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Max Meyer shines as Bastian Schweinsteiger bows out

There were tears at Borussia Park as Bastian Schweinsteiger made his 121st and final appearance for Germany in a 2-0 win over Finland.

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Max Meyer stole the show in Bastian Schweinsteiger's final international appearance with his first Germany goal and an eye-catching performance in a 2-0 friendly win against Finland.

On a night when one of Germany's finest players picked up his 121st and final cap, Schalke midfielder Meyer – making only his second senior international appearance – emerged as a potential star of the future with a confident display and a well-taken goal.

Borussia Park in Monchengladbach was almost half empty as the curtain fell on an international career that saw Schweinsteiger become a World Cup winner in 2014, but the 32-year-old was nonetheless in tears when he gave a farewell speech to the crowd before kick-off.

Schweinsteiger's team-mates conspired for 68 minutes to create a goal-scoring chance for their captain before he departed to a standing ovation, but in a game that Germany dominated almost from start to finish, it was Joachim Low's new generation of players that pulled the strings.

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Meyer, who had impressed for the German Olympic football team in Rio, timed his run perfectly to score after 55 minutes and it was 2-0 via a deflected cross from substitute Mesut Ozil 12 minutes later.

Low lined up confidently with a back three, starting Joshua Kimmich and Shkodran Mustafi alongside 20-year-old Hoffenheim defender Niklas Sule.

The home side pressed down the flanks and Karim Bellarabi forced Lukas Hradecky into a diving save with his fast, low cross, before Meyer drew another save with a well-struck long range shot.

Mustafi then headed narrowly over the crossbar from a Meyer corner, and Germany's constant movement and flawless passing restricted Hans Backe's young Finland side to a tiny share of first-half possession.

Finland centre-back Paulus Arajuuri crashed the ball onto his own post as Germany pressed for the opener, and Mario Gotze should have scored when Meyer split the Finland defence with a throughball, but the Borussia Dortmund forward hesitated and Jukka Raitala blocked his attempt.

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Second-half substitute Teemu Pukki was inches away from spoiling the party when he slid in on Jere Uronen's cross, before Kevin Volland created a near identical chance for Gotze at the other end.

Meyer got his reward for a dynamic performance when Volland had the foresight to step over Gotze's cross and allow the 20-year-old to crash the ball home between on-rushing defenders Alexander Ring and Markus Halsti.

Finland defended tirelessly and deserved a low scoreline, but there was little that Hradecky could do to prevent Ozil's cross from finding the net when it took a deflection off Arajuuri, looped up onto the post and slowly crossed the line to make it 2-0.

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