time. Flick replaced long-time boss Joachim Low in August 2021 but has won less than half of his 25 games in charge. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Kyle Walker is relishing England’s so-called friendly against Scotland after the long-serving right-back scored a goal he will remember for the rest of his life. The 33-year-old made his senior debut in a friendly against Spain in November 2011 and has gone on to feature in four major tournament squads for his country. But for all of Walker’s work it was not until Saturday evening in Poland that the Manchester City right-back was able to celebrate scoring an international goal on his 77th appearance. The full-back raced behind and met a fantastic Harry Kane pass with a similarly impressive touch, before coolly cancelling out Ukraine captain Oleksandr Zinchenko’s opener in Wroclaw. “Obviously to have 76 caps and not score a goal, it was playing on my mind a little bit,” Walker said after the 1-1 draw in Euro 2024 qualification. “Just a lot of people were saying ‘you’ve played all these times’ and Harry Kane has been giving me a bit of banter, saying he’ll give me a penalty before I finish. “But, listen, to get the goal, to help the team at the other end of the field was good. “You know H likes to play them balls in behind and I just made the run. “We do that at City where once the ball goes back, you make the in behind run. “Harry’s made a great ball and picked me out. I think the touch has set it up because I’d probably have been looking to square it someone (otherwise). “The touch felt good and it was a goal that I’ll remember definitely for the rest of my life.” The touch felt good and it was a goal that I’ll remember definitely for the rest of my life Kyle Walker England were below par in Poland but it remains a case of when rather than if they wrap up qualification for next summer’s Euros. Preparations for Germany continue with a first friendly game in 18 months on Tuesday evening, albeit the trip to old foes Scotland at Hampden Park is sure to have some bite to it. Asked if there can ever be a friendly against Scotland, Walker told Sky Sports: “No, definitely not. “I love playing in them games, especially just with everything behind it, with what they bring, their crowd and everything like that. “Hopefully we can go there and have a good performance. “They’ve had some good recent results so it’s going to be a tough game. “The last time we went there we managed to scrape a draw in the last couple of minutes with Harry. “So hopefully we can go there, put a good performance on, but it’s never going to be a friendly.” Kane’s stoppage-time goal secured a 2-2 draw on England’s last trip to Scotland in 2017. Walker was still a Tottenham team-mate of the striker at that point and it was widely reported this summer that the pair could have linked back up at Bayern Munich. Kane moved to the Bundesliga but the 33-year-old has stayed with treble winners City, where his current deal expires at the end of the season. “I have an obligation to fulfil my contract,” Walker said. “Obviously things haven’t gone for whatever way. Whichever way you want to look at it, it’s not happened. “But I’m a Manchester City player. I want to stay at this club for as long as possible. “But I need to do what’s right for me personally first and that’s stay at the top for as long as possible because there’s a lot of ex-players who’ve told me once you starting coming down it is difficult. “So, if I can fulfil this season and many more hopefully at Manchester City that would be fantastic.”

Gareth Southgate is looking forward to another really good test and “important learning step” as England head to Scotland for their first friendly in 18 months. The Euro 2020 runners-up are among the favourites to win next year’s finals in Germany, which they are within touching distance of despite Saturday’s 1-1 qualification draw against Ukraine. Long-serving Kyle Walker’s first-ever England goal cancelled out Oleksandr Zinchenko’s opener in front of a yellow and blue wall at the rocking Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw, Poland. It felt like a home game despite Ukraine being forced to play away from their homeland due to Russia’s ongoing invasion, leaving Southgate to reflect on an important point and valuable learning experience. The 53-year-old is expecting a similar test when they face in-form Scotland at Hampden Park on Tuesday evening in England’s first friendly since beating the Ivory Coast at Wembley in March 2022. “We can have everybody in the squad involved for the next one,” Southgate said after 16 successive competitive matches, covering last year’s Nations League campaign, the 2022 World Cup and this qualifying campaign. “We’ll assess everybody over there over the next 24 to 48 hours because it’s another really good test. “Another hostile environment, a team that are playing really well. “You know, they’re in great form, full of confidence so it’s another important learning step for us.” The nations last faced one another in June 2021, when they played out a hard-fought 0-0 draw at Wembley in the European Championship group stage. Scotland, like England, are on the cusp of qualification for next summer’s Euros, with Friday’s 3-0 triumph in Cyprus extending their outstanding winning start in Group A to a fifth match. Southgate’s side do not head into the friendly on the same high having failed to click against Ukraine, after which James Maddison said it was important to dig in and take a point if the attack is not firing. “James would be one that won’t have played in an England game like that in the past,” the England manager said. “Marc (Guehi), Chilly [Ben Chilwell] wouldn’t have played a huge number of those games for us either. “So, the only way to learn and grow as a team is to have those sorts of experiences. “To go behind in a game like that is a challenge, but we stayed calm. “I’m not so sure it was a case of digging in because I think we were in control of the game. “But we had to defend some counter-attack moments and a couple of set plays well. “And, yeah, without a doubt, to go through that sort of experience is good learning for several of the players. “I think on a night like this the experienced players were really important for the team and I thought they all did a very, very good job.” Southgate rued too many turnovers and a lack of attacking fluency on Saturday night, when skipper Harry Kane took it upon himself to spark England into life. Ukraine stood off the striker and watched him fire an exceptional diagonal ball from just outside the centre circle over Vitaliy Mykolenko to put in Walker to score. “In the end, it was difficult for all of the forward players to find space between Ukraine’s midfield and defence,” Southgate said. “I thought they did that as a team very well. “I thought occasionally we were coming too deep outside of the block, but when you do that, if you’ve got players with that range of passing, then it’s an alternative way of breaking them down. “The important thing was as he was dropping, Kyle making the run he did. “He’s got outstanding vision but also technical quality to make those passes.”

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