German football team stuck in Scotland after plane problem

BERLIN: The German football team was stranded in Edinburgh on Thursday after the plane carrying them home from a World Cup qualifier in Iceland was forced into an unexpected landing.

Germany cruised to a 4-0 win over Iceland in Reykjavik on Wednesday to go four-points clear at the top of their qualifying group, but their plane ran into difficulties during the night flight to Frankfurt.

After an unplanned landing in Edinburgh, the plane was checked over and a replacement aircraft sent to bring the Germans home.

“Safety first. Safety stopover as a precaution in Edinburgh,” the German Football Association (DFB) tweeted early Thursday morning.“We’re fine. Safety check on the engine is taking place...”

Then at 0830GMT, the DFB tweeted “Update: replacement plane is now on its way to Edinburgh to bring the delegation, team, coaches as well as support staff to Frankfurt and Munich.”

According to reports not all of the squad were on board. Germany captain Manuel Neuer, Serge Gnabry and Joshua Kimmich had opted to return separately to their club Bayern Munich.

Premier League players Timo Werner, Ilkay Guendogan, Antonio Rueddiger, Bernd Leno and Kai Havertz had also returned separately to their English clubs.

An Edinburgh Airport spokesman told AFP: “We can confirm that a plane asked to make a stop at Edinburgh Airport in the early hours and we were happy to accommodate it.”