{"id":1158972,"date":"2020-09-03T22:07:26","date_gmt":"2020-09-03T21:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1158972"},"modified":"2020-09-04T10:31:37","modified_gmt":"2020-09-04T09:31:37","slug":"germany-spain-player-ratings-kroos-werner-de-gea","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/germany-spain-player-ratings-kroos-werner-de-gea\/","title":{"rendered":"De Gea lays down Henderson gauntlet: Full player ratings as Spain earn late draw in Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"

Germany and Spain opened their 2020\/21 Uefa Nations League campaign with a 1-1 draw in Stuttgart on Thursday evening.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Timo Werner gave Germany the lead five minutes after half-time and that looked to be enough to secure the win, but Jose Gaya equalised for Spain in the fifth minute of injury to earn La Roja a point.<\/p>\n

Here’s how the players rated:<\/p>\n

\"Black<\/a>

Black Lives Matter:<\/span> Read more about the cause footballers are taking the knee for<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Germany<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Kevin Trapp – 6 – <\/strong>Was lucky not to be punished early on having come out of his area unnecessarily, but credit must be given for his goal-saving tackle on Rodrigo. Couldn’t do much about Gaya’s equaliser, with the left-back unmarked in front of goal.<\/p>\n

Emre Can – 5 – <\/strong>Playing at centre-back, Can was the weakest link of Germany’s back three, caught out a few times in the first half. It was his misplaced pass that led to Rodrigo’s chance, although he did improve after half-time particularly when pushed back into midfield.<\/p>\n

Niklas S\u00fcle – 6 – <\/strong>The birthday boy had a fairly uneventful evening but should have done better for Spain’s equaliser, allowing Gaya to sneak past him into open space.<\/p>\n

Antonio R\u00fcdiger – 6 – <\/strong>His performances for Chelsea have brought criticism in recent weeks but he looked rather composed, without having to push himself too much.<\/p>\n

Thilo Kehrer – 4 – <\/strong>It wasn’t the best performance for Kehrer, who had a good chance to give his side the lead in the first half, but directed his shot at De Gea – signs of his wastefulness in attack. Also left Can with a lot of work to do defensively.<\/p>\n

Ilkay G\u00fcndogan – 7 – <\/strong>The Manchester City midfielder went slightly under the radar in the midfield, but played well. A lovely pass to Gosens in the build up to Werner’s goal was key.<\/p>\n

Toni Kroos – 9 – <\/strong>If you were listening to this game on the radio, you might not have realised Kroos was playing, or at least wasn’t too involved. But the Real Madrid midfielder was simply excellent. He was always there, keeping Germany’s midfield ticking and on top, whether it was with his passing, or keeping shape defensively. Led by example and showed why he remains one of the top midfielders in the world.<\/p>\n

Robin Gosens – 8 – <\/strong>Making his Germany debut, Gosens was a constant thorn down Spain’s right-hand side, looking to get forward whenever he could. Got onto the end of G\u00fcndogan’s pass to set up Werner with a decent ball of his own across the box.<\/p>\n

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An assist on his debut now too. https:\/\/t.co\/EnGQfzsvWm<\/a><\/p>\n

— Squawka (@Squawka) September 3, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n