News and Commentary


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June 29, 2008

Euro 2008, Final

Spain defeated Germany 1-0 to deservedly win the title. Most pundits felt that Spain was the favorite, with superior players and technique. And in fact, the final went pretty much to form. While the Spanish defense was rock-solid, hardly allowing any German attacks, the German defense was completely overmatched. Especially the speedy Fernando Torres ran rings around the clumsy, prodding German Abwehr. Especially vulnerable were the central clowns, The M&M's, Metzelder and Mertesacker. They were constantly getting beaten. On the positive side, the two consistently decent German players, Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger had a few good moments. Michael Ballack was largely invisible, although he was decent defending and had one vicious shot blocked by a Spanish defender. GK Jens Lehmann didn't have one of his usual brain-farts and was excellent. Torsten Frings was suitably thuggish and got in a few good thumps. However, despite some moments of pressure, especially when trailing in the 2nd half, it never really looked like Germany would score. Miro Klose revealed his magical powers (he made himself invisble), and when Kevin Kuranyi and Mario Gomez came in, it was clearly comedy hour. So Spain wins a title for the first time since 1964, and no one can say that they weren't the best team.

For Germany, they basically played a weaker schedule, but met or exceeded expectations. The team has potential, so maybe this is something they can build on. One thing is that house cleaning is needed. Although it's not as obvious as France, a few of the players probably need to be gone by 2010. Lehmann is obvious, although suitable replacements abound. Notable for his absence was MF Bernd Schneider, who could have been valuable, as the right side was horrible this tournament after Clemens Fritz went down. But Schneider is almost ready for his pension. Klose should probably go to, and Podolski needs to play up front with some oaf like Gomez or Kuranyi, or hopefully somebody else will pop up. The big question is Michael Ballack, who is clearly on the way down, and no replacement in sight. Actually, since the M&M oafs clearly demonstrated that Germany can't play straight back 4, perhaps Germany should move to a sweeper system? Someone has to clean up the mess. Of course, there are no current outstanding sweepers in Germany, but here's a crazy idea: Michael Ballack! He's always been a good defender, is powerful in the air and reads the game well. His declining speed would be less of a factor. And there is a precedence, as Lothar Matthaus started out as an offensive MF as well...


June 26, 2008

Euro 2008, Day 20

Spain destroyed Russia 3-0 and advances to Sunday's final against Germany. Although the 1st half was about even, the Spanish raised their game in the 2nd half, and the Russians had nothing in the tank. Whereas previous Spanish squads certainly had an element of thuggery, this edition relies on superb team play and technique. Their midfield generally dominated possession, and their attacks often came quickly or with great combinational buildup. The Russians seemed to be reliving a nightmare from their earlier (1-4) encounter with Spain, and looked nothing like the flowing squad that upended the Dutch. Instead, they looked more like Angsthasen, with no purpose. Spain, especially Iniesta and Marcos Senna, completely shut down Arshavin, who had run rampant against the Netherlands.

Spain has to be considered the favorite to defeat Germany in the final. They've been very consistent, no relying on any single player. The Germans are certainly capable of winning, but have several weak links, and have sort of stumbled their way through.


June 25, 2008

Euro 2008, Day 19

Germany defeats Turkey 3-2 and advances to the final. It wasn't easy, as the Turks were the better team in the 1st half, even taking the lead. Turkey was hurting for players, many missing through injury or suspension, but you wouldn't have guessed early on, as they pressured a lame looking German squad. Indeed Kazim-Kazim-Richards-Richards hammered a shot off the cross bar as GK Jens Lehmann flailed aimlessly. Lehmann also looked crap as he fanned on a weak header from Boral - the ball dribbled under his arms as he sat on it in goal. However only a few minutes later, in perhaps the only coherent German move in the 1st half, Podolski put in a killer cross than the onrushing Schweinsteiger flicked home. The Turks continued to hae more of the play, but were unable to get any tangible advantage.

In the 2nd half, Germany began to dominate possesion, almost locking the Turks in a boa-constrictor vice. Still, despite the domination, the Germans rarely threatened, except for thumping off-target blasts by Thomas Hitzlsperger. Particularily invisible were Miro Klose and Michael Ballack. Yet it was Miro Klose who grabbed the lead with a header that dribbled over the line, although most of the World didn't see it, as lightening strikes took out most TV feeds. However, the never-say-die Turks refused to give up, and ended up with a stunning equalizer only a couple minutes from time. Then came the stunner: just before the final whistle, a double pass from Philip Lahm and Hitzlsperger gives Lahm the opening, and the smallest player on the pitch hammers the ball home for the German victory.

Germany will go on to face the winner of the Spain-Russia clash. Turkey goes home, but their outstanding effort in this tournament does not go unnoticed.


June 22, 2008

Euro 2008, Day 16

Spain defeated Italy on penalties, to somewhat get rid of the stigma of choking in important matches. Although the match started off even, increasingly the Spanish began to control the match. However, the Italian defense stood firm as usual, and when they didn't, the Spanish wasted their opporunities disgracefully. They should have won the match, probably in regular time, but especially after completely dominating in overtime. Luckily for them, GK Iker Casillas was brilliant, with two nice penalty stops to sink the World Champions. Spain now has a rematch with Russia, and they are unlikely to repeat their earlier 4-1 rout. So although Spain have to be a slight favorite for the semis, the Russians look much better than the earlier, so it could be an even match.


June 21, 2008

Euro 2008, Day 15

Russia stunned Netherlands 3-1 in overtime to advance to the semis. In a pulsating match, the Russian attack led by Arshavin and Pavlychenko proved unstoppable in overtime, as the Dutch were run ragged. The favorites had a slight edge in the 1st half, but by the 2nd half, the Russians seemed faster and more determined. They almost won outright in regulation, but a lunging header by Ruud van Nistelrooy near the end saved the Dutch. However, the speedy Russians created several chances in extra time, and looked the likely team to win before penalties. A deserved win for the Russkis, who will advance to play the winner of Italy/Spain. For the Dutch, their clever football from the arly rounds was revealed to have flaws, as they were overrun by the more energetic opponents.

So far, all 3 group winners (Croatia, Portugal, Netherlands) have crashed out. And when Italy beats Spain tomorrow, all the group stage winners will be elminiated.


June 20, 2008

Euro 2008, Day 14

A wild end in the 2nd quarterfinal match, as Turkey advances over Croatia on penalties. After regulation ended 0-0, the match was clearly headed to penalties after overtime. Then things went nuts. Klasnic scored for Croatia in the 119th minute, and the Croats seemed through. But then a few seconds into injury time, Turkish GK Rüstü punted the ball way down field, and the Croat defenders were already celebrating with slivovitz. Semih jumped on the ball and slammed it home. Then in penalties, the slivovitz hangover took over, as Modric and Rakitic missed, and the Rüstü stopped the last penalty. Turkey now advances to face Germany in the semifinals. Regardless of the result, there are sure to be riots in Germany :)


June 19, 2008

Euro 2008, Day 13

Germany defeated Portugal 3-2 in the first quarterfinal match. It was clearly an improvement in the performance of the DFB squad, who had been sucking big time since the opener against Poland. (And since the Poles turned out to be crap, even that wasn't much of a job either.) The Portuguese were never really able to gain an advantage with their namby-pamby trickery, and were stunned by a Doppelschlag when Bastian Schweinsteiger and Miro Klose knocked in two quick goals after the 22 minute mark and just a couple minutes later. The favorites were shocked, but to their credit, the Portuguese recovered and launched furious attacks on the German goal, and were rewarded shortly before half, as Nuno Gomes knocked in a rebound. The reds also started the 2nd half brightly, although the German counterattacks became increasingly dangerous. Thus after an hour, a clumsy challenge by Pepe led to a floating free kick, and Michael Ballack headed home. This should have been game/set/match. Once again the Portuguese were stunned, and the Germans had a couple of chances to finish them off and start a rout. But again, the Portuguese recovered and pressed forward. A pinpoint cross by Nani was headed home by Helder Postiga, but with only some 5 minutes left. Germany managed to weather the storm and advances to the semis, where they will face either Turkey or Croatia. The Portuguese go to the beach, except for boss Luiz Felipe Scolari, who moves to London to take over Chelski.


June 18, 2008

Euro 2008, Day 12

Well the relatively boring group stages are officially over. In the only match with drama, Russia handled Sweden 2-0. Deservedly so, since the Swedes were about as enjoyable as watching paint dry. Defending champ Greece went down 1-2 to Spain, but at least played some football. The Spanish "B" squad played hard in the 2nd half, grabbing the win near the end.

So the quarterfinals are now all set:

Portugal - Germany
Croatia - Turkey
Netherlands - Russia
Spain -Italy


June 17, 2008

Euro 2008, Day 11

Generally boring matches today, with no real surprises. Despite playing largely with their "B" squad, Netherlands easily handled Romania 2-0. The Dutch were clearly superior, and it took some decent saves by Romanian GK Bogdan Lobont to prevent a rout. Especially the Romanian forwards looked incompetant, so how anyone could have thought they could have advanced is a mystery. The Romanian loss left the door open for the other match, and Italy defeated France 2-0. The Italians fully deserved this victory, although it was essentially decided early, when France's Eric Abidal got his ass tossed for a foul on Luca Toni. The Italians converted their advantage to a couple of goals, and the French looked like one of the crappiest squads in the tournament. At least everyone knew that Switzerland and Austria were essentially out of their league, but the French were one of the favorites to win it all. Well, at least Domenech will get his ass fired.


June 16, 2008

Euro 2008, Day 10

No surprises today. Germany upended Austria 1-0 and in reality, were never really threatened. The Austrians actually played some pretty football, but when they got near the goal "dann waren Sie mit ihrem Latein am Ende". (i.e. "their Latin was finished"). Michael Ballack won the match early after half-time when he hammered in a free-kick from about 30 yards. Not an impressive German performance, but they got the job done to advance to the knockout round against Portugal. In the other match, a listless Poland lost 0-1 to Croatia, despite the latter having already clinched the group. Whereas everyone knew that the Austrians were weak, Poland was a major disappointment. They needed a win and hope that Austria pulled an upset, but they were never close. I think their highlight of their tournament will be their whining about Austria getting a last minute penalty. The Croats win all 3 matches and advance as group winner. Poland has to settle for group whiner.


June 15, 2008

Euro 2008, Day 9

In perhaps the most exciting match of the tournament, Turkey stunned the Czechs 3-2. The Czechs were cruising along 2-0 when Turkey struck back with 3 goals, the winner coming at the death by Nihat. A heroic performance and turnaround from a side that looked flat in their opening loss to Portugal, but turned things around. Good riddance to the boring Czechs. However, it was a cruel departing gift for veteran coach Karel Brückner, who has done so much to bring Czech football to the foreground. Meanwhile, host Switzerland upended Portugal 2-0. Although the Portuguese rested their starters, having already clinched the Group title, it was a nice going away present for outgoing Swiss coach Jabob Kuhn. A nice effort by the hosts, who played with energy throughout the tournament, and were unlucky not to do better. Hakan Yakin scored both, ended up with all Swiss goals


June 14, 2008

Euro 2008, Day 8

Spain upended Sweden 2-1 with a last minute strike to secure their second round passage. A deserved win for Spain, although some Swedish thuggery made things difficult. Defending champion Greece was eliminated by Russia 0-1. The Russians were the better squad, creating many chances. In their favor, the Greeks did play much more open than their usual anti-football, but their limits were clearly shown by a superior talented/technical side. The Russkies had enough chances to win 2-3 matches, but suffered from poor finishing.


June 13, 2008

Euro 2008, Day 7

Exciting matches in today's "Group of Death" clashes. Italy and Romania split 1-1. Many maight have expected extreme negative football, but instead both teams came out swinging. It easily could have ended 4-4, as attack was winning over defense. The Italians might rightfully claim that they had a legit goal disallowed by the crappy ref, but GK Buffon also saved a penalty, and the Romanians had plenty of chances. All in all, a fair result. Netherlands thrashed France 4-1, although like the Dutch running rampant over Italy, this was actually much closer. The French were constantly attacking, led by workhorse Franck Ribery. The Dutch relied on their counterattacks. In fact, the difference was that the French forwards apparently can't hit the side of a barn, whereas the Dutch are already inside feeding the horses. One chief culprit was Thierry Henry, who is up to his old tricks of missing sitters. And French boss Ray Domenech made some lame picks, like Gomis, who was worthless. Meanwhile, the Dutch were once again hammering 'em in. This means Holland wins the group, and they can rest their starters and even lose against Romania. The Romanians will likely be trying to win. The Italians and French have to hope that Dutch chief Marco Van Basten at least instructs his troops not to lose. In that case, the winner of France-Italy has one last chance to salvage their tournament.


June 12, 2008

Euro 2008, Day 6

In a total crap performance Germany lost 1-2 to Croatia. The DFB squad disappointed across the board, with only midfielder Torsten Frings and Lukas Podolski (another goal) having acceptable performance. Bastian Schweinsteiger even managed to get his ass red-carded in the last minute. The defense once again was embarassing, with Christoph Metzelder and Marcel Jansen disgracing themselves. A good effort by Croatia, but the big story is how lame Germany was. The only positive news is that Austria drew Poland 1-1 due to a last minute penalty. This means as long as Germany can at least get a draw against hosts Austria, they will advance to the second round. In that case they would face Portugal, and potentially get their asses kicked.


June 11, 2008

Euro 2008, Day 5

Portugal upends Czechs 3-1, and became the first team to qualify for the knockout rounds. A fairly even match, but the Portuguese had better finishing. While the Portuguese take care of business, the unimpressive Czechs still have work cut out of them. Conversely, Switzerland lost 1-2 to Turkey, and is the first team eliminated. The Swiss were a bit unlucky to lose, but both teams were desperate for a win - and playing for it as well. In a pulsating match, the Swiss almost had the match won near the end, as they poured out on a 4-2 breakaway. However, a rather lame shot from about 18 meters was nicely saved by the Turkish GK. Nevertheless, he spilled the ball in front, and the onrushing Swiss attacker basically missed the ball for the tap in. That's what they get for not having a real striker: they only had two on the roster, and they were both out injured. Who picked the squad?! What a dolt. Then in injury time, Turkey got a counterattack, and when a Swiss defender lamely ran by, Hakan or Hasan Somebody got off a nice shot that was tipped by another defender over the GK (who was crappily too far off his line). Turkey gets the sensational win, and all the Swiss can do is have another vote denying "foreigners" Swiss citizenship as "revenge"...


June 10, 2008

Euro 2008, Day 4

Spain counters Russian threat 4-1 How do you counter-attack? Coaches will probably be showing film of Spain-Russia 2008 for years, as the Spaniards made mincemeat of the Russian defense with their blitz counterattacks and clinical finishing. The Russsians had a lot of pressure, as Spain let them come and fall on their sword. David Villa becomes the leading scorer as he bagged a hat-trick. In the second game, Sweden mugged Greece 2-0 in what was largely a snoozefest. The defending champ Greeks continued their minimalist futbol, but it doesn't look they'll get very far this tournament. They did have some decent chances, although Sweden had a slight edge in possession. The game was decided by a mighty thumping strike by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and then some comical thuggery by some blondie whose name ended in "sson". He actually didn't kick the ball, but mugged everybody in sight and finally the Greek defender booted it off him into the net.


June 09, 2008

Euro 2008, Day 3

France and Romania 0-0 put everybody to sleep. The French at least pretended to try and score a goal, but the Romanian defense was solid. Afterwards, Netherlands bitch-slapped Italy 3-0, their first win over the Azzuri since the 1978 World Cup. The Dutch were clinical in their finishing, and the Italians were...crap. In this "group of death", Italy now must defeat either France or Romania, as a loss is a disaster. Lucky for them, neither France nor Romania showed much of anything, so the Italians shouldn't be too worried. For the Dutch, their emphatic stomping means that a single draw might be enough to get through.

Oddly enough, we still haven't seen a game where both teams score.


June 08, 2008

Good German start in Euro 2008

Germany defeated Poland 2-0 in Klagenfurt, Austria to start off the Euro 2008 tournament in decent fashion. The match was played at a furious pace in the 1st half, unlike the other snoozers from the tournament so far. Germany was clearly the better team, but Poland had their moments. DFB coach Joachim Löw gambled by placing Lukas Podolski in midfield, pairing Mario Gomez up front with Miroslav Klose. His experiment worked nicely, as the Klose/Gomez combo caused problems for Poland, and Podolski was dangerous coming out of midfield. And of course, "Prinz Poldi" scored both goals, and almost ended up with a hattrick. GK Jens Lehmann continued in his inconsistent fashion, sucking at times, but coming up with some good stops as well. The defense remains a concern however, as the Poles took advantage of several lame defensive efforts, especially in the middle, where Mertesacker and Metzelder failed to impress.

Other Euro matches

So far, the games have been rather lame. In the opener, Switzerland was screwed by the Czechs, 0-1. They deserved a draw, but I guess if you can't make a point-blank shot like Vonlanthen, you deserve to lose. The Czechs were very disappointing. Jan Koller must be a magician! He's by far the largest guy on the pitch, maybe in all football, but he was invisible! They looked tired, but bring home the bacon. Even worse for Switzerland is that Alexander Frei, the Dortmund forward, sustained a knee injury and is gone from the tournament.

Portugal easily handled Turkey 2-0. You might have thought that the Turks would do better, but as usual, they're wildly inconsistent, and they were outplayed. Portugal still looks like they need finishers, as Cristiano Ronaldo seems to play more of a midfield role. But they won comfortably and have to be considered a candidate.

Croatia was lame against Austria, 1-0. Austria is the worst team in the tourney, but the home side gave an inspired fight against a disinterested Croat 11. In fact, it was a lame penalty that got them the win. They could have finished off the Austrians in the 1st half, but didn't and had to struggle to maintain the win. Perhaps they were hiding, not wanting to show off their abilities.


