Turkey fights back to draw with Germany in friendly

Turkey have drawn their friendly football fixture against Germany 3-3 thanks to a late goal scored by Kenan Karaman.

The Germans drew first blood at RheinEnergie Stadium in Cologne as the home team took the lead with a counter attack near the end of the first half.

German midfielder Julian Draxler latched onto a through ball to score against Turkey. He was assisted by Kai Havertz.

Germany led the first half 1-0.

But Turkey equalised in the 50th minute as midfielder Ozan Tufan scored a spectacular goal from outside the box.

German goalkeeper Bernd Leno did not move.

Florian Neuhaus made it 2-1 for Germany in the 58th minute as his left-footed shot in the box beat Turkish goalkeeper Mert Gunok.

Neuhaus scored on his debut. Havertz produced another assist.

In the 67th minute, Turkey pulled level once again as forward Efecan Karaca scored.

Karaca tackled his German opponent Neuhaus to control the ball. Once Karaca had it, he rushed towards the German goal to finish 2-2.

Following the equaliser, German players argued with the referee as they claimed that Karaca fouled Neuhaus when the Turkish player had the ball.

In the 81st minute, Germany led the game again as forward Luca Waldschmidt  – unmarked in the box – fired with his left foot to make it 3-2 for his country. Turkey's Gunok could not parry his powerful shot.

Karaman – who was born in Stuttgart and plays for Fortuna Dusseldorf – scored in the fourth minute of injury time when Abdulkadir Omur laid the ball back for him to fire through goalkeeper Bernd Leno’s legs.

“Again in the last minute,” Germany coach Joachim Low said of the equaliser. “So now we’re disappointed and fed up.”

Germany conceded in the 96th minute to draw 1-1 with Spain in September and followed up by letting another lead slip in a 1-1 draw in Switzerland.

Wednesday's game was overshadowed by fresh allegations of tax evasion by the German soccer federation and by the high number of coronavirus infections in Cologne. Only 300 spectators were allowed to attend.

Prosecutors raided the federation’s offices and some members’ private homes early Wednesday, searching for evidence that it may have avoided paying about 4.7 million euros ($5.5 million) in taxes.

Turkey usedthe friendly to prepare for two consecutive UEFA Nations League games over the coming week.

The Turkish team will play Russia in Moscow this Sunday and return home to host Serbia in Istanbul next Wednesday.

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