June 04, 2008

Latest Skandal in German football

The whiff of corruption is once again in the air. This time however, the setting is not the Bundesliga, but rather the Kölner Kreisliga D, which is something like the 10th division. Here, on the final day, Rheinkassel-Langel II defeated DJK Löwe II by a score of 54-1. The match is being investigated. The league president Hans-Christian Olpen expects some draconian punishment to be handed out. "From what I hear, it won't be difficult to prove the guilty, " stated Olpen "Some of the players apparently kicked the ball into their own net." However, the president of DJK Löwe, Erich Schnitzler, bristled at the suggestion "There wasn't even a single own goal. This was the last match, and the boys had a big celebration the night before. Nothing else." An alternate suggestion that Derby County had secretly been substituted for DJK Löwe was also rejected.

The match had some other fun events, as in the 2nd half a frustrated DJK Löwe fan apparently ran out on the field and attacked the ref. However, the ref must have kicked the fan's ass, as he allowed the match to continue. Schnitzler commented that "the lads completely lost their motivation after that." Perhaps the site of even their fans sucking was too much for the Löwen to bear. Or bare....

There is some well founded reason for the suspicion of foul play. Going into the last match, Germania Nippes was tied on points with Rheinkassel-Langel II, but led with a +37 greater goal difference. They also won their last game against Ditib-Türk II by 10-0, increasing their advantage to +47. However, Rheinkassel-Langel II's 54-1 victory led them to increase their goal difference by an additional +53, and allowed them to pass Germania Nippes for the promotion spot.

In any case, DJK Löwe president Erich Schnitzler commented that "This is a dark day for our club."


May 31, 2008

Germany beats Serbia in final tuneup

The Nationalelf gave a better showing against a tough Serbia team in Gelsenkirchen, winning 2-1. They fell behind at half, and then had to fight their way back. Michael Ballack got the winner as he hammered home an indirect free kick from just outside the box. Sorry, no details, because I neither watched the game nor bothered to read about it...

Final Regionalliga results

A interesting ending to the 3rd division Regionalliga. (The first Regionalliga was the 2nd division, running from 1963-74. The current Regionalliga started up in 1995 as the 3rd level. The new Regionalliga - North,West,South - will become the 4th division next season. It will probably last about 10-15 years until the DFB decides to come up with a combined Vierte-Liga)

In the North, Oberhausen put in a gala performance to gain promotion with Ahlen. In front of a packed house in Berlin's Alte Försterei, RWO expected stiff competition. A win for the home side Union would be unlikely enough to send them up, due to goal difference, but pride was at stake. And of course at the same time, Düsseldorf could leapfrog Oberhausen if they were to win and RWO lose. In the end, RWO wrapped up things by halftime to end all speculation.

Perhaps more exciting was the race for the final 3.Liga qualifying spot. RW Essen was in the drivers seat, but they ended up being stunned at home by Lübeck, a bitter defeat for the large crowd at the Georg-Melches stadion. Magdeburg was fortunate to travel to Wuppertal, who had nothing to play for. The easterners came away with a win that allowed them to leapfrog Essen. However, the big winner was Braunschweig. Despite playing a "II" squad, a huge crowd of almost 22,000 showed up, and in the end Eintracht came through with a win - just enough to pip Magdeburg on goal difference. Braunschweig gains entry to the new 3.Liga, condemning Essen and Magdeburg to the new Regionalliga Nord. They're certain to be a big draw, but their suffering fans have to be bitterly disappointed.

As far as individuals, the outstanding player was probably Wuppertal's Mahir Saglik, who ran away with the scoring title, netting 27 times. Look for him in the 2.Liga next year, as he will excercise his opt-out clause in his contract with WSV and leave the club.

In the South, things were perhaps less dramatic. Leaders FSV Frankfyrt and Ingolstadt took care of business by winning on the road, and gaining promotion to the 2.Liga. Things were made easier as VfB Stuttgart II (ineligible for 2.Liga) thumped Sandhausen, the only club left to threaten the leaders. The final 3.Liga spot witnessed a little struggle. Reutlingen, a onetime 2.Liga club, had the inside track, but they lost a decisive battle at Siegen to get dumped. However, Siegen's heroics were in vain, as Stuttgarter Kickers took care of business in Elversberg, and qualify on goal difference.


Regionalliga Nord


VfL Wolfsburg II 	 -  	Kickers Emden 		0:0 (0:0)	 1,200
Eintr. Braunschweig 	 -  	Bor. Dortmund II 	2:0 (0:0) 	21,850	(Nastase, Kumbela)	
SV Babelsberg 03 	 -  	Rot-Weiss Ahlen 	1:3 (0:1) 	 1,263	(Heithölter o.g. - Gibson, Grosskreutz, Reus)	
Rot-Weiß Erfurt 	 -  	Fortuna Düsseldorf 	0:4 (0:0) 	13,076	(Langeneke, Caillas, Kastrati, Cebe)
1. FC Union Berlin 	 -  	RW Oberhausen 		0:3 (0:2) 	14,177	(Terranova 2, Lüttmann)
Rot-Weiss Essen 	 -  	VfB Lübeck 		0:1 (0:0) 	18,027	(Müller)
Wuppertaler SV Bor. 	 -  	1. FC Magdeburg 	1:2 (0:1) 	 5,548	(Saglik - Braham, Lindemann)
Werder Bremen II 	 -  	SC Verl 		0:2 (0:1) 	   300	(Knappmann, Mainka)
Energie Cottbus II 	 -  	Dynamo Dresden 		1:1 (0:0)	 4,430	(Schuppan - Penksa)

Attendance: 79,871 (avg 8,875), 21 goals


 1  Rot-Weiss Ahlen 	  	36 	  19 	10 	7 	  73:41   +32 	  	67
 2  Rot-Weiss Oberhausen (N) 	36 	  19 	9 	8 	  64:32   +32 	  	66
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 3  Fortuna Düsseldorf 	  	36 	  19 	7 	10 	  49:29   +20 	  	64
 4  1. FC Union Berlin 	  	36 	  17 	9 	10 	  67:49   +18 	  	60
 5  Werder Bremen II 	  	36 	  18 	5 	13 	  52:44   +8 	  	59
 6  Wuppertaler SV Bor. 	36 	  17 	7 	12 	  60:50   +10 	  	58
 7  Rot-Weiß Erfurt 	  	36 	  15 	11 	10 	  70:46   +24 	  	56
 8  Dynamo Dresden 	  	36 	  15 	10 	11 	  45:39   +6 	  	55
 9  Kickers Emden 	  	36 	  16 	6 	14 	  43:39   +4 	  	54
10  Eintr. Braunschweig (A) 	36 	  13 	14 	9 	  55:50   +5 	  	53
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11  1. FC Magdeburg 	  	36 	  14 	11 	11 	  39:37   +2 	  	53
12  Rot-Weiss Essen (A) 	36 	  14 	9 	13 	  42:36   +6 	  	51
13  Bor. Dortmund II 	  	36 	  12 	12 	12 	  35:37   -2 	  	48
14  Energie Cottbus II (N) 	36 	  12 	8 	16 	  31:44   -13 	  	44
15  SV Babelsberg 03 (N) 	36 	  8 	10 	18 	  33:53   -20 	  	34
16  VfB Lübeck 	  		36 	  9 	7 	20 	  32:58   -26 	  	34
17  Hamburger SV II 	  	36 	  8 	9 	19 	  36:58   -22 	  	33
18  SC Verl (N) 	  	36 	  9 	5 	22 	  32:55   -23 	  	32
19  VfL Wolfsburg II (N) 	36 	  5 	7 	24 	  20:81   -61 	  	22


Scorers:

 1  Saglik 	  Wuppertaler SV Bor. 	27
 2  Toborg 	  Rot-Weiss Ahlen 	23
 3  Biran 	  1. FC Union Berlin 	18
 4  Terranova 	  RW Oberhausen 	18
 5  Bunjaku 	  Rot-Weiß Erfurt 	16
 6  Lawarée 	  Fortuna Düsseldorf 	15
 7  Patschinski   1. FC Union Berlin 	13
 8  Großkreutz 	  Rot-Weiss Ahlen 	12
 9  Löning 	  Werder Bremen II 	12
10  Vujanovic 	  Kickers Emden 	11
11  Kaya 	  RW Oberhausen 	11
12  Mainka 	  SC Verl	 	11
13  Damm 	  Wuppertaler SV Bor. 	11



Regionalliga Süd

SV Elversberg 		 -  	Stuttgarter Kickers 	0:2 (0:1) 	  700	(Tucci, Vaccaro)
FC Ingolstadt 04 	 -  	SpVgg Unterhaching 	2:0 (1:0) 	6,380	(Wohlfarth, Buchner) 		
Jahn Regensburg 	 -  	FSV Frankfurt 		0:2 (0:0) 	4,500	(Hillebrand, Weissenfeldt)
SC Pfullendorf 		 -  	1860 München II 	0:1 (0:0) 	  520	(Leicht)
Sportfr. Siegen 	 -  	SSV Reutlingen 05 	2:1 (1:0) 	6,993	(Okpala, Unger - Schmiedel)
FC Bayern II 		 -  	VfR Aalen 		0:1 (0:1) 	  700	(Holzer)
Hessen Kassel 		 -  	Wacker Burghausen 	1:1 (0:1) 	2,500	(Willers - Galuschka)
Karlsruher SC II 	 -  	FSV LU-Oggersheim 	1:0 (0:0) 	  365	(Brosinski)
VfB Stuttgart II 	 -  	SV Sandhausen 		4:0 (2:0)	2,100	(Percholdt 2, Rudy, Klotz)

Attendance: 24,758 (avg 2,751), 20 goals


 1  FSV Frankfurt (N) 	  	34 	  17 	11 	6 	  57:31   +26 	  	62
 2  FC Ingolstadt 04 	  	34 	  18 	8 	8 	  50:36   +14 	  	62
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 3  VfB Stuttgart II 	  	34 	  17 	8 	9 	  52:30   +22 	  	59
 4  VfR Aalen 	  		34 	  16 	9 	9 	  64:45   +19 	  	57
 5  SV Sandhausen (N) 	  	34 	  17 	6 	11 	  48:38   +10 	  	57
 6  SpVgg Unterhaching (A) 	34 	  15 	9 	10 	  55:44   +11 	  	54
 7  Wacker Burghausen (A) 	34 	  12 	13 	9 	  36:37   -1 	  	49
 8  FC Bayern München II 	34 	  12 	11 	11 	  53:42   +11 	  	47
 9  Jahn Regensburg (N) 	34 	  14 	5 	15 	  40:48   -8 	  	47
10  Stuttgarter Kickers 	34 	  11 	12 	11 	  38:35   +3 	  	45
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11  Sportfr. Siegen 	  	34 	  10 	15 	9 	  35:37   -2 	  	45
12  SSV Reutlingen 05 	  	34 	  10 	14 	10 	  45:46   -1 	  	44
13  1860 München II 	  	34 	  12 	6 	16 	  40:44   -4 	  	42
14  Hessen Kassel 	  	34 	  8 	14 	12 	  51:57   -6 	  	38
15  SV Elversberg 	  	34 	  10 	8 	16 	  35:52   -17 	  	38
16  Karlsruher SC II 	  	34 	  8 	13 	13 	  33:45   -12 	  	37
17  SC Pfullendorf 	  	34 	  8 	10 	16 	  33:41   -8 	  	34
18  FSV LU-Oggersheim (N) 	34 	  2 	6 	26 	  17:74   -57 	  	12


Scorers:

 1  Bauer 		Hessen Kassel 		19
 2  Cenci 		FSV Frankfurt 		17
 3  Stoilov 		Jahn Regensburg 	13
 4  Sikorski 		FC Bayern II 		12
 5  Calamita 		SC Pfullendorf 		12
 6  Sailer	 	VfR Aalen 		11
 7  S. Wohlfarth 	FC Ingolstadt 04 	11
 8  Schipplock 		VfB Stuttgart II 	11
 9  Vaccaro 		Stuttgarter Kickers 	11
10  Demir 		FC Ingolstadt 04 	10
11  Grgic 		SV Sandhausen	 	10
12  Lechleiter 		SpVgg Unterhaching 	10


May 28, 2008

Euro 2008 squad announced

DFB coach Joachim Löw announced the final 23 players for the squad to play in Euro 2008. Last minute cuts were Patrick Helmes (Köln), Jermaine Jones (Schalke) and Marcus Marin (Gladbach). Jones is pretty worthless, so no surprise there. Marin and Helmes were probably hurt because they're young and played in the 2.Liga this season. The squad was pretty much expected, which reflects the derth of outstanding talent that was the "problem" of German football in previous decades. Is it good enough to win Euro2008? I doubt it. I can't see Germany beating Italy or France, so they'll have to rely on someone else to knock them out. If that happens, then they have a chance, because they're capable of dumping just about anybody else. The Dutch are guaranteed to outplay them, but are usually manage to commit collective suicide, so they're beatable. Other teams can be beat.

Goalkeepers:
Jens Lehmann (Arsenal), Robert Enke (Hanover 96), Rene Adler (Bayer Leverkusen)
No real surprises here. Lehmann was always going to make it, as he must have pictures of Löw in a comprimising position. Enke had a superb season, as did Adler, who is probably the future of German goalkeeping. Timo Hildebrand spent too much time retrieving the ball from the net at Valencia, and hasn't done his career any favors. If he had stayed at Stuttgart, he'd probably be the no.1.

Defenders:
Christoph Metzelder (Real Madrid), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Philipp Lahm (Bayern München), Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Marcell Jansen (Bayern München), Clemens Fritz (Werder Bremen), Heiko Westermann (Schalke 04)
Looks OK here, no real surprises. Metzelder looks weak, lacked playing time in Spain. Friedrich, whatever. Westermann had a breakout season with Schalke. The steel will have to come from Mertesacker and Fritz, and hopefully Lahm can get his World Cup form. The defense looks decent, but is prone to bone-head mistakes.

Midfielders:
Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Thomas Hitzlsperger (VfB Stuttgart), Simon Rolfes (Bayer Leverkusen), Torsten Frings (Werder Bremen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern München), Piotr Trochowski (Hamburg SV), Tim Borowski (Werder Bremen), David Odonkor (Real Betis)
Odonkor (aka "Onkidonki") isn't even a regular with a crap Betis team. He can run fast, that's about it. Marin might have been a better choice. Trochowski has had a few chances and demonstrated he's no good. Again, Marin could have made some sense. Hitzlsperger may get called upon to shore up the defense. Frings should supply some thuggish quality when needed. Overall, the midfield doesn't look too bad. But no real playmaker, and Borowski has had some injury problems towards the end of the season. They'll need a big tourney from Ballack, but at least he's been in good form at Chelski.

Forwards:
Miroslav Klose (Bayern München), Lukas Podolski (Bayern München), Mario Gomez (VfB Stuttgart), Kevin Kuranyi (Schalke 04), Oliver Neuville (Borussia Moenchengladbach)
No surprises here. Neuville makes it because every team has to have at least one Rentner. He's probably known as Opa among his teammates. Plus he and Podolski are the only ones that could be considered mobile...Klose is invisible, but usually will pop up for a goal. Kuranyi doesn't seem to move much at all, but when in-form, can be terrific. Gomez seems injury prone, but looks the best finisher of the bunch.


May 27, 2008

Lame result for die Nationalelf

Germany's pre-Euro2008 test against Belorussia has to be rated as a failure, as the DFB squad had to settle for a 2-2 draw in München. This is a team that they should rip, and they can't even win. Sounds like Herr Löw still has a lot of work to do if Germany is not to disgrace itself in the upcoming tourney.

Actually, things didn't start out too badly. Considering that the squad was in training camp in Mallorca, they showed no signs of crappiness early. Instead, with Chelski legionary Michael Ballack back in the lineup, they were immediately all over the Belorussians. After only 10 minutes, Miro Klose put Germany ahead. He might have been offsides, but he kept his cool and rounded the keeper. Germany was dominating, and not much later, David Odonkor put in a tight cross that one of the Belorussians knocked into his own net. So after 30 minutes, dominating the match and cruising, one might hope for a rout.

Instead, Germany dilly-dallied, and eventually were punished by two 2nd half Belorussian goals. GK Jens Lehmann hardly looked brilliant on either, although it wasn't totally his fault either. It's just that he's an annoying prat. The real culprit was probably Christoph Metzelder, who had brought the Holzbanksplinterimarschverletzung to Spain, and was playing centreback. His lack of conditioning was apparent as he was outpaced in the 2nd half by the quicker Belorussian forwards, leading to the goals. He wasn't a disaster, but needs to step it up. Gladbach youngster Markus Marin was given a debut in the 2nd half, and had some nice moments on the wing. Schalke's Jermaine Jones also got in, but let's face it, he's less impressive than his sister Steffi Jones. Stuttgart sniper Mario Gomez was left on the beach in Spain, and the Podolski/Klose combo up front was hardly overwhelming.

The Belorussians managed to survive the early assault and just kept plugging away in the 2nd half. They got their just reward, and you have to feel they deserve a break, given that lunatic Lukashenko who runs the country.

All in all, disappointing for Germany, although the 1st half was relatively impressive. Let's hope the reason is that Löw deliberately told his troops not to show too much and keep it for the real tournament...


May 26, 2008

Is Dortmund bekloppt?

Sorry, inside joke for German speakers. No translation provided :). Big news this weekend in that Borussia Dortmund announced their new coach as Jürgen Klopp, who had recently resigned after a great run at Mainz. Supposedly he'll be paid around 1.5 million euros (net, not gross, I believe) per season, and the contract runs through 2010. Most pundits and fans agree that this is a great appointment. Klopp has a good reputation based on what he accomplished at Mainz, is pretty media savvy, a great motivator, and has an impressive football knowledge. He's basically "Christoph Daum without drugs". Of course, in general at Mainz he had nobody players willing to listen to constructive criticism and stash their egos for the communal good. At Dortmund he'll have a bunch of overpaid prima-donnas who basically have sucked. So perhaps he will have to clean house, or who knows, maybe he can motivate them. Certainly there is anticipation in Dortmund for an vast improvement over the past season.

Regionalliga

With the top two divisions finished, all eyes are now on the last rounds of the Regionalliga, to see who goes up to the 2.Liga, who becomes part of the new 3.Liga, and who falls into the new 4th division Regionalliga. With a single match left, there is still a lot to play for in both divisions.

In the North, Rot-Weiss Ahlen has continued their wonderful turnaround. Once a 2.Liga club with huge corporate sponsorship (as LR Ahlen), they were dumped by their sugar daddy and were forced to live within their own means. Apparently it's been good medicine, as the club is basically already qualified for the 2.Liga promotion. Meanwhile, Oberlhausen has the upper hand on the 2nd spot, although their failure to win has left the door open for Düsseldorf or even Union Berlin to sneak by. However, it's Oberhausen's to lose, and the money is on this premier elevator club to come through once again.

This week also saw the huge match in Magdeburg, where Rot-Weiss Essen seized the upper hand in the last 3.Liga spot. While Magdeburg is in total despair from the likely failure, legendary Braunschweig seized their last desperate opportunity with a sensational win at Ahlen. Nevertheless, Essen is in the drivers seat. Braunschweig or Magdeburg can only qualify with external help. While either of these clubs will be missed, the rest of the pack won't turn too many heads. Somewhat of a surprise is the lame showing of Lübeck, who have been a somewhat attractive side over the last few years.

In the South, the huge match was in a sold-out Frankfurter Volksbank-Stadion, as FSV defeated erstwhile leaders Ingolstadt to take the lead. Both clubs remain with the inside track for promotion, howvever, Sandhausen has kept pace, and is lurking in the shadows. Certainly some nervous moments for the last week. It would be pretty amazing if FSV and Sandhausen were to make it though - they were just promoted up from the 4th division.

For the 3.Liga, Reutlingen was stunningly bitch-slapped at home by Pfullendorf, and thereby missed securing the final spot. As a result, Stuttgarter Kickers and Siegen have chances in the last week to gain the coveted 10th spot.

The most shocking aspect of the South division this week was the large crowd for 1860 II. The B squads of 1/2 Liga clubs has been the bane of Regionalliga treasurers everywhere, but this was obviously an exception. My guess it was a large group from Regensburg that came over and then got to celebrate their 3.Liga spot in the beer-kellers.

 

Regionalliga Nord

Dynamo Dresden 		 -  	Werder Bremen II 	0:2 (0:2) 	 8,815	(Schmidt, Kruse)
SC Verl 		 -  	Wuppertaler SV Bor. 	0:3 (0:2) 	   800	(Heinzmann, Saglik 2)
1. FC Magdeburg 	 -  	Rot-Weiss Essen 	0:1 (0:1) 	21,014	(Kurth)
VfB Lübeck 		 -  	1. FC Union Berlin 	3:7 (0:4) 	 4,479	(Müller, Hoffmann, Rump - Biran 4, Patschinski 2, Ruprecht)	
RW Oberhausen 		 -  	Rot-Weiß Erfurt 	0:0 (0:0) 	15,192
Fortuna Düsseldorf 	 -  	SV Babelsberg 03 	2:0 (1:0) 	12,000	(Lawarée 2) 		
Rot-Weiss Ahlen 	 -  	Eintr. Braunschweig 	0:1 (0:0) 	 7,058	(Nastase)
Bor. Dortmund II 	 -  	VfL Wolfsburg II 	1:2 (0:0) 	 2,133	(Ricken - Brechler 2)  
Hamburger SV II 	 -  	Energie Cottbus II 	2:1 (0:1)	   287	(Olumide, Kunert - Ramaj)

Attendance: 71,778 (avg 7,975), 25 goals


 1  Rot-Weiss Ahlen 	  	35 	  18 	10 	7 	  70:40   +30 	  	64
 2  Rot-Weiss Oberhausen (N) 	35 	  18 	9 	8 	  61:32   +29 	  	63
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Fortuna Düsseldorf 	  	35 	  18 	7 	10 	  45:29   +16 	  	61
 4  1. FC Union Berlin 	  	35 	  17 	9 	9 	  67:46   +21 	  	60
 5  Werder Bremen II 	  	35 	  18 	5 	12 	  52:42   +10 	  	59
 6  Wuppertaler SV Bor. 	35 	  17 	7 	11 	  59:48   +11 	  	58
 7  Rot-Weiß Erfurt 	  	35 	  15 	11 	9 	  70:42   +28 	  	56
 8  Dynamo Dresden 	  	35 	  15 	9 	11 	  44:38   +6 	  	54
 9  Kickers Emden 	  	35 	  16 	5 	14 	  43:39   +4 	  	53
10  Rot-Weiss Essen (A) 	35 	  14 	9 	12 	  42:35   +7 	  	51
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11  Eintr. Braunschweig (A) 	35 	  12 	14 	9 	  53:50   +3 	  	50
12  1. FC Magdeburg 	  	35 	  13 	11 	11 	  37:36   +1 	  	50
13  Bor. Dortmund II 	  	35 	  12 	12 	11 	  35:35    0 	  	48
14  Energie Cottbus II (N) 	35 	  12 	7 	16 	  30:43   -13 	  	43
15  SV Babelsberg 03 (N) 	35 	  8 	10 	17 	  32:50   -18 	  	34
16  Hamburger SV II 	  	36 	  8 	9 	19 	  36:58   -22 	  	33
17  VfB Lübeck 	  		35 	  8 	7 	20 	  31:58   -27 	  	31
18  SC Verl (N) 	  	35 	  8 	5 	22 	  30:55   -25 	  	29
19  VfL Wolfsburg II (N) 	35 	  5 	6 	24 	  20:81   -61 	  	21


N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


Regionalliga Süd

Stuttgarter Kickers 	 -  	VfB Stuttgart II 	1:1 (0:0)	 7,190	(Tucci - Hofmann)
SV Sandhausen 		 -  	Karlsruher SC II 	1:0 (1:0) 	 3,500	(Pinto)
FSV LU-Oggersheim 	 -  	Hessen Kassel 		1:0 (0:0) 	   238	(Lapidakis)	
Wacker Burghausen 	 -  	FC Bayern II 		3:1 (2:1) 	 4,450	(Belleri 2, Galuschka - Kokocinski)	
VfR Aalen 		 -  	Sportfr. Siegen 	2:1 (0:0) 	 3,044	(Stickel, Taub - Gallego)
SSV Reutlingen 05 	 -  	SC Pfullendorf 		0:4 (0:1) 	 5,700	(Toprak, Lerandy, Calamita, Muzliukaj)
1860 München II 	 -  	Jahn Regensburg 	0:1 (0:1) 	13,000	(Romminger)  
FSV Frankfurt 		 -  	FC Ingolstadt 04 	3:1 (3:0) 	 4,997	(Mehic 2, Cenci - Jungwirth)
SpVgg Unterhaching 	 -  	SV Elversberg	 	4:1 (1:1) 	 2,000	(Gülselam, Konrad 2, Schweinsteiger - Bertz)

Attendance: 44,119 (avg 4,902), 24 goals


 1  FSV Frankfurt (N) 	  	33 	  16 	11 	6 	  55:31   +24 	  	59
 2  FC Ingolstadt 04 	  	33 	  17 	8 	8 	  48:36   +12 	  	59
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  SV Sandhausen (N) 	  	33 	  17 	6 	10 	  48:34   +14 	  	57
 4  VfB Stuttgart II 	  	33 	  16 	8 	9 	  48:30   +18 	  	56
 5  VfR Aalen 	  		33 	  15 	9 	9 	  63:45   +18 	  	54
 6  SpVgg Unterhaching (A)  	33 	  15 	9 	9 	  55:42   +13 	  	54
 7  Wacker Burghausen (A)  	33 	  12 	12 	9 	  35:36   -1 	  	48
 8  FC Bayern München II  	33 	  12 	11 	10 	  53:41   +12 	  	47
 9  Jahn Regensburg (N)   	33 	  14 	5 	14 	  40:46   -6 	  	47
10  SSV Reutlingen 05 	  	33 	  10 	14 	9 	  44:44    0 	  	44
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11  Stuttgarter Kickers   	33 	  10 	12 	11 	  36:35   +1 	  	42
12  Sportfr. Siegen 	  	33 	  9 	15 	9 	  33:36   -3 	  	42
13  1860 München II 	  	33 	  11 	6 	16 	  39:44   -5 	  	39
14  SV Elversberg 	  	33 	  10 	8 	15 	  35:50   -15 	  	38
15  Hessen Kassel 	  	33 	  8 	13 	12 	  50:56   -6 	  	37
16  SC Pfullendorf 	  	33 	  8 	10 	15 	  33:40   -7 	  	34
17  Karlsruher SC II 	  	33 	  7 	13 	13 	  32:45   -13 	  	34
18  FSV LU-Oggersheim (N)  	33 	  2 	6 	25 	  17:73   -56 	  	12


N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)

May 21, 2008

The post-season wrapups of the top two leagues are somewhat coherent. You can check them out: Bundesliga Review and 2. Liga Review.

And of course, if you want to see how crappy I did in my pre-season prediction, you can still get a good laugh from the 2007/08 Preseason Review!

Musical coaches

Not surprisingly, heads are rolling left and right after the Bundesliga season ended. Of course, Schalke's Mirko Slomka was canned a couple of weeks ago. He will be replaced by Dutchman Fred Ruttan, who sounds like a nobody, but apparently he did a decent job with FC Twente or somebody. And since TC Twente has a quasi fan-friendship with Schalke, maybe it's not a bad idea. Could mean a return to the old days when everybody at Schalke had to speak Dutch...

Thomas Doll got his ass kicked out of Dortmund. No suprise here, given how crap they were, it was obvious he was going to get canned. It's not clear whether management and players will fire themselves as well, as that seems also needed for the Neons to get back on track. Michael Skibbe is apparently being shown the door at Bayer Leverkusen. The Aspirins were doing decently, but really choked down the stretch. This was Skibbe's 2nd big time appointment (he took over at Dortmund when they were decent), and his 2nd failure, so his track record is pretty lame. Speculation is hot and heavy at both Dortmund and Leverkusen as to the successor. One name bandied about everywhere is Mainz wizard Jürgen Klopp, who managed to do a lot with very little. Klopp has decided to move on from Mainz, and is certain to end up with a big time appointment. Hamburg was in circus mode for a long time, as Dutchman Huub Stevens announced he was leaving to take over PSV Eindhoven. HSV came up with an interesting pick, another Dutchman, Martin Jol, who was quite popular at Tottenham, but was done in by Spurs horrible "defense". Finally, Ottmar Hitzfeld is being booted out by Bayern! Well, officially Hitzfeld is going to take over the Switzerland squad. But it was pretty clear that the Bayern Mafia wanted him out anyway, so they could appoint Jürgen Klinsmann and start a return to the glorious FC Hollywood days...


May 17-18, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 34

Another Bundesliga season ends, this one with more of a whimper than a bang.

Nürnberg desperately needed a win against Schalke, so you think that the traditional friendship between the fans would go out the window. Schalke really didn't need the points, although a win would give them a chance to become runner-up. So you'd also think that Schalke wouldn't be trying hard. But instead, Schalke was ice-cold in converting their few chances. Meanwhile, der Club wasted the few they could create. So in the end, Nürnberg sets the rather dubious record of being the most relegated club in Bundesliga history - they're going down for the 8th time.

And Nürnberg needed the points, as rivals Arminia Bielefeld were fighting for their lives. They had a difficult match, as host Stuttgart needed a win to guarantee European football. But Arminia rose to the occasion, fighting for every ball and playing like it really mattered. In the end, they got a deserved draw and stave off relegation. Stuttgart will apparently have to settle for the backdoor UI-Cup, hardly a decent outcome for the defending champion.

Unfortunately for Schalke, Bremen managed to pull out a win near the end at Leverkusen. The match was pretty even, and the Aspirins were fighting for a European spot, so the loss is quite bitter. However, their crap form down the stretch is the culprit, so they have no one to blame but themselves. Werder thereby gets the runner-up spot to Bayern, and overall have to be satisfied with a decent campaign.

The champions had a party day as they ripped a hapless Hertha squad. Luca Toni crowned his great initial season with a hat-trick, and super Frenchie Franck Ribery also tallied. The real highlight however was in the last 5 minutes, when retiring veteran Oliver Kahn was subbed out, ending his stellar career. He may have been an obnoxious big-mouth, but he generally backed it up with skill.

A great win for Wolfsburg, as they crowned a furious late run with a suprise UEFA spot. Dortmund was totally outplayed in the early match, but then showed backbone and came roaring back. Both clubs had chances to finish off the match, but it was the VWs that held their nerves and were able to bring home the bacon. For Dortmund, another disappointing season, so I'm sure someone's ass gets fired.

You knew that Karlsruhe was about to get bitch-slapped. Newcomers KSC was the sensation of the first half of the season, when they roared into Euro spots and were the toast of the league. However, someone forgot to turn off the toaster, and in the 2nd half it was just burnt toast. Although they had a few decent outings, they generally were getting their ass kicked, so don't be surprised if this continues next season. Meanwhile, Hamburg, which had pretty much imploded, decided to finally put things together and ripped a hapless KSC squad. Too little, too late, but at least HSV holds on to a UEFA spot.

Not much of interest in Hannover, as Cottbus was already safe, and Hannover going nowhere. As expected, the 96ers dominated the match, so it was only a matter of time before they kicked Cottbus' ass.

Hansa Rostock went out in style, as they upended Bochum on the road. Since VfL had been a pretty hot team down the stretch, a good result for Hansa, but it's back to teh 2.Liga for them. Bochum was probably pissed that half the stadium was shut down as the DFB ruled to punish Bochum for unruly crowd behaviour at earlier matches. As a result, only about 60% capacity, although it was a sell-out.

Not much to say about the match in Frankfurt. Eintracht was clearly the better team and kicked Duisburg's ass, although a couple of late strikes make the Zebras look repsectable.

Team of the Week: Bielefeld
Turd of the Weak: Nürnberg

Attendance: 439,075 (avg 48,786), 38 goals

 
1. FC Nürnberg 		 -  	FC Schalke 04 		0:2 (0:1) 	47,000	(Bordon 2)
Bayer Leverkusen 	 -  	Werder Bremen 		0:1 (0:0) 	22,500	(Rosenberg)
Bayern München 		 -  	Hertha BSC Berlin 	4:1 (3:0) 	69,000	(Toni 3, Ribery - Domovchiyski)
VfB Stuttgart 		 -  	Arminia Bielefeld 	2:2 (0:1) 	55,500	(Gomez, Fischer - Tesche, Eigler)	
Hannover 96 		 -  	Energie Cottbus 	4:0 (2:0) 	46,632	(Bruggink, Stajner, Vinicius, Balitsch)
Borussia Dortmund 	 -  	VfL Wolfsburg 		2:4 (1:2) 	74,023	(Frei 2 - Marcelinho, Riether, Schäfer, Grafite)
Hamburger SV 		 -  	Karlsruher SC 		7:0 (3:0) 	56,037	(Guerrero 3, Olic 2, Van der Vaart, Trochowski)
VfL Bochum	 	 -  	Hansa Rostock 		1:2 (1:1) 	18,883	(Mavraj - Kern, Bartels)
Eintracht Frankfurt 	 -  	MSV Duisburg 		4:2 (3:0)	49,500	(Fenin 2, Amanatidis, Heller - Niculescu, Daun)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	34 	  22 	10 	2 	  68:21   +47 	  	76
 2  Werder Bremen 	  	34 	  20 	6 	8 	  75:45   +30 	  	66
 3  FC Schalke 04 	  	34 	  18 	10 	6 	  55:32   +23 	  	64
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Hamburger SV 	  	34 	  14 	12 	8 	  47:26   +21 	  	54
 5  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	34 	  15 	9 	10 	  58:46   +12 	  	54
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	34 	  16 	4 	14 	  57:57    0 	  	52
 7  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	34 	  15 	6 	13 	  57:40   +17 	  	51
 8  Hannover 96 	  	34 	  13 	10 	11 	  54:56   -2 	  	49
 9  Eintracht Frankfurt	  	34 	  12 	10 	12 	  43:50   -7 	  	46
10  Hertha BSC Berlin	  	34 	  12 	8 	14 	  39:44   -5 	  	44
11  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	34 	  11 	10 	13 	  38:53   -15 	  	43
12  VfL Bochum 		  	34 	  10 	11 	13 	  48:54   -6 	  	41
13  Borussia Dortmund 	  	34 	  10 	10 	14 	  50:62   -12 	  	40
14  Energie Cottbus 	  	34 	  9 	9 	16 	  35:56   -21 	  	36
15  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	34 	  8 	10 	16 	  35:60   -25 	  	34
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	34 	  7 	10 	17 	  35:51   -16 	  	31
17  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	34 	  8 	6 	20 	  30:52   -22 	  	30
18  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	34 	  8 	5 	21 	  36:55   -19 	  	29


M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

Scoring:

 1.  Luca Toni 		 Bayern München 	24
 2.  Mario Gomez 	 VfB Stuttgart 		19
 3.  Kevin Kuranyi 	 FC Schalke 04 		15
 4.  Markus Rosenberg 	 Werder Bremen	 	14
 5.  Ivica Olic 	 Hamburger SV 		14
 6.  Mladen Petric 	 Borussia Dortmund 	13
 7.  Marko Pantelic 	 Hertha BSC Berlin 	13
 8.  Diego 		 Werder Bremen	 	13
 9.  Stanislav Sestak 	 VfL Bochum 		13
10.  Rafa van der Vaart  Hamburger SV 		12



2. Liga, Round 34

No real shockers. Hoffenheim completes their sensational drive into the Bundesliga, as they thrased Fürth 5-0 and fufill moneybags Dietmar Hopp's wetdream. Their new stadium (32,500 capacity) is supposed to be ready in 2009, so presumably they'll be playing somewhere besides the 6,350 capacity Hopp-Stadion.

Kaisersluatern finally did it, and saved themselves from relegation. Things were looking up, as opponents Köln had already wrapped up a return to the Bundesliga, and would hardly be motivated for a dog-fight. But in fact, 'Lautern had a lot of trouble, and it wasn't until late in the game that they were able to break through.

Osnabrück won the "real playoff" as they kicked Offenbach's ass in the decisive relegation tussle. The hosts needed a win to ensure staying up, and in front of a sold out home crowd, went about their business. Offenbach would probably suffice a draw, but they were nowhere near it, and therefore deservedly go down. But they were almost lucky, as Augsburg was dicking around against already relegated Jena. They almost lost at home, which would have saved Kicker's ass and led to an absolutely disgraceful drop.

Attendance: 185,477 (avg 20,605), 32 goals

 

SC Paderborn 07 	 -  	Borussia M'gladbach 	2:3 (2:1) 	12,000 	(Hoilett, Schüßler - Friend, Coulibaly, Marin)
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 	 -  	SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	5:0 (1:0) 	 6,350	(Obasi 2, Salihovic 2, Ba)
Erzgebirge Aue	 	 -  	TSV 1860 München 	1:1 (0:0) 	12,100	(Nemec - Johnson) 	
1. FC Kaiserslautern 	 -  	1. FC Köln	 	3:0 (0:0) 	48,500	(Ziemer 2, Simpson)	
Alemannia Aachen 	 -  	TuS Koblenz 		1:3 (0:0) 	21,019	(Sukalo o.g. - Djokaj 2, Bajic)
FC Augsburg 		 -  	FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	1:1 (0:0) 	23,478	(Dreßler - Torghelle)
VfL Osnabrück 		 -  	Kickers Offenbach 	3:0 (1:0) 	12,300	(Schanda, Surmann, Reichenberger)
SC Freiburg 		 -  	SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	0:2 (0:2) 	20,400	(Nakas, Glibo)
1. FSV Mainz 05 	 -  	FC St. Pauli 		5:1 (3:0)	20,300	(Baljac 3, Gunkel, Borja - Bruns)


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	34 	  18 	12 	4 	  71:38   +33 	  	66
 2  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 	34 	  17 	9 	8 	  60:40   +20 	  	60
 3  1. FC Köln 	  		34 	  17 	9 	8 	  62:44   +18 	  	60
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A)   	34 	  16 	10 	8 	  62:36   +26 	  	58
 5  SC Freiburg 	  	34 	  15 	10 	9 	  49:44   +5 	  	55
 6  SpVgg Greuther Fürth   	34 	  14 	10 	10 	  53:47   +6 	  	52
 7  Alemannia Aachen (A)   	34 	  14 	9 	11 	  49:44   +5 	  	51
 8  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N)  	34 	  11 	11 	12 	  47:53   -6 	  	44
 9  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	34 	  11 	9 	14 	  47:53   -6 	  	42
10  TuS Koblenz 	  	34 	  12 	11 	11 	  46:47   -1 	  	41
11  TSV 1860 München 	  	34 	  9 	14 	11 	  42:45   -3 	  	41
12  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	34 	  10 	10 	14 	  43:54   -11 	  	40
13  1. FC Kaiserslautern  	34 	  9 	12 	13 	  37:37    0 	  	39
14  FC Augsburg 	  	34 	  10 	8 	16 	  39:51   -12 	  	38
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  Kickers Offenbach 	  	34 	  9 	11 	14 	  38:60   -22 	  	38
16  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	34 	  7 	11 	16 	  49:57   -8 	  	32
17  SC Paderborn 07 	  	34 	  6 	13 	15 	  33:54   -21 	  	31
18  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	34 	  6 	11 	17 	  45:68   -23 	  	29


N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)

(*) - Koblenz deducted 6 points now, possibly 3 points next season

Scoring:
 1. Milivoje Novakovic 	   1. FC Köln	 	20
 2. Rob Friend 		   Mönchengladbach 	18
 3. Patrick Helmes 	   1. FC Köln 		17
 4. Thomas Reichenberger   VfL Osnabrück 	16
 5. Felix Borja 	   FSV Mainz 05 	16
 6. Oliver Neuville 	   Mönchengladbach 	15
 7. Stefan Reisinger 	   Greuther Fürth 	12
 8. Suat Türker 	   Kick. Offenbach 	12
 9. Demba Ba 	           1899 Hoffenheim 	12
10. Chinedu Obasi 	   1899 Hoffenheim 	12


May 10-11, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 33

I've always been pretty bad at writing about midweek results, so no real commentary on the 32nd round, although the results are listed below the table. The penultimate round settled one issue, namely that Duisburg is joining Rostock back in the 2.Liga. On the other hand, to the surprise of many, Energie Cottbus will remain a thorn in the side of the big clubs, as they assure their survival for another season.

Bayern dominated against Duisburg, and apparently had things wrapped up by halftime. But the champions dallied, and Duisburg desperately threw everything into attack, and quickly got back into the game. However, that was it for the Zebras, as they say goodbye to the Bundesliga once again...

Cottbus put up yet another terrific fighting match at home and downed Hamburg, thereby securing their Bundesliga status for another season. Will HSV come up with the big choke? They've gone from a contender to holding on to UEFA only by goal difference. Somehow, they'll probably meddle through, but it would be pretty funny if they didn't.

Bielefeld missed a huge opportunity to save their asses as well. They were up 2-1 with about 5 minutes left when their GK headed the ball into his own net. It would be hilarious if they end up going down because of that. But for that to happen, that would mean that Nürnberg would have to win their last match against Schalke. Under normal circumstances that wouldn't be possible, because der Club looks too crap. But Schalke is unlikely to catch Bremen, and is already in the Champions League, and losing against Nürnberg is probably the one club that Schalke fans would actually tolerate, since there are decent relations between the fans. And they probably wouldn't mind seeing Arminia disappear, since they don't like to be reminded of their partnership in the 1971 Bundesliga-Skandal.

After grasping their last straw by beating Duisburg earlier in the week, Nürnberg's lame performance in Berlin was surely a disappointment. Hertha easily controlled the game with their minimalist football, and this loss almost cost them the Bundesliga. They've still got a chance, so we'll see if they've got the balls to pull it off.

Somewhat shocking was Wolfsburg's thorough thumping of Stuttgart. The VWs have quietly snuck into UEFA Cup contention. Meanwhile, the soon to be ex-defending-champions have one cold after a decent 2nd half run that almost salvaged their season. As it stands now, they will probably be left out in the cold.

Team of the Week: Cottbus
Turd of the Weak: Stuttgart

Attendance: 308,801 (avg 34,311), 31 goals

 
VfL Wolfsburg 		 -  	VfB Stuttgart	 	4:0 (2:0) 	28,001 	(Marcelinho, Dzeko, Costa, Dejagah)
MSV Duisburg 		 -  	Bayern München 		2:3 (0:3) 	31,500	(Tararache, Daun - Ottl, Podolski 2)	
Hansa Rostock 		 -  	Bayer Leverkusen 	1:2 (0:1) 	23,000	(Menges - Rolfes, Castro) 		
Hertha BSC 		 -  	1. FC Nürnberg 		1:0 (0:0) 	47,072	(Raffael)
Energie Cottbus 	 -  	Hamburger SV 		2:0 (1:0) 	22,746	(Rivic, Sörensen)	
Karlsruher SC 		 -  	VfL Bochum 		1:3 (0:1) 	29,000	(Eggimann - Azaouagh, Dabrowski, Sestak)
Arminia Bielefeld 	 -  	Borussia Dortmund 	2:2 (2:1) 	25,000	(Marx, Wichniarek - Buckley, Fernandez o.g.)
Werder Bremen 		 -  	Hannover 96 		6:1 (2:0) 	41,000	(Almeida, Naldo, Borowski, KLasnic, Rosenberg, Hunt - Hustzi)
FC Schalke 04 		 -  	Eintracht Frankfurt 	1:0 (0:0)	61,482	(Krstajic)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	33 	  21 	10 	2 	  64:20   +44 	  	73
 2  Werder Bremen 	  	33 	  19 	6 	8 	  74:45   +29 	  	63
 3  FC Schalke 04 	  	33 	  17 	10 	6 	  53:32   +21 	  	61
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	33 	  15 	6 	12 	  57:39   +18 	  	51
 5  Hamburger SV 	  	33 	  13 	12 	8 	  40:26   +14 	  	51
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	33 	  14 	9 	10 	  54:44   +10 	  	51
 7  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	33 	  16 	3 	14 	  55:55     0 	  	51
 8  Hannover 96 	  	33 	  12 	10 	11 	  50:56   -6 	  	46
 9  Hertha BSC Berlin	  	33 	  12 	8 	13 	  38:40   -2 	  	44
10  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	33 	  11 	10 	12 	  38:46   -8 	  	43
11  Eintracht Frankfurt   	33 	  11 	10 	12 	  39:48   -9 	  	43
12  VfL Bochum 		  	33 	  10 	11 	12 	  47:52   -5 	  	41
13  Borussia Dortmund 	  	33 	  10 	10 	13 	  48:58   -10 	  	40
14  Energie Cottbus 	  	33 	  9 	9 	15 	  35:52   -17 	  	36
15  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	33 	  8 	9 	16 	  33:58   -25 	  	33
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	33 	  7 	10 	16 	  35:49   -14 	  	31
17  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	33 	  8 	5 	20 	  34:51   -17 	  	29
18  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	33 	  7 	6 	20 	  28:51   -23 	  	27


M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

(Round 32 results)

Borussia Dortmund 	 -  	VfB Stuttgart 		3:2 (1:0) 	64,400	(Tinga, Frei 2 - Gomez 2) 	 	
VfL Bochum	 	 -  	FC Schalke 04 		0:3 (0:1) 	31,328	(Asamoah, Rakitic, Bordon)
Karlsruher SC 		 -  	Energie Cottbus 	1:1 (0:0) 	28,000	(Buck - Rivic)
Hannover 96 		 -  	Hansa Rostock 		3:0 (1:0) 	35,453	(Balitsch, Rosenthal 2)	
Hamburger SV 		 -  	Werder Bremen 		0:1 (0:0) 	57,000	(Almeida)
Bayer Leverkusen 	 -  	Hertha BSC Berlin	1:2 (0:1) 	22,500	(Sinkiewicz - Pantelic, Chahed)	
Bayern München 		 -  	Arminia Bielefeld 	2:0 (1:0) 	69,000	(Ribery, Podolski)
Eintracht Frankfurt 	 -  	VfL Wolfsburg	 	2:3 (1:2) 	45,300	(Amanatidis, Weissenberger - Grafite, Schäfer, Dzeko)	
1. FC Nürnberg 		 -  	MSV Duisburg 		2:0 (2:0)	44,300	(Charisteas, Pinola)

Attendance: 397,281 (avg 44,142), 26 goals

2. Liga, Round 33

Köln joins Gladbach going up to the Bundesliga, which seemed unlikely several weeks ago, as the Kölner were dicking around in mediocrity. But they peaked at the right time, ground out some results, and get their reward. Most likely they'll suck in the Bundesliga and be back in the 2.Liga in another year, but they will be partying hard for a while, and the dedicated fans deserve it. One more promotion spot remains open, and upstart Hoffenheim is in the drivers seat to create the sensation. They face Greuther Fürth at home, hardly an easy task, but have to be considered the favorites. If Hoffenheim fails, Mainz and Freiburg are waiting to pounce on the coveted 3rd spot.

On the relegation side, Kaiserslautern has a good chance of saving their ass. They face a promoted Köln side that probably will still be partying. Koblenz difficult end was helped somewhat. Their point deduction of 8 points was in fact increased to 9 points on appeal!! But they were thrown a bone, as only 6 points are being subtracted this season. The additional 3 points will be applied to next season if they stay up. And given that Osnabrück and Offenbach face each other in the last week, it would take a rout of legendary proportions to send Koblenz down. Augsburg is still in trouble, but they are likely to get a result at home to Jena, so they should be staying up.

 
1. FC Köln	 	 -  	1. FSV Mainz 05 	2:0 (1:0) 	50,000	(Antar 2)
FC St. Pauli 		 -  	Alemannia Aachen 	0:2 (0:2) 	22,717	(Lehmann, Nemeth)	
Borussia M'gladbach 	 -  	SC Freiburg 		2:3 (0:2) 	54,067	(Friend, Kleine - Matmour, Günes 2) 
FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	 -  	1. FC Kaiserslautern 	2:2 (1:0) 	11,162	(Torghelle, Günther - Runström, Simpson) 
SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	 -  	FC Augsburg 		3:2 (1:0) 	 6,800	(Biliskov, Nehrig 2 - Möhrle, Szabics)
TuS Koblenz 		 -  	Erzgebirge Aue 		2:2 (0:0) 	13,613  (Daham, Pektürk - Sykora 2)
SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	 -  	SC Paderborn 07 	1:1 (1:0) 	 7,512  (Catic - Gouiffe à Goufan)
Kickers Offenbach 	 -  	1899 Hoffenheim 	1:1 (0:0) 	14,256	(Türker - Copado)	
TSV 1860 München 	 -  	VfL Osnabrück 		1:1 (0:1)	32,000	(Göktan - Hennings)


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	33 	  17 	12 	4 	  68:36   +32 	  	63
 2  1. FC Köln 	  		33 	  17 	9 	7 	  62:41   +21 	  	60
 3  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 	33 	  16 	9 	8 	  55:40   +15 	  	57
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A)   	33 	  15 	10 	8 	  57:35   +22 	  	55
 5  SC Freiburg 	  	33 	  15 	10 	8 	  49:42   +7 	  	55
 6  SpVgg Greuther Fürth   	33 	  14 	10 	9 	  53:42   +11 	  	52
 7  Alemannia Aachen (A)   	33 	  14 	9 	10 	  48:41   +7 	  	51
 8  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	33 	  11 	9 	13 	  46:48   -2 	  	42
 9  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N)   	33 	  10 	11 	12 	  45:53   -8 	  	41
10  TSV 1860 München 	  	33 	  9 	13 	11 	  41:44   -3 	  	40
11  TuS Koblenz 	  	33 	  11 	11 	11 	  43:46   -3 	  	38
12  Kickers Offenbach 	  	33 	  9 	11 	13 	  38:57   -19 	  	38
13  FC Augsburg 	  	33 	  10 	7 	16 	  38:50   -12 	  	37
14  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	33 	  9 	10 	14 	  40:54   -14 	  	37
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  1. FC Kaiserslautern  	33 	  8 	12 	13 	  34:37   -3 	  	36
16  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	33 	  7 	10 	16 	  48:56   -8 	  	31
17  SC Paderborn 07 	  	33 	  6 	13 	14 	  31:51   -20 	  	31
18  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	33 	  6 	10 	17 	  44:67   -23 	  	28


N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)

(*) - Koblenz deducted 6 points now, possibly 3 points next season



May 3-4, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 31

Well, there was an air of inevitability about it, and it was official this weekend: Bayern wrapped up their 21st German title. And they could hardly be bothered to play like a champion, as instead they took the afternoon off and put everyone in Wolfsburg to sleep.

Bremen really didn't have much trouble with Energie Cottbus, although they hardly put in an impressive performance. Werder controlled the match and built up continual pressure on the Cottbus defense, so it was only a matter of time before it cracked. Werder now is in the driver's seat for 2nd place, whereas Cottbus is still mired in the relegation battle.

Schalke is probably kicking themselves for not getting all the points against Hannover. The Blues dominated most of the match, and created lots of chances. However, they could only beat GK Robert Enke once. The 96ers are undoubtedly happy with their point. Neither team really has much left to play for, as Hannover is going nowhere, and it would take a disaster for Schalke not to qualify for the Champions League.

Nürnberg remains in grave danger as they were unable to get a win in Dortmund. Since Borussia was sleeping, FCN grabbed the initiative and created several decent chances in the first half. Dortmund woke up in the 2nd period, and the fans were treated to end-to-end action, and either side could have claimed the victory.

Unfortunately for the sold out Ostseestadion, a dose of Hansa was just what the doctor ordered. Hamburg had been playing crap recently, exhibiting a totally lame offense. And with Rostock fighting for survival, one might have expected another HSV stumble. Instead, Hamburg controlled the match from the start, and essentially had the points wrapped up by halftime. An important win for HSV, as they can concentrate on holding on to a Euro spot. It definitely looks like Rostock has run out of gas, and relegation is almosy assured now.

Stuttgart had an easy time with Frankfurt, and basically blew them off the field in under 20 minutes. Then VfB merely went into autopilot and glided home. Frankfurt never knew whjat struck them, and were happy to run home like a dog with his tail between his legs.

A huge win for Bielefeld, as they took a step towards staying up. It wasn't easy, as visitors Bochum dominated most of the match. However, Arminia grimly held on, and in the end two late goals gave them the points.

Duisburg is still breathing! An injury time goal by Georgiev gave MSV their first home win in 2008, and keeps them hoping in the relegation battle. Meanwhile, another Alka-Seltzer moment for Leverksuen, as they lose their 5th consecutive road match.

Berliner fans actually got to watch an enjoyable match, as even though Hertha and KSC have nothing to play for, they went out and played hard. Hertha grabbed an early lead, but the guests threw caution into the win and were able to get close, until a late Berlin goal finished off the match.

Team of the Week: Duisburg, Bielefeld
Turd of the Weak: Rostock

Attendance: 384,130 (avg 42,681), 24 goals

  
Borussia Dortmund 	 -  	1. FC Nürnberg	 	0:0 (0:0) 	70,500
Hansa Rostock 		 -  	Hamburger SV 		1:3 (0:2) 	28,000	(Mathijsen - Olic 2, van der Vaart)
Arminia Bielefeld 	 -  	VfL Bochum 		2:0 (0:0) 	23,800	(Mijatovic, Kamper)
FC Schalke 04 		 -  	Hannover 96 		1:1 (1:1) 	61,482	(Altintop - Bruggink)
Werder Bremen 		 -  	Energie Cottbus 	2:0 (0:0) 	39,678	(Rosenberg, Almeida) 		
VfB Stuttgart 		 -  	Eintracht Frankfurt 	4:1 (3:0) 	55,500	(Bastürk 2, Gomez, Cacau - Amanatidis)
Hertha BSC 		 -  	Karlsruher SC 		3:1 (2:0) 	49,595	(Kacar, Pantelic, Skacel - Kapllani)
VfL Wolfsburg 		 -  	Bayern München 		0:0 (0:0) 	30,000
MSV Duisburg	 	 -  	Bayer Leverkusen 	3:2 (2:1)	25,575	(Ishiaku 2, Georgiev - Sinkiewicz, Barnetta)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	31 	  19 	10 	2 	  59:18   +41 	  	67
 2  Werder Bremen 	  	31 	  17 	6 	8 	  67:44   +23 	  	57
 3  FC Schalke 04 	  	31 	  15 	10 	6 	  49:32   +17 	  	55
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Hamburger SV 	  	31 	  13 	12 	6 	  40:23   +17 	  	51
 5  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	31 	  16 	3 	12 	  53:48   +5 	  	51
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	31 	  14 	6 	11 	  54:36   +18 	  	48
 7  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	31 	  12 	9 	10 	  47:42   +5 	  	45
 8  Hannover 96 	  	31 	  11 	10 	10 	  46:50   -4 	  	43
 9  Eintracht Frankfurt   	31 	  11 	10 	10 	  37:44   -7 	  	43
10  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	31 	  11 	9 	11 	  36:42   -6 	  	42
11  VfL Bochum 	  		31 	  9 	11 	11 	  44:48   -4 	  	38
12  Hertha BSC Berlin 	  	31 	  10 	8 	13 	  35:39   -4 	  	38
13  Borussia Dortmund 	  	31 	  9 	9 	13 	  43:54   -11 	  	36
14  Energie Cottbus 	  	31 	  8 	8 	15 	  32:51   -19 	  	32
15  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	31 	  8 	8 	15 	  31:54   -23 	  	32
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	31 	  8 	5 	18 	  32:46   -14 	  	29
17  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	31 	  6 	10 	15 	  33:48   -15 	  	28
18  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	31 	  7 	6 	18 	  27:46   -19 	  	27

M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

2. Liga, Round 31

Attendance: 189,482 (avg 21,053), 33 goals

  
TSV 1860 München 	 -  	SC Freiburg 		0:3 (0:2) 	30,400	(Idrissou, Matmour, Günes)
1. FSV Mainz 05 	 -  	1. FC Kaiserslautern 	2:1 (1:1) 	20,300	(Borja, Soto - Reinert)
FC St. Pauli	 	 -  	Erzgebirge Aue 		4:2 (2:2) 	21,421	(Schulz, Takyi, Schnitzler, Rothenbach - Orahovac, Curri)
SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	 -  	SC Paderborn 07 	1:1 (0:0) 	 7,300	(Lanig - Krösche)
FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	 -  	VfL Osnabrück 		1:1 (0:0) 	 9,291	(Allagui - Reichenberger)	
Kickers Offenbach 	 -  	Borussia M'gladbach 	1:7 (0:1) 	19,051	(Brouwers o.g. - Neuville 2, Ndjeng 2, Marin, Touma, Coulibaly)
Alemannia Aachen 	 -  	FC Augsburg	 	3:0 (1:0) 	18,440	(Brinkmann, Ebbers, Milchraum)
TuS Koblenz 		 -  	SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	2:0 (1:0)	13,279	(Fernandez, Daham)
1. FC Köln 		 -  	1899 Hoffenheim 	3:1 (1:1)	50,000	(Novakovic, Antar, Mohamad - Salihovic)


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A)  	31 	  16 	12 	3 	  63:33   +30 	  	60
 2  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A)   	31 	  15 	10 	6 	  57:32   +25 	  	55
 3  1. FC Köln 	  		31 	  15 	9 	7 	  57:40   +17 	  	54
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N)  	31 	  15 	8 	8 	  51:38   +13 	  	53
 5  SC Freiburg 	  	31 	  14 	10 	7 	  46:39   +7 	  	52
 6  SpVgg Greuther Fürth   	31 	  13 	9 	9 	  50:40   +10 	  	48
 7  Alemannia Aachen (A)   	31 	  12 	9 	10 	  45:41   +4 	  	45
 8  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	31 	  11 	9 	11 	  46:44   +2 	  	42
 9  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N)  	31 	  10 	10 	11 	  44:49   -5 	  	40
10  TSV 1860 München 	  	31 	  9 	12 	10 	  39:40   -1 	  	39
11  FC Augsburg 	  	31 	  10 	7 	14 	  35:44   -9 	  	37
12  TuS Koblenz 	  	31 	  11 	10 	10 	  40:41   -1 	  	35
13  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	31 	  9 	8 	14 	  39:53   -14 	  	35
14  Kickers Offenbach 	  	31 	  8 	10 	13 	  36:56   -20 	  	34
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  1. FC Kaiserslautern   	31 	  7 	11 	13 	  30:35   -5 	  	32
16  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	31 	  6 	9 	16 	  41:54   -13 	  	27
17  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	31 	  6 	9 	16 	  42:60   -18 	  	27
18  SC Paderborn 07 	  	31 	  5 	12 	14 	  27:49   -22 	  	27


N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)

(*) - Koblenz deducted 8 points



May 1, 2008

Bayern disgraced

Germany's Euro quest will end in defeat, at least at the club level. Bayern München, who had hoped to add the UEFA cup to the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal titles, was bitch-slapped silly in the semifinals by Russian upstart Zenit St.Petersburg. The Russkis embarassed the high priced German champs 4-0. In fact, previously Zenit had also kicked ass against Bayer Leverkusen, so I suppose you could write it off that the Germans always fail at the gates of Leningrad...

Zenit advances to the finals against another surprise team, Glasgow Rangers. Meanwhile Bayern has to run home like dogs with their tails between their legs. I wonder what kind of spin VP Uli Hoeness puts on this one?

If you consider the Bundesliga performance in Europe this year, it was pretty crappy. Bremen and Stuttgart were non-factors in the Champions League, only Schalke had a modicum of success. The UEFA Cup was pretty lame as well, although Bayern could have salvaged some honor by winning the Cup.

Kult-Verein update

With e-mails literally poring in from around the world, it's perhaps useful to give an update regarding the feedback of Kult-Vereine. Cult clubs and German football. What a match. Of course, the consensus from everyone is that St.Pauli qualifies, given the non-existant criteria of evaluating them. I would propose the requirement that folks from around the country follow the club, even though they have no geographic attachement to them. Hence all the yokels going to St.Pauli games, even though they don't live around the Reeperbahn. I guess using that criteria, perhaps only Bayern München qualifies, as they always attract tons of interest, at least to boo the millionaires...

Paul Duke, who undoubtedly cannot show his face at work now that his name appears on these pages, confirmed our original speculation that BFC Dynamo Berlin is a likely Kult candidate. This has mostly do to the behaviour of it's fans. And every defeat is gleefully followed among the rest of ex-GDR football fans, so they qualify. Meanwhile, Jason Gick was obviously trying to ingratiate himself with a lady friend, as he suggested her favorite club, Jahn Regensburg. Ha-ha, Jason, but no cigar! I don't think people in Regensburg even care these days. He then partially redeemed himself by suggesting 1860 München. This is quite clever, playing on the anti-Bayern bandwagon, so we give him props. However, there is definitely a feeling that probably nobody OUTSIDE München cares. Further suggestions rolled in, like various Kickers clubs, like Stuttgart or Offenbach. They would have a stronger case if they lived up to their names and dominated the league in yellow cards, but no such luck.

One possibility that comes to mind is 1.FC Kaiserslautern, despite the fact that they're trying to rip off poor little TuS Koblenz. There are undoubtedly many English speaking fans of 1.FCK largely due to the legendary efforts of Dan Herrin (?) and his legendary Gonzoliga blog, the pioneering 1990s English language news on German football. Had good beer reports too. Unfortunately Dan wandered off to England and probably became an Man United fan. Last I heard, he was somewhere in Belgium. Anyway, Dan's reports from the terraces of the Betzenberg (aka Fritz-Walter-Stadion) were of Pulitzer quality, and enthralled readers world-wide. As a Lautern fan, I'm sure his rantings contributed to many others taking up that dubious cause...

Finally, the suggestion of Wuppertaler SV popped up. As a 30+ year long suffering WSV fan, I was taken aback. Alas, the only Kult aspect of WSV is that of Jim Jones and the People's Temple, as the WSV fans are forced to line up at the Zoo-Stadion every season and drink the purple Kool-aid offered up by club management...


Apr 26-27, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 30

Bayern wrapped up another title in style as they destroyed defending champion Stuttgart. Bremen or Schalke still have mathematical chances to catch the leaders, but that would mean Bayern would have to lose 4 in a row, which has never happened in the history of the club. Against Stuttgart, after an obligatory Luca Toni strike, Bayern had to regain the lead after an hour, but the match was still up for grabs. But then it was the Franck Ribery show, as the Frenchman, who had only come on as a 2nd half sub, finished off the match with a couple of nice goals, one a nice blast from about 35 yards into the top corner, and another where he faked out several defenders. Stuttgart probably was expecting a defeat, and it was only wasteful by Lukas Podolski that prevented further damage, as he missed a couple of sitters near the end.

Schalke got a nice win against Hamburg, and perhaps guaranteed themselves a return to the Champions League. Red hot Kevin Kuranyi scored his 15th league goal (8th via a header) and sent HSV into despair. With their lame offense, Hamburg will probably not only not be in the CL next season, but I doubt they even hold on to a UEFA spot.

A wildly entertaining match in Karlsruhe, but Bremen is probably kicking themselves for not grabbing all the points. Werder dominated most of the match, and created tons of chances. However, KSC battled throughout, and almost came away with a win, thanks to lax Werder defending.

Hannover threw away an opportunity for 3 points. They dominated the first half and had a comfortable 2-0 lead. And of course, Hertha could fully be expected to phone it in, as they are one of the most boring teams in the league. However, the Berliners perhaps have perfected the "rope-a-dope" technique, and they came roaring back. After the match was squared, both sides had opportunities to claim all the points, but in the end, a draw was a fair result.

After a rather boring 1st half, Frankfurt and Dortmund opened up and delivered an entertaining match. The inability to win pretty much ends Frankfurt's chance of sneaking into a UEFA spot, but the overall result was fair.

Is this the match that sends Nürnberg down? Der Club led comfortably 2-0 at half, at home, against struggling Bielefeld. Certainly a win was called for. Instead, Arminia threw everything into the 2nd half, and were able to equalize. Nürnberg was shocked, and despite increasing pressure, was unable to restablish the lead. This 3 point swing (Nürnberg dropping 2, Bielefeld gaining one) keeps Nürnberg in a relegation spot, and has to be completely demoralizing. But if they go down, they've got nobody to blame but themselves.

Drama in the Laustiz region, as two ex-GDR clubs met at a packed Stadion der Freundschaft. And it was Hansa Rostock that was the better team, taking the lead, and playing better football. They could have wrapped up the match mid-way through the 2nd half. However they wasted their chances and the price they pay looks like it's millions - relegation is likely. Cottbus threw caution into the wind, desperately seeking to avoid defeat. And they were rewarded, as they scored twice in the last 10 minutes, undoubtedly helped by the fact that Hansa GK Stefan Wächter was injured, but Rostock had no more subs. A huge win for Energie, Dimitar Rangelov's header 1 minute into injury time likely ensuring Bundesliga football in the south-eastern corner of the former GDR for another year. They may be unloved throughout most of the Bundesliga, but you have to give Energie credit for their fighting spirit.

One of the less interesting Ruhr derbies, the Bochum-Duisburg match was in fact quite entertaining. Oddly enough, it was tailend Duisburg that was controlling the match, and they deservedly held the lead. A desperate all-out attack was necessary for Bochum to tie the game near the end, avoiding their first home defeat in 9 matches. Duisburg is probably going down, as matches like these you can't let slip away.

Leverkusen certainly expected to gather momentum and points for the UEFA qualification. Facing Wolfsburg, the Aspirins probably felt they would prevail. Instead, they ended up with a big headache, as they struggled against the VWs, and it took an own goal for them to even rescue a point. The match itself was pretty entertaining, especially in a wild 2nd half. As they went home after the final whistle, the Leverkusen fans probably needed some alka-seltzer as well, as some of the referee decisions were certainly questionable. Bayer was denied what looked an clear penalty, and one of Wolfsburg's goals was suspect as well. However, if I were a betting man, then I'd say Leverkusen still probably makes UEFA, and Stuttgart seems another likely candidate. That leaves HSV out in the cold...For Wolfsburg, any season where they're not a relegation candidate is a good one, so they'll be happy.

Team of the Week: Schalke, Cottbus
Turd of the Weak: Hamburg

Attendance: 362,939 (avg 40,327), 31 goals

  
Eintracht Frankfurt 	 -  	Borussia Dortmund 	1:1 (0:0)	51,500	(Köhler - Blaszczykowski)	
Hamburger SV 		 -  	FC Schalke 04 		0:1 (0:1) 	57,000	(Kuranyi)
Karlsruher SC 		 -  	Werder Bremen 		3:3 (1:2) 	29,470	(Freis 2, Kapllani - Diego, Özil, Sanogo)
Hannover 96 		 -  	Hertha BSC 		2:2 (2:0) 	41,473	(Hanke, Stajner - Chahed, Piszcek)
1. FC Nürnberg 		 -  	Arminia Bielefeld 	2:2 (2:0) 	46,300	(Mintal, Saenko - Wichniarek, Bollmann)
Energie Cottbus 	 -  	Hansa Rostock 		2:1 (0:1) 	21,357  (Rost, Rangelov - Cetkovic)
VfL Bochum 		 -  	MSV Duisburg 		1:1 (0:1) 	24,339	(Sestak - Niculescu)
Bayern München	 	 -  	VfB Stuttgart 		4:1 (1:1) 	69,000	(Toni, Van Bommel, Ribery 2 - da Silva)
Bayer Leverkusen 	 -  	VfL Wolfsburg 		2:2 (1:2)	22,500	(Gekas, Costa o.g. - Dzeko, Hasebe)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	30 	  19 	9 	2 	  59:18   +41 	  	66
 2  Werder Bremen 	  	30 	  16 	6 	8 	  65:44   +21 	  	54
 3  FC Schalke 04 	  	30 	  15 	9 	6 	  48:31   +17 	  	54
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	30 	  14 	6 	10 	  52:33   +19 	  	48
 5  Hamburger SV 	  	30 	  12 	12 	6 	  37:22   +15 	  	48
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	30 	  15 	3 	12 	  49:47   +2 	  	48
 7  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	30 	  12 	8 	10 	  47:42   +5 	  	44
 8  Eintracht Frankfurt   	30 	  11 	10 	9 	  36:40   -4 	  	43
 9  Hannover 96 	  	30 	  11 	9 	10 	  45:49   -4 	  	42
10  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	30 	  11 	9 	10 	  35:39   -4 	  	42
11  VfL Bochum 	  		30 	  9 	11 	10 	  44:46   -2 	  	38
12  Hertha BSC Berlin 	  	30 	  9 	8 	13 	  32:38   -6 	  	35
13  Borussia Dortmund 	  	30 	  9 	8 	13 	  43:54   -11 	  	35
14  Energie Cottbus 	  	30 	  8 	8 	14 	  32:49   -17 	  	32
15  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	30 	  7 	8 	15 	  29:54   -25 	  	29
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	30 	  6 	9 	15 	  33:48   -15 	  	27
17  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	30 	  7 	6 	17 	  26:43   -17 	  	27
18  MSV Duisburg (N)	  	30 	  7 	5 	18 	  29:44   -15 	  	26

M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

2. Liga, Round 30

Of course the big news was Koblenz' 8 point deduction, which means that Kaiserslautern has a very good chance now to avoid the drop. The Red Devils helped themselves with a tough win over Aachen. Meanwhile, Koblenz was probably still shell shocked, as they ran into a Paderborn squad that desperately wanted to stave off mathematical relegation. Meanwhie, Offenbach and Osnabrück, who almost looked safe a short while ago, have hurt themselves by losing and remain in the relegation mire. On the other hand, Augsburg looks just about safe now, with an important win over a recently red-hot St.Pauli squad.

At the top, Gladbach had a packed house, but a tough time with the disappointing 1860 team. Hoffenheim showed they are no fluke as they completely annihilated Jena. Senegalese striker Demba Ba had a hat-trick in the first 25 minutes, and Jena was fortunate they didn't lose by double digits. Mainz won a important away tie in Osnabrück, so they pass Köln in the promotion spot. Given their superior goal-difference, the Mainzers almost have an additional point as well.

In huge match on Monday, the Freiburg-Greuther Fürth match went down to the wire. Freiburg came from behind to win it in the last minute. This keeps their promotion hopes alive, while it's just about "Gute Nacht" for Fürth.

Attendance: 158,173 (avg: 17,575), 35 goals

 
1. FC Kaiserslautern 	 -  	Alemannia Aachen 	2:1 (1:1)	30,482 	(Bellinghausen,Ziemer - Nemeth)
Erzgebirge Aue	 	 -  	1. FC Köln 		3:3 (2:2) 	11,400	(Nemec 2, Sykora - Helmes, Scherz, Pezzoni)
SC Paderborn 07 	 -  	TuS Koblenz 		3:2 (3:1) 	 4,310	(Fischer, Löbe, Bogavac - Kuqi, Hartmann)
VfL Osnabrück 		 -  	1. FSV Mainz 05 	1:2 (1:2) 	12,300	(Cichon - Subotic, Borja)
Borussia M'gladbach 	 -  	1860 München 		2:2 (1:2) 	50,183	(Neuville 2 - di Salvo, Göktan)
1899 Hoffenheim 	 -  	FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	5:0 (4:0) 	 5,700	(Ba 3, Salihovic, Obasi)
SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	 -  	Kickers Offenbach 	2:1 (0:1) 	11,276	(Catic, Atem - Bancé) 
FC Augsburg 		 -  	FC St. Pauli 		1:0 (0:0) 	20,122	(Mölzl)	
SC Freiburg 		 -  	SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	3:2 (1:1)	12,400	(Butscher, Pitriopa 2 - Kanig, Kotuljac)


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	30 	  15 	12 	3 	  56:32   +24 	  	57
 2  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 	30 	  15 	8 	7 	  50:35   +15 	  	53
 3  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A) 	30 	  14 	10 	6 	  55:31   +24 	  	52
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
 4  1. FC Köln 	  		30 	  14 	9 	7 	  54:39   +15 	  	51
 5  SC Freiburg 	  	30 	  13 	10 	7 	  43:39   +4 	  	49
 6  SpVgg Greuther Fürth  	30 	  13 	8 	9 	  49:39   +10 	  	47
 7  Alemannia Aachen (A)  	30 	  11 	9 	10 	  42:41   +1 	  	42
 8  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N)  	30 	  10 	10 	10 	  44:47   -3 	  	40
 9  TSV 1860 München 	  	30 	  9 	12 	9 	  39:37   +2 	  	39
10  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	30 	  10 	9 	11 	  42:42    0 	  	39
11  FC Augsburg 	  	30 	  10 	7 	13 	  35:41   -6 	  	37
12  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	30 	  9 	7 	14 	  38:52   -14 	  	34
13  Kickers Offenbach 	  	30 	  8 	10 	12 	  35:49   -14 	  	34
14  TuS Koblenz 	  	30 	  10 	10 	10 	  38:41   -3 	  	32 (*)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  1. FC Kaiserslautern   	30 	  7 	11 	12 	  29:33   -4 	  	32
16  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	30 	  6 	9 	15 	  39:50   -11 	  	27
17  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	30 	  6 	8 	16 	  41:59   -18 	  	26
18  SC Paderborn 07 	  	30 	  5 	11 	14 	  26:48   -22 	  	26

N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)

(*) - Koblenz deducted 8 points



Apr 25, 2008

2.Liga conspiracy!

In a stunning announcement, the DFL has announced that TuS Koblenz will be hit with a catastrophic 8 point penalty. The accusation is for violations in the license issue, but details are not forthcoming.

This outrageous verdict undoubtedly raises the spector of dirty laundry within the DFL (the governing body of the Bundesliga and 2.Liga). The clear benefactor is 1.FC Kaiserslautern, which all of a sudden can jump out of relegation with a couple of wins.

While there appears to be no argument regarding Koblenz guilt from any of the parties, the punishment and especially the timing are contraversial. In the past, teams have been punished with far lower point deductions, and usually only for the upcoming season. By making the announcement with only 5 games left - and taking effect in the current campaign, it appears a clear attempt to help Kaiserslautern avoid relegation.

Ther remains an unpleasant smell about the whole issue. In the past, clubs like Dortmund, Frankfurt, Schalke and yes, Kaiserslautern, have gotten away with a wimpy fine. But smaller clubs seem to suffer. Dresden got nailed with an 8 point dinger in the early 90s, but it took effect before the season started. Now perhaps Koblenz' affronts to the DFL Finance commitee are so grevious to warrant a draconian punishment. But I doubt it. More likely it's because Koblenz is a wimpy club with few friends, and of course Kaiserslautern is a big club with lots of friends. The DFL has a vested interest in keeping a club like FCK in the 2.Liga, as they are a huge draw, home and away. Nobody cares to watch Koblenz.

Obviously, the verdict will have to be appealed, so I'm sure it's not the end of the sordid story. Stay tuned....


Apr 24, 2008

Kult-Vereine

Now we know that most cults are located in Texas or somewhere else in the southwest, and consist of old men marrying multiple underage girls. However, in German football, there is also the phenomenon of the Kult-Verein, which is somewhat analogous to the "cult-movie" status. One reader asked if there are any other Kult clubs aside from the often mentioned St.Pauli. (I was so shocked at the concept of someone actually reading this blog that I instantly assumed it must be spam, so I inadvertantly deleted the e-mail.) It did get me thinking, and to be honest, I can't think of any that immediately qualify. St.Pauli seems in a class by itself, when you consider that most of the fans probably don't know what's going on in the field, and half of them don't care.

There might be some candidates in the east that fit at least part of the description. BFC Dynamo Berlin perhaps. They don't have a large following, and much of what they do have is more interested in hooligan violence. And because the fans of about just every other ex-GDR club hate them, they're at least on everyone's radar.

For non-German speakers, I would think potential candidates could be Borussia Mönchengladbach or Stahl Eisenüttenstadt, mainly because they're difficult to spell and pronounce :)

Anyway, if you have any thoughts on the matter, drop me a line...


Apr 20, 2008

Nürnberg still alive

A late goal by giant Jan Koller was enough for 1.FC Nürnberg to down VfL Wolfsburg 1-0 and keep their hopes of salvation alive. The match last week was canceled due to the water logged pitch during the deluge, with Nürnberg leading 1-0. So there was some justice in that the replay - this time under beautiful sunshine - also went to "der Club". A nice crowd of 45,000 watched the two squads battle it out, but the home side definitely needed the points a lot more than the VWs. In the end, it was Koller's 79th minute strike from 18 meters that provided the difference.

Nürnberg is still in desperate straits. The win gives them 26 points, enough to take them off the bottom, but only into 17th. They would still have to climb over Hansa Rostock (26) and of course stave off Duisburg (25). The good news is that they're only a win away from catching Bielfeld (28) in the all-important 15th slot.


Apr 19, 2008

Another Cup for Bayern

Bayern München won the DFB-Pokal for the 14th time, with a surprisingly difficult 2-1 overtime win over Borussia Dortmund. A sell-out crowd of 72,500 was treated to an entertaining match, where Bayern seemingly had the Cup locked up after an 11th minute goal from Luca Toni. However, Dortmund, which had been playing absolute crap in the run-up to the final, showed that they were indeed made of sterner stuff than their 0-5 loss to Bayern a week ago. Two minutes into injury time, Mladen Petric equalized for the Neons, throwing the match into overtime. Yet once again, Italian star Luca Toni was the man, as he put home Podolski's cross in the 103rd minute to give Bayern the win.

Hardly a surprising win for Bayern, as they look a cinch now for at least the German double, and of course remain a contender for a triple via the UEFA Cup. For Dortmund, their season essentially comes to a crappy end, although they put in a superb effort. I certainly expected more from this club, and they've disappointed in the league. On the balance, most people probably would have preferred cinderella Carl Zeiss Jena to sneak into the final against Bayern, but nobody can fault the Neons final performance.

Regionalliga action

With the Bundesliga and 2.Liga taking the weekend off due to the DFB-Pokal final, we have a chance to take a peak at the desperate struggle going on in the 3rd division Regionalligas. This is of course the "make-or-break" season, as next year the league structure is reorganized into a single 3rd division Dritte Liga. So clubs are scrambling to finish in the top 10 spots to avoid get restructured into the "new" Regionalliga - which will now be a 4th division level. Of course, one musn't forget that the top 2 spots get promotion into the 2.Liga, but you get the impression that given the tight battle going on, clubs are more concerned about not dropping to the 4th level.

One important rule to consider is of course that the "II" clubs are not only not eligible for promotion into the 2.Liga, but also a maximum of 4 clubs can qualify from each Regionalliga for the new 3.Liga. Although Werder Bremem II is effected as far as the Nord is concerned, it doesn't appear to be a big issue yet for the new 3.Liga. That fact probably makes the other clubs happy, because as you can see from the attendance figures, the "II" clubs are death at the box office.

A fierce battle is going on in the northern division. Dynamo Dresden in 10th holds the last 3.Liga spot, but in fact they're only 4 points from promotion into the 2.Liga - with a game in hand to boot. Not making the cut right now are a couple famed clubs, Eintracht Brauschweig and Rot-Weiss Essen, along with ex-DDR Oberliga powerhouse 1.FC Magdeburg. In general, the northern division has clubs attracting more interest, as there are 6 ex-Bundesliga clubs competing (Oberhausen, Düsseldorf, Wuppertal, Dresden, Braunschweig, Essen) and some ex-GDR favorites (Magdeburg, Erfurt, Union Berlin).

At the top, we find reconstituted club Rot-Weiss Ahlen clinging to a small lead. A nice story, as the Ahlen squad was of course the Hoffenheim of a few years ago, when they even changed their name to reflect their sponsor, cosmetics company LR. At the time, Ahlen was nocknamed the "Millionarios" as they bought their way up the ladder into the 2nd division. But eventually the money dried up, and the club was abandoned like a cheap hooker. Credit to the club that in their new incarnation, they've managed to put things back together. Hot on their heals are "going-nowhere" Werder II, and somewhat of a surprise, Kickers Emden, which holds a promotion spot. Oberhausen is a classic elevator club, which has been up in the very top, and down in the dregs. Right now, the elevator is going "UP", so they could sneak in. Famed eastern club Union Berlin and western stalwarts Düsseldorf and Wuppertal are also hot on the trail. Anyone can make it, and those that fall off will seemingly insure that the northern representation in the new 3.Liga are attractive venues.

In the southern division, it's mostly smaller clubs that are contending. Even the ex-Bundesliga clubs (Unterhaching and Kickers Stuttgart) have to be considered dwarfs. The leaders are Ingolstadt, which is a fusion success story. It's predecessors MTV and ESV were going nowhere, so the merger has put the city back on the footballing map. Their challengers are Aalen and FSV Frankfurt, as Sandhausen and ex-Bundesligist Unterhaching have a fair amount of work to do.

 
Regionalliga Nord

VfB Lübeck 		 -  	Bor. Dortmund II 	0:4 (0:4) 	 2,465	(Nöthe 2, Tyrala, Njambe)
1. FC Magdeburg 	 -  	Kickers Emden	 	1:3 (1:1) 	15,188	(Baumgart - Reichwein 2, Klasen)
RW Oberhausen 		 -  	Rot-Weiss Ahlen 	0:0 (0:0) 	 5,355
Wuppertaler SV Bor. 	 -  	Rot-Weiss Essen 	2:2 (0:1) 	 9,190	(Saglik, Damm - Güvenisik, Kazior)
Werder Bremen II 	 -  	1. FC Union Berlin 	1:0 (0:0) 	   950	(Artmann)
Energie Cottbus II 	 -  	Rot-Weiß Erfurt 	2:1 (0:1) 	   844	(Müller, Schuppan - Brückner)
Hamburger SV II 	 -  	SV Babelsberg 03 	0:0 (0:0) 	   450
Dynamo Dresden 		 -  	Eintr. Braunschweig 	1:1 (0:0) 	 8,388	(Bröker - Fuchs) 		
SC Verl 		 -  	VfL Wolfsburg II 	5:1 (3:0)	   250	(Ndiaye 2, Mainka 2, Remmert - Kullig)


 1  Rot-Weiss Ahlen 	  	30 	  14 	10 	6 	  60:38   +22 	  	52
 2  Werder Bremen II 	  	30 	  15 	5 	10 	  46:37   +9 	  	50 (not eligible)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Kickers Emden 	  	30 	  15 	5 	10 	  36:29   +7 	  	50 (promotion)
 4  Rot-Weiss Oberhausen (N)  	29 	  14 	7 	8 	  48:29   +19 	  	49
 5  1. FC Union Berlin 	  	29 	  13 	9 	7 	  50:36   +14 	  	48
 6  Fortuna Düsseldorf 	  	28 	  14 	6 	8 	  31:19   +12 	  	48
 7  Wuppertaler SV Borussia  	30 	  14 	6 	10 	  47:40   +7 	  	48
 8  Borussia Dortmund II   	30 	  12 	11 	7 	  33:23   +10 	  	47
 9  Rot-Weiss Erfurt 	  	29 	  13 	7 	9 	  58:35   +23 	  	46
10  Dynamo Dresden 	  	29 	  13 	7 	9 	  37:29   +8 	  	46
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11  Eintr. Braunschweig (A)  	29 	  10 	11 	8 	  44:41   +3 	  	41
12  1. FC Magdeburg 	  	29 	  11 	8 	10 	  30:30    0 	  	41
13  Energie Cottbus II (N)   	30 	  10 	7 	13 	  23:35   -12 	  	37
14  Rot-Weiss Essen (A)   	29 	  9 	9 	11 	  32:32    0 	  	36
15  SV Babelsberg 03 (N)  	29 	  7 	9 	13 	  28:41   -13 	  	30
16  Hamburger SV II 	  	30 	  7 	9 	14 	  30:45   -15 	  	30
17  SC Verl (N) 	  	29 	  8 	5 	16 	  25:38   -13 	  	29
18  VfB Lübeck 	  		28 	  5 	5 	18 	  18:45   -27 	  	20
19  VfL Wolfsburg II (N) 	29 	  3 	6 	20 	  17:71   -54 	  	15

N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


Regionalliga Süd

VfB Stuttgart II 	 -  	1860 München II 	1:2 (1:0)	  700	(Percholdt - Fink, Duhnke)
FC Bayern München II 	 -  	Sportfr. Siegen 	3:1 (2:0) 	  525	(Nagorny, Kroos, Sikorski - Pfingsten)
FSV LU-Oggersheim 	 -  	SV Elversberg 		0:4 (0:2) 	  336	(Willmann 2, Zinnow, Feinbier)
Wacker Burghausen 	 -  	Stuttgarter Kickers 	1:2 (0:0) 	2,859	(Galuschka - Gambo, Tucci)
VfR Aalen 		 -  	SpVgg Unterhaching 	0:0 (0:0) 	4,267
SSV Reutlingen 05 	 -  	FSV Frankfurt 		0:1 (0:1) 	3,300	(Husterer) 		
Hessen Kassel 		 -  	SC Pfullendorf	 	3:1 (2:0) 	3,700	(Beyer, Haas, Schönewolf - Konrad)
Karlsruher SC II 	 -  	Jahn Regensburg 	1:0 (1:0) 	  544	(Fischer)
SV Sandhausen 		 -  	FC Ingolstadt 04 	0:3 (0:1)	1,800	(Wohlfarth 2, Gerba)


 1  FC Ingolstadt 04 	  	27  	  14 	8 	5 	  41:27   +14 	  	50
 2  VfR Aalen 	  		27 	  13 	9 	5 	  55:30   +25 	  	48
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  FSV Frankfurt (N) 	  	27 	  13 	9 	5 	  44:25   +19 	  	48
 4  VfB Stuttgart II 	  	27 	  14 	5 	8 	  35:23   +12 	  	47
 5  SV Sandhausen (N) 	  	27 	  13 	5 	9 	  36:28   +8 	  	44
 6  SpVgg Unterhaching (A) 	27 	  11 	9 	7 	  44:33   +11 	  	42
 7  FC Bayern München II 	27 	  9 	10 	8 	  35:29   +6 	  	37
 8  Wacker Burghausen (A) 	27 	  8 	12 	7 	  28:32   -4 	  	36
 9  Hessen Kassel 	  	27 	  8 	11 	8 	  45:41   +4 	  	35
10  SSV Reutlingen 05 	  	27 	  7 	14 	6 	  36:36    0 	  	35
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11  Jahn Regensburg (N) 	27 	  10 	5 	12 	  29:37   -8 	  	35
12  Stuttgarter Kickers 	27 	  8 	10 	9 	  26:28   -2 	  	34
13  TSV 1860 München II 	27 	  9 	5 	13 	  34:38   -4 	  	32
14  Sportfr. Siegen 	  	27 	  6 	14 	7 	  26:30   -4 	  	32
15  SV Elversberg 	  	27 	  8 	7 	12 	  30:42   -12 	  	31
16  Karlsruher SC II 	  	27 	  6 	12 	9 	  24:33   -9 	  	30
17  SC Pfullendorf 	  	27 	  5 	9 	13 	  25:35   -10 	  	24
18  FSV LU-Oggersheim (N) 	27 	  1 	6 	20 	  12:58   -46 	  	9

N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


Apr 15-16, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 29

A so-called "English week" of mid-week games didn't bring forth too many surprises. However, some of the recent trends were stopped.

Bayern proved once again that they're up to the task. Frankfurt fought valiantly, and had the Müncheners against the wall. However, superior talent eventually began to show, and super-Italian Luca Toni's double was the sword that sliced up the Hot Dogs. The Frankfurters can be happy with their performance, but it wasn't enough, and their chances of making a UEFA spot look pretty slim now. Bayern seems to have wrapped up the title, with a commanding 10 point lead impossible for their challengers to overcome.

Bremen had an edge in play, and ended up winning at Rostock. Hansa needed the points, but really didn't do enough to earn them. GK Stefan Wächter stopped the decisive penalty from Naldo, but Klasnic pounced on the rebound to give Werder the win with only 5 minutes left. The win solidifies Bremen as the no.2 club in Germany so far.

Hamburg and Hertha struggled to see who could be the most boring team; unfortunately for the fans, both of the teams were equally horrible. A worthless point to both clubs, although HSV at least is still in European qualification.

Schalke fired Mirko Slomka's ass on Sunday, and lo and behold, the Blues actually score again. And not only that, they romped home against a heretofore decent Cottbus squad. But before the Schalke fans get too carried away, despite the great match from Kevin Kuranyi, it was mostly the visitors crappiness that led to the result. Energie was shockingly lame, given the fact they've been digging themselves out of relegation. Schalke interim-coach Mike Büskens still has a lot of work to do, but given how lousy Schalke has been recently, the rain of goals couldn't have come at a better time.

A crap Nürnberg meant that Stuttgart wouldn't have to work hard. VfB came out blazing, worked for 30 minutes, and wrapped up the game. Der Club was lucky that this didn't turn into a debacle. Looks like Nürnberg fans should be checking out train schedules for Wehen-Wiesbaden and Koblenz. Relegation looks certain unless they win the makeup match this Sunday against Wolfsburg. Meanwhile, Stuttgart has climbed back from the underworld into a UEFA spot, and might even sneak back into the Champions League. That would be quite an achievement, considering how crap they were in the first half of the season.

Wolfsburg was dominating the match against Bochum, but couldn't put anything in the net. And of course, with only a couple of minutes left, a Bochum counter gave the VWs a bitter defeat.

Bielefeld had a huge win, downing Leverkusen in a crucial match. The Aspirins were completely uninspired, perhaps they had taken Ex-Lax instead of Pepto-bismol. Meanwhile, Arminia lacks talent, but today they made up for it with fighting spirit, and deservedly keep all 3 points.

Duisburg must be gutted that they went down to Karlsruhe. This was a match that they desperately needed, and instead it blows up in their face. MSV controlled the game, but KSC was well organized in defense. The Zebras were too clueless, and of course were duly penalized in the last 10 minutes, when Karlsruhe struck.

Dortmund seems a real gutless squad. It's hard to tell whether they just suck, or they don't care. They ran around aimlessly, and only 2nd half sub forward Alex Frei had any real clue. Hannover just sat back and launched counterattacks, which usually caused panic in the Neon "defense". Perhaps Borussia was thinking of Saturday's DFB-Cup final in Berlin against Bayern, as it's certainly the only thing they have left to play for.

Team of the Week: Bielefeld
Turd of the Weak: Dortmund

Attendance: 338,663 (avg 37,629), 22 goals

 
Hansa Rostock 		 -  	Werder Bremen 		1:2 (0:0)	22,000	(Hähnge - Frings, Klasnic)
Hertha BSC Berlin	 -  	Hamburger SV 		0:0 (0:0) 	40,289
VfL Wolfsburg 		 -  	VfL Bochum 		0:1 (0:0) 	18,801	(Sestak)
FC Schalke 04 		 -  	Energie Cottbus 	5:0 (3:0) 	60,018	(Kuranyi 4, da Silva o.g.)
Eintracht Frankfurt 	 -  	Bayern München 		1:3 (1:0) 	51,500	(Köhler - van Buyten, Toni 2)
Arminia Bielefeld 	 -  	Bayer Leverkusen 	1:0 (0:0) 	19,400	(Mijatovic)	
VfB Stuttgart 		 -  	1. FC Nürnberg 		3:0 (3:0)	45,000	(Cacau, da Silva, Fernando Meira)
Borussia Dortmund 	 -  	Hannover 96 		1:3 (0:2) 	61,400	(Frei - Bruggink, Fahrenhorst, Huszti)
MSV Duisburg 		 -  	Karlsruher SC	 	0:1 (0:0)	20,255	(Hajnal)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	29 	  18 	9 	2 	  55:17   +38 	  	63
 2  Werder Bremen 	  	29 	  16 	5 	8 	  62:41   +21 	  	53
 3  FC Schalke 04 	  	29 	  14 	9 	6 	  47:31   +16 	  	51
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Hamburger SV 	  	29 	  12 	12 	5 	  37:21   +16 	  	48
 5  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	29 	  15 	3 	11 	  48:43   +5 	  	48
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	29 	  14 	5 	10 	  50:31   +19 	  	47
 7  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	28 	  12 	7 	9 	  45:39   +6 	  	43
 8  Eintracht Frankfurt   	29 	  11 	9 	9 	  35:39   -4 	  	42
 9  Hannover 96 	  	29 	  11 	8 	10 	  43:47   -4 	  	41
10  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	29 	  11 	8 	10 	  32:36   -4 	  	41
11  VfL Bochum 	  		29 	  9 	10 	10 	  43:45   -2 	  	37
12  Hertha BSC Berlin	  	29 	  9 	7 	13 	  30:36   -6 	  	34
13  Borussia Dortmund 	  	29 	  9 	7 	13 	  42:53   -11 	  	34
14  Energie Cottbus 	  	29 	  7 	8 	14 	  30:48   -18 	  	29
15  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	29 	  7 	7 	15 	  27:52   -25 	  	28
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	29 	  7 	6 	16 	  25:41   -16 	  	27
17  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	29 	  7 	4 	18 	  28:43   -15 	  	25
18  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	28 	  5 	8 	15 	  30:46   -16 	  	23


M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

2. Liga, Round 29

Just a week-and-a-half ago, Hoffenheim was the toast of the 2.Liga. They still are, but it turn out to be just burnt, not champagne. They lost again, this time to red hot St.Pauli, and are barely holding on to the 3rd promotion spot. While, Gladbach continues to sail home, Köln missed a chance to improve their goal difference, which could be worth an extra point in a tight promotion race. Mainz and Fürth keep pace, but Freiburg suffers a severe setback. On the bottom, Kaiserslautern took their last chance to hop on the non-relegation bus, although they still have a steep climb. Aue and Jena look to join Paderborn in going down for sure. 1860's win over Wehen finally ended the Lions worries of getting dragged into the relegation mire.

 
1. FC Kaiserslautern 	 -  	FC Augsburg 		2:0 (2:0) 	20,067	(Bohl, Simpson)
1. FSV Mainz 05 	 -  	SC Paderborn 07 	6:1 (2:0) 	19,000	(Borja 3, Blajak, Feulner, Amri - Damjanovic)	
1. FC Köln 		 -  	VfL Osnabrück 		2:0 (2:0) 	40,000	(Helmes, Antar)
FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	 -  	Borussia M'gladbach 	2:2 (2:0) 	13,486	(Schied 2 - Colautti 2)	
TuS Koblenz 		 -  	SC Freiburg 		3:2 (1:1) 	 8,940	(Djokaj 2, Kuqi - Glockner, Idrissou)
Alemannia Aachen 	 -  	Erzgebirge Aue	 	1:0 (0:0) 	18,366	(Plasshenrich)
SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	 -  	Kickers Offenbach 	2:1 (1:0) 	 7,000	(Biliskov, Nehrig - Agritis) 		
FC St. Pauli	 	 -  	TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 	3:1 (1:1) 	20,017	(Ludwig, Eger, Gunesch - Jaissle)
TSV 1860 München 	 -  	SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	2:1 (1:0)	21,500	(Thorandt, Bierofka - Schwarz)


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A)  	29 	  15 	11 	3 	  54:30   +24 	  	56
 2  1. FC Köln 	  		29 	  14 	8 	7 	  51:36   +15 	  	50
 3  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N)  	29 	  14 	8 	7 	  45:35   +10 	  	50
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A)   	29 	  13 	10 	6 	  53:30   +23 	  	49
 5  SpVgg Greuther Fürth   	29 	  13 	8 	8 	  47:36   +11 	  	47
 6  SC Freiburg 	  	29 	  12 	10 	7 	  40:37   +3 	  	46
 7  Alemannia Aachen (A)   	29 	  11 	9 	9 	  41:39   +2 	  	42
 8  TuS Koblenz 	  	29 	  10 	10 	9 	  36:38   -2 	  	40
 9  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	29 	  10 	9 	10 	  42:41   +1 	  	39
10  TSV 1860 München 	  	29 	  9 	11 	9 	  37:35   +2 	  	38
11  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N)  	29 	  9 	10 	10 	  42:46   -4 	  	37
12  FC Augsburg 	  	29 	  9 	7 	13 	  34:41   -7 	  	34
13  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	29 	  9 	7 	13 	  37:50   -13 	  	34
14  Kickers Offenbach 	  	29 	  8 	10 	11 	  34:47   -13 	  	34
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  1. FC Kaiserslautern  	29 	  6 	11 	12 	  27:32   -5 	  	29
16  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	29 	  6 	8 	15 	  36:47   -11 	  	26
17  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	29 	  6 	8 	15 	  41:54   -13 	  	26
18  SC Paderborn 07 	  	29 	  4 	11 	14 	  23:46   -23 	  	23

N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


Apr 11-13, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 28

At least at the top, this was a week of "bitch-slapping". The clubs that want to go places put in some impressive performances, treating rivals as, well, you get the picture.

Bayern showed who's the boss, as they annihilated rivals Dortmund. A few years ago, the Neons were a serious threat to Bayern's German hegemony, but no more, and this match clearly demonstrated that. The leaders came out breathing fire, and the match was over in less than 20 minutes. The only question mark is whether perhaps Dortmund was playing possum, as they face Bayern in the Cup final next week. If that was the case, the Neons must have really been playing "hide the baloney", as they got their asses kicked.

Bremen destroyed Schalke in a rout that should have never happened. The sold out Weserstadion fans were treated to a thrilling match, and the difference was the deadly finishing of the Werder forwards. Like midweek in the Champions League against Barcelona, Schalke dominated the proceedings early, but disgracefully wasted chance after chance. This would be the pattern of the game. Schalke wasting, Bremen executing. Perhaps the only positive thing for the Blues is that head coach Mirko Slomka threw in the towel afterwards, although they might consider firing their forwards instead.

A huge awy win for a battling Duisburg squad, as they stunned Hamburg away. GK Tom Starke was brilliant, and as usual, HSV had no clue in front of goal. The Hamburgers need to be concerned that they don't just worry about the Champions League; they could fall out of a UEFA spot.

Leverkusen has been struggling, and defending champ Stuttgart has been on a roll. So you know what's coming. Another bitch-slapping! But the surprise is that it was the Aspirins wielding the whip. The match was actually pretty even, but Bayer took their chances and end up with a huge win.

A critical relegation battle was hard fought, but neither Cottbus nor Bielefeld showed much skill. Arminia hoped to get a point by defending in catenaccio style, but they then conceded a handball penalty. Then it was Energie's turn to catenaccio, and Arminia ran around aimlessly. A huge win for Cottbus, who are seriously looking at staying up.

Rostock also had a huge win, as they travelled to fading surprise team Karlsruhe, and came away with all the points. KSC probably should have decided the match in the 1st half, but Hansa grimly held on, and then started to dominate in the 2nd half. The final result was that they got a huge away win.

Nürnberg will curse, as they led 1-0 in a critical match, but the pouring rain and turned the pitch into a Schlammwüste, reminiscent of the bogs. Despite a long delay by the grounds crew to try and salvage the pitch, the ref reluctantly called the match.

An odd match in Hannover. Frankfurt looked the better team, and when Pinto got his ass tossed after an hour, they surely looked to win. But the 96ers showed great spirit, fighting for every ball, and were rewarded with a winner in the last minute.

Bochum and Hertha delivered a ho-hum match, and the Berliners probably could have got the win. But they're unambitious and satisfied with an away point.

Team of the Week: too many candidates: Bayer, Leverkusen, Cottbus, Duisburg, Rostock
Turd of the Weak: Basically either Schalke or HSV

Attendance: 290,127 (avg 36,266), 24 goals --- 8 matches only

 
1. FC Nürnberg 		 -  	VfL Wolfsburg	 	-:- (:) 	canceled, unplayable surface, 
Werder Bremen 		 -  	FC Schalke 04 		5:1 (2:1) 	42,100	(Klasnic 2, Baumann, Sanogo, Rosenberg - Kuranyi)
VfL Bochum 		 -  	Hertha BSC 		1:1 (1:1) 	20,388	(Yahia - Skacel)
Energie Cottbus 	 -  	Arminia Bielefeld 	1:0 (0:0)	16,103	(Skela) 	
Hannover 96 		 -  	Eintracht Frankfurt 	2:1 (1:1) 	38,104	(Pinto, Schulz - Russ)
Karlsruher SC 		 -  	Hansa Rostock 		1:2 (0:1) 	27,714	(Freis - Bartels 2)
Hamburger SV 		 -  	MSV Duisburg 		0:1 (0:0) 	54,218	(Grlic)
Bayer Leverkusen 	 -  	VfB Stuttgart 		3:0 (2:0) 	22,500	(Rolfes 2, Kiessling) 		
Bayern München	 	 -  	Borussia Dortmund 	5:0 (4:0)	69,000	(Toni 2, Podolski, Zé Roberto, Ottl)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	28 	  17 	9 	2 	  52:16   +36 	  	60
 2  Werder Bremen 	  	28 	  15 	5 	8 	  60:40   +20 	  	50
 3  FC Schalke 04 	  	28 	  13 	9 	6 	  42:31   +11 	  	48
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	28 	  14 	5 	9 	  50:30   +20 	  	47
 5  Hamburger SV 	  	28 	  12 	11 	5 	  37:21   +16 	  	47
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	28 	  14 	3 	11 	  45:43   +2 	  	45
 7  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	27 	  12 	7 	8 	  45:38   +7 	  	43
 8  Eintracht Frankfurt   	28 	  11 	9 	8 	  34:36   -2 	  	42
 9  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	28 	  10 	8 	10 	  31:36   -5 	  	38
10  Hannover 96 	  	28 	  10 	8 	10 	  40:46   -6 	  	38
11  VfL Bochum 	  		28 	  8 	10 	10 	  42:45   -3 	  	34
12  Borussia Dortmund 	  	28 	  9 	7 	12 	  41:50   -9 	  	34
13  Hertha BSC Berlin 	  	28 	  9 	6 	13 	  30:36   -6 	  	33
14  Energie Cottbus 	  	28 	  7 	8 	13 	  30:43   -13 	  	29
15  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	28 	  7 	6 	15 	  24:39   -15 	  	27
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	28 	  7 	4 	17 	  28:42   -14 	  	25
17  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	28 	  6 	7 	15 	  26:52   -26 	  	25
18  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	27 	  5 	8 	14 	  30:43   -13 	  	23


M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

2. Liga, Round 28

This may have been a decisive week for some of the clubs. First, leaders Gladbach romped home easily against Fürth and look to have accomplished their goal of bouncing straight back up to the Bundesliga. 5 pts clear at the top isn't much, but 9 points on a promotion spot is huge at this stage.

This was also a defining week in the relegation battle: the clubs below the drop-line failed to produce, but their rivals above all got wins. At this point, an 8 point gap from safety has opened, and this will be very difficult to overcome. Augsburg, Osnabrück and Offenbach all got huge wins, and that should be just about enough to keep them up. The implication is that Kaiserslautern, one of Germany's most famous clubs, is facing a drop to the new 3.Liga. (Well, at least this new league is national, and FCK is spared the disgrace of a regional league, which they haven't seen since the 1950s pre-Bundesliga era).

Hoffenheim lost for the 1st time in 14 matches, as Aachen showed they still have some bite. Köln struggled at bottom club Paderborn, but cling to the 3rd promotion spot. Also worth mentioning is St.Pauli's nice away win effectively ends any fears the Hamburgers had of relegation.

Attendance: 127,924 (avg 14,214), 23 goals

 
FC Augsburg 		 -  	1. FSV Mainz 05 	2:1 (1:1)	14,694	(Szabics, Benschneider - Baljak)
Erzgebirge Aue	 	 -  	1. FC Kaiserslautern 	0:0 (0:0) 	12,700
SC Paderborn 07 	 -  	1. FC Köln	 	2:2 (1:1) 	 8,954	(Bogovac, Löbe - Helmes, Antar)
VfL Osnabrück 		 -  	TuS Koblenz 		2:0 (1:0) 	12,000	(de Wit, Frommer)
SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	 -  	FC St. Pauli 		1:3 (0:0) 	10,606	(Diakité - Rothenbach, Boll, Schulz)
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 	 -  	Alemannia Aachen 	1:2 (0:0) 	 5,830	(Herdling - Nemeth, Ebbers) 		
Borussia M'gladbach 	 -  	SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	3:0 (1:0) 	37,032	(Marin 2, Neuville)
Kickers Offenbach 	 -  	1860 München 		2:0 (1:0) 	12,058	(Johnson, Türker)
SC Freiburg 		 -  	FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	2:0 (1:0)	14,050	(Idroussou, Butscher)


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	28 	  15 	10 	3 	  52:28   +24 	  	55
 2  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 	28 	  14 	8 	6 	  44:32   +12 	  	50
 3  1. FC Köln 	  		28 	  13 	8 	7 	  49:36   +13 	  	47
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A)   	28 	  12 	10 	6 	  47:29   +18 	  	46
 5  SC Freiburg 	  	28 	  12 	10 	6 	  38:34   +4 	  	46
 6  SpVgg Greuther Fürth   	28 	  12 	8 	8 	  45:35   +10 	  	44
 7  Alemannia Aachen (A)  	28 	  10 	9 	9 	  40:39   +1 	  	39
 8  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N)  	28 	  9 	10 	9 	  41:44   -3 	  	37
 9  TuS Koblenz 	  	28 	  9 	10 	9 	  33:36   -3 	  	37
10  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	28 	  9 	9 	10 	  39:40   -1 	  	36
11  TSV 1860 München 	  	28 	  8 	11 	9 	  35:34   +1 	  	35
12  FC Augsburg 	  	28 	  9 	7 	12 	  34:39   -5 	  	34
13  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	28 	  9 	7 	12 	  37:48   -11 	  	34
14  Kickers Offenbach 	  	28 	  8 	10 	10 	  33:45   -12 	  	34
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  1. FC Kaiserslautern   	28 	  5 	11 	12 	  25:32   -7 	  	26
16  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	28 	  6 	8 	14 	  36:46   -10 	  	26
17  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	28 	  6 	7 	15 	  39:52   -13 	  	25
18  SC Paderborn 07 	  	28 	  4 	11 	13 	  22:40   -18 	  	23


N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


Apr 7, 2008

Oberliga Review

Mercifully for our readers, my last Oberliga profile. The venerable Bayernliga, the top Bavarian amateur league is on the table. (Please ignore the wise guys who suggest that 1860 München is Bavaria's top amateur team).

The top 4 clubs go into the new Regionalliga Süd, the new 4th division. The bottom 2 drop into their local leagues, 3rd from bottom is in a playoff. The rest will probably end up in another Bayernliga, now a 5th division. The Oberliga Bayern is made up of mostly overgrown village clubs, but there are a couple of "traditional names" to be foud if you look hard enough. Bayreuth is going up, so perhaps that will put them on the map instead of that singing festival where Brunhilde belts out Valkyrie songs. The saddest story is Bayern Hof, which was once a top 25 club, and is now going to disappear into something like the Oberunterundherumfrankenliga. Schweinfurt has a great name, but little else, and are barely hanging on.

  
Oberliga Bayern

 1  SpVgg Bayreuth 	  	25 	  14 	8 	3 	  46:19   +27 	  	50
 2  SpVgg Greuther Fürth II 	25 	  15 	2 	8 	  48:23   +25 	  	47
 3  1. FC Nürnberg II 	  	26 	  13 	6 	7 	  41:25   +16 	  	45
 4  TSV Großbardorf 	  	24 	  12 	6 	6 	  43:21   +22 	  	42
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  TSG Thannhausen (N) 	26 	  12 	5 	9 	  37:29   +8 	  	41
 6  1. FC Eintracht Bamberg 	25 	  11 	5 	9 	  37:34   +3 	  	38
 7  FC Ismaning 	  	24 	  9 	10 	5 	  41:37   +4 	  	37
 8  SpVgg Weiden 	  	25 	  11 	4 	10 	  34:32   +2 	  	37
 9  FC Memmingen 	  	24 	  9 	8 	7 	  32:30   +2 	  	35
10  Würzburger FV 	  	25 	  8 	8 	9 	  31:36   -5 	  	32
11  TSV Aindling 	  	24 	  8 	7 	9 	  18:20   -2 	  	31
12  SpVgg Ansbach (N) 	  	25 	  8 	6 	11 	  32:37   -5 	  	30
13  SpVgg Unterhaching II 	22 	  7 	5 	10 	  27:30   -3 	  	26
14  1. FC Bad Kötzting 	  	25 	  5 	10 	10 	  31:42   -11 	  	25
15  1. FC Schweinfurt 05 (N) 	24 	  7 	4 	13 	  26:48   -22 	  	25
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  SV Heimstetten 	  	26 	  5 	8 	13 	  23:39   -16 	  	23
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17  FC Kempten (N) 	  	25 	  5 	8 	12 	  20:41   -21 	  	23
18  SpVgg Bayern Hof 	  	26 	  5 	8 	13 	  26:50   -24 	  	23

N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


Apr 4-6, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 27

The title race seems officially over now, with an amazing performance by leaders Bayern, and the stumble of Hamburg. München showed why they'll win another title. Bochum grabbed an early lead, and were then blessed further when Mark Van Bommel had yet another brain-fart and got his ass tossed. So after 30 minutes, FCB was losing and a man short. But they continued to play, and Bochum couldn't take any advantage. Indeed, they dicked around and ended up losing. If you win games like this, you're probably unstoppable, and a 9 point lead at this point is looking pretty good.

Bremen got on track in the opening seconds of the match, but only a few minutes later, had to take an equalizer from Hertha. However, a large Berlin crowd had to endure long stretches of Werder's domination, and the visitors eventually took home a deserved win. Hertha doesn't have to worry about relegation, and they don't have to worry about Europe either. In fact, their nothing-season is an accurate reflection of their play this year.

Stuttgart continues their revival, and the defending champs can actually dream about a potential Champions League berth. That was dreaming the impossible dream a few weeks ago, but they've been red hot since the winterbreak, and now are only a couple of points behind HSV. Hamburg actually put in a decent performance, as they controlled the 2nd half, but were unable to equalize. Frankly, their offensive "firepower" is more suited to a club fighting relegation than the championship.

Schalke gave ample evidence why they suck way too often. They should have been lighting it up against a crap Rostock squad, which hardly looked like they were interested in fighting relegation. Instead, a lone goal, and then they dicked around and left it to the referee, who saved their asses by denying Hansa a penalty in injury time. Surely the loyal Schalke fans (the umpteenth sold-out match) deserve better? As for Hansa, everyone says that "their home form will decide whether they stay up or not." Well, at least they did run around a bit...

Wolfsburg squared off in a northern derby against Hannover, and both clubs delivered in an exciting match. Wolfsburg was a bit more fortunate, and take home the points, which continues their hope for a UEFA spot. Hannover was somewhat unlucky, and end up with empty hands.

An injury time goal by Dede pretty much ends any fears - albeit small - Dortmund had about relegation, and may have sunk Leverkusen into despair. The Aspirins were riding high, but now they've dropped something like 4 in a row, at least if you count their disgraceful home loss to St.Petersburg in the UEFA Cup. However, it was not for lack of effort, as they fought a hard battle with Borussia, and had the lead until a wild desperate finish by Dortmund in thelast 5 minutes grabbed all the points.

The biggest match of the day might have been the huge relegation 6 pointer in Duisburg. Cottbus grabbed an early lead and then went into a discplined defensive shell. Duisburg had no clue to break it down, and if they go down, they may well look to this match as being decisive. For Energie, their 1st away win, and their fighting spirit continues in their remarkable turnaround from the dumps.

Nürnberg's fans almost cost "der Club" their best performance of the season. Away against a reasonably strong Frankfurt squad, Nürnberg was doing well. In fact, their travelling fans must have been so excited, they got carried away and started tossing firebombs onto the field, which led to the game being interrupted for over 20 minutes while the police charged into the stands. Obviously, there must be a significant number of retards here, as they could have easily cost their club the points. As it was, a crucial win in Nürnberg's struggle to avoid the drop. Frankfurt could try to protest, but probably nothing will come of it.

A huge win for Bielefeld, who are hoping that they they woke up int time. They attacked furiously against Karlsruhe, whose GK Markus Miller was stopping everything in sight. Ironically, in injury time, Miller gifted Arminia the goal, as his lame clearance was immediately put back in. A lucky win for Bielefeld, but beggars can't be choosy.

Team of the Week: probably Cottbus, honorable mention to Bayern
Turd of the Weak: Hertha was lame. Schalke played bad enough, but they won, so I guess not...

Attendance: 439,868 (avg 48,872), 23 goals

 
MSV Duisburg	 	 -  	Energie Cottbus 	0:1 (0:1)	24,016	(Skela)
Hertha BSC Berlin	 -  	Werder Bremen 		1:2 (1:1) 	59,728	(André Lima - Rosenberg, Borowski)
Eintracht Frankfurt 	 -  	1. FC Nürnberg 		1:3 (1:1) 	51,500	(Fink - Charisteas, Vittek, Misimovic)
VfB Stuttgart 		 -  	Hamburger SV 		1:0 (1:0) 	55,800	(Hilbert)	
VfL Wolfsburg 		 -  	Hannover 96 		3:2 (2:1) 	29,322	(Dejagah 2, Marcelinho - Bruggink, Stajner)
Arminia Bielefeld 	 -  	Karlsruher SC 		1:0 (0:0) 	19,600	(Kampantais)
FC Schalke 04 		 -  	Hansa Rostock 		1:0 (0:0) 	61,482	(Halil Altintop)
Borussia Dortmund 	 -  	Bayer Leverkusen 	2:1 (0:0) 	69,400	(Frei, Dede - Kiessling)
Bayern München	 	 -  	VfL Bochum	 	3:1 (1:1)	69,000	(Lucio, Ribery, Lell - Azaouagh)


1 FC Bayern München 	  	27 	  16 	9 	2 	  47:16   +31 	  	57
2 FC Schalke 04 	  	27 	  13 	9 	5 	  41:26   +15 	  	48
3 Hamburger SV	 	  	27 	  12 	11 	4 	  37:20   +17 	  	47
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 Werder Bremen 	  	27 	  14 	5 	8 	  55:39   +16 	  	47
5 VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	27 	  14 	3 	10 	  45:40   +5 	  	45
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 Bayer Leverkusen 	  	27 	  13 	5 	9 	  47:30   +17 	  	44
7 VfL Wolfsburg 	  	27 	  12 	7 	8 	  45:38   +7 	  	43
8 Eintracht Frankfurt 	  	27 	  11 	9 	7 	  33:34   -1 	  	42
9 Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	27 	  10 	8 	9 	  30:34   -4 	  	38
10 Hannover 96 		  	27 	  9 	8 	10 	  38:45   -7 	  	35
11 Borussia Dortmund 	  	27 	  9 	7 	11 	  41:45   -4 	  	34
12 VfL Bochum 	  		27 	  8 	9 	10 	  41:44   -3 	  	33
13 Hertha BSC Berlin  		27 	  9 	5 	13 	  29:35   -6 	  	32
14 Energie Cottbus 	  	27 	  6 	8 	13 	  29:43   -14 	  	26
15 Arminia Bielefeld 	  	27 	  6 	7 	14 	  26:51   -25 	  	25
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16 Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	27 	  6 	6 	15 	  22:38   -16 	  	24
17 1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	27 	  5 	8 	14 	  30:43   -13 	  	23
18 MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	27 	  6 	4 	17 	  27:42   -15 	  	22

M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

2. Liga, Round 27

The good old days in Köln for the Rheinderby against Gladbach. A sold out house, and plenty of excitement. Unfortunately, most of it off the pitch. The Köln fans waved around a giant Gladbach flag that they had "liberated", and the Gladbachers went nuts, firing rockets onto the pitch, endangering players and officials. Gladbach had taken the lead, but in injury time, Köln was gifted a point by the ref. Brouwers chopped down Novakovic and got his ass tossed. Although it was clearly outside the penalty box, the ref decided that the Gladbacher fans had behaved like animals, so he gave Köln a penalty anyway.

Meanwhile, nobody can stop Hoffenheim, as they won against staring-relegation-in-the-face-Lautern. The sad day of headlines such as "Red Devils in massive 3.Liga match!" seems to be just aroud the corner. How is this possible?

Mainz grabs the coveted 3rd spot (for this week), as they thumped Wehen, who have run out of gas.Greuther Fürth remains in the hunt as well with a couple of late goals against crap 1860.

St.Pauli probably banished any thoughts of the drop as they stunningly blasted Freiburg 5-0. Offenbach also got a nice point in Koblenz. Jena seems to have taken their last gasp chance to heart, and dispatched hopeless Paderborn to actually reawaken some chance of survival.

Attendance: 182,569 (avg 20,285), 26 goals

 
SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	 -  	1860 München 		3:1 (1:1)	10,600	(Reisinger 2, Cidimar - Bierofka)
TuS Koblenz 		 -  	Kickers Offenbach 	1:1 (0:1)        9,640	(Vata - Agritis)
1. FC Kaiserslautern 	 -  	1899 Hoffenheim 	0:2 (0:0) 	26,720	(Carlos Eduardo, Obasi) 		
FC St. Pauli 		 -  	SC Freiburg 		5:0 (3:0) 	21,017	(Trojan, Schnitzler 2, Eger, Kuru)
FC Augsburg 		 -  	Erzgebirge Aue 		1:1 (0:1) 	15,123	(Thurk, Orahovac)
FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	 -  	SC Paderborn 07 	3:0 (1:0) 	10,112	(Allagui, Simak, Werner) 
1. FSV Mainz 05 	 -  	SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	3:0 (2:0) 	20,300	(Hoogland, Karhan, Gunkel)
Alemannia Aachen 	 -  	VfL Osnabrück	 	3:0 (0:0) 	18,683	(Milchraum, Nemeth, Brinkmann)
1. FC Köln 		 -  	Borussia M'gladbach 	1:1 (0:1)	50,374	(Helmes - Rösler)


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A)   	27 	  14 	10 	3 	  49:28   +21 	  	52
 2  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 	27 	  14 	8 	5 	  43:30   +13 	  	50
 3  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A) 	27 	  12 	10 	5 	  46:27   +19 	  	46
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FC Köln 	  		27 	  13 	7 	7 	  47:34   +13 	  	46
 5  SpVgg Greuther Fürth  	27 	  12 	8 	7 	  45:32   +13 	  	44
 6  SC Freiburg 		27 	  11 	10 	6 	  36:34   +2 	  	43
 7  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N) 	27 	  9 	10 	8 	  40:41   -1 	  	37
 8  TuS Koblenz 		27 	  9 	10 	8 	  33:34   -1 	  	37
 9  Alemannia Aachen (A) 	27 	  9 	9 	9 	  38:38    0 	  	36
10  TSV 1860 München 	  	27 	  8 	11 	8 	  35:32   +3 	  	35
11  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	27 	  8 	9 	10 	  36:39   -3 	  	33
12  FC Augsburg 		27 	  8 	7 	12 	  32:38   -6 	  	31
13  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	27 	  8 	7 	12 	  35:48   -13 	  	31
14  Kickers Offenbach 	  	27 	  7 	10 	10 	  31:45   -14 	  	31
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  1. FC Kaiserslautern  	27 	  5 	10 	12 	  25:32   -7 	  	25
16  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	27 	  6 	7 	14 	  36:46   -10 	  	25
17  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	27 	  6 	7 	14 	  39:50   -11 	  	25
18  SC Paderborn 07 	  	27 	  4 	10 	13 	  20:38   -18 	  	22

N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


Mar 31, 2008

Oberliga Review

It should hardly shock when mentioning that the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg consists of clubs from the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg. While most of the interest surrounds the big clubs VfB Stuttgart, Karlsruher SC and elevator SC Freiburg, there is a vibrant small town participation in the lower leagues as well.

There are a few well known faces in the current Oberliga BW. Ulm and Waldhof were at one time in the Bundesliga, indeed the latter had a decent run there. Both have fallen on hard-times, Ulm's 1999 appearance in the top flight led to a complete financial meltdown, and they've been struggling to recover ever since. But things appear to be looking up for one of Germany's oldest sporting clubs. Waldhof was usually 2nd or top flight from the mid 1970s until the early 2000s, and at least appear to have stopped the rot as well. Villingen is a fairly well-know regional amateur club in these parts, but don't look to have the strength to go to the new 4th division. The saddest story is probbaly with Waldhof's city rival, VfR Mannheim. The 1949 German champion had overcome decades of total obscurity when they entered into an ill-fated semi-merger with Waldhof in 2002. That went over like the proverbial turd in a punch bowl. They've really struggled ever since, and their "reward" appears to be total obscurity in division 6. Most of the other clubs that probably even people living in those towns have never heard of. But the next "miracle dwarf" is probably not too far behind. Hell, even I had barely heard of Hoffenheim, and who's laughing now?

  
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg

 1  SC Freiburg II 	  	24 	  18 	2 	4 	  48:22   +26 	  	56
 2  SSV Ulm 1846 	  	24 	  14 	6 	4 	  37:13   +24 	  	48
 3  SV Waldhof Mannheim   	24 	  14 	6 	4 	  36:18   +18 	  	48
 4  1. FC Heidenheim 	  	23 	  14 	4 	5 	  44:21   +23 	  	46
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  TSV Crailsheim 	  	24 	  14 	5 	5 	  47:25   +22 	  	45
 6  FC Astoria Walldorf (N)  	23 	  13 	6 	4 	  46:27   +19 	  	45
 7  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim II   	24 	  12 	7 	5 	  38:26   +12 	  	43
 8  FC 08 Villingen 	  	23 	  12 	5 	6 	  45:26   +19 	  	41
 9  1. FC Normannia Gmünd   	24 	  11 	6 	7 	  35:29   +6 	  	39
10  SG Sonnenhof Großaspach  	24 	  8 	6 	10 	  23:22   +1 	  	30
11  FC Nöttingen 	  	24 	  7 	9 	8 	  35:35    0 	  	30
12  SGV Freiberg 	  	24 	  6 	7 	11 	  35:36   -1 	  	25
13  Bahlinger SC 	  	24 	  5 	4 	15 	  24:48   -24 	  	19
14  VfL Kirchheim/Teck (N)   	24 	  4 	6 	14 	  23:49   -26 	  	18
15  Stuttgarter Kickers II   	23 	  5 	2 	16 	  27:53   -26 	  	17
16  TSV Schwieberdingen (N)  	24 	  4 	5 	15 	  27:62   -35 	  	17
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17  SV Linx (N) 	  	24 	  4 	2 	18 	  23:55   -32 	  	14
18  VfR Mannheim 	  	24 	  3 	4 	17 	  22:48   -26 	  	13

N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


Mar 28-30, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 26

This was not a week for the favorites! In fact, basically none of the top clubs were able to get a win, whereas the bottomfeeders all got positive results.

Nürnberg played one of their best games of the year. In a hotly contested Bavarian derby, they pushed leaders Bayern to the limit. Indeed it took a late goal by Lukas Podolski to salvage a point for the Müncheners. Although a draw was probably a fair result, it's unfortunate for Nürnberg that they couldn't pull off the upset, as they clearly need the points.

Bremen continues to fall apart, and they may have reached rock-bottom in front of a stunned Weserstadion crowd watch them go down in flames against Duisburg.

Karlsruhe outplayed Schalke for most of the match, but couldn't create enough chances to get the win. The visitors seemed happy to leave Karlsruhe with a point and concentrate on their upcoming Champions League clash with Barcelona.

Hannover and Stuttgart delivered a boring match that put everybody to sleep.

Struggling Bielfeld came up with a fine effort, and were almost rewarded with a stunning away win in Hamburg. Second place Hamburg was weak and without ideas, and were being outhustled by a determined Bielefeld. Then to make matters worse, HSV's Jarolim got his ass red-carded after 66 minutes, and soon after, Arminia took a deserved lead.

A wild match in the "mini-Revier" derby saw Bochum and Dortmund slug it out. Bochum has been in great form, and jumped out to a quick double goal lead in the first 10 minutes. Dortmund fought back to tie, and the clubs traded goals to finish out in the draw.

Leverkusen was stunned at home by Frankfurt. Despite controlling the match, the Aspirins needed a heavy dose of the parent bayer company product, as they were forced to watch Frankfurt steal the points.

Wolfsburg conntrolled the match at Rostock, but were unable to break through until injury time. Hansa was too lame to do anything about it. Meanwhile, fellow eastern clubs Cottbus and Berlin delivered an interesting match. And not surprisingly, it was relegation threatened Energie that delivered the more "energetic" performance, and they got a critical win.

Team of the Week: Duisburg, or any of the bottom clubs
Turd of the Weak: Bremen

Attendance: 306,670 (avg 34,074), 19 goals

 
Hansa Rostock 		 -  	VfL Wolfsburg 		0:1 (0:0)	15,000	(Krzynowek)
Karlsruher SC 		 -  	FC Schalke 04 		0:0 (0:0) 	29,477
1. FC Nürnberg 		 -  	Bayern München 		1:1 (1:0) 	47,000	(Misimovic - Podolski)
VfL Bochum 		 -  	Borussia Dortmund 	3:3 (3:2) 	31,328	(Auer 2, Dabrowski - Kehl, Petric, Tinga)
Hamburger SV 		 -  	Arminia Bielefeld 	1:1 (0:0) 	56,398	(Guerrero - Bollmann)
Bayer Leverkusen 	 -  	Eintracht Frankfurt 	0:2 (0:1) 	22,500	(Kießling o.g., Mantzios)
Werder Bremen 		 -  	MSV Duisburg 		1:2 (0:2) 	39,615	(Diego - Grlic, Ishiaku)
Hannover 96	 	 -  	VfB Stuttgart 		0:0 (0:0) 	45,176
Energie Cottbus 	 -  	Hertha BSC Berlin	2:1 (1:1)	20,176	(Skela 2 - Mineiro)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	26 	  15 	9 	2 	  44:15   +29 	  	54
 2  Hamburger SV 	  	26 	  12 	11 	3 	  37:19   +18 	  	47
 3  FC Schalke 04 	  	26 	  12 	9 	5 	  40:26   +14 	  	45
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	26 	  13 	5 	8 	  46:28   +18 	  	44
 5  Werder Bremen 	  	26 	  13 	5 	8 	  53:38   +15 	  	44
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	26 	  13 	3 	10 	  44:40   +4 	  	42
 7  Eintracht Frankfurt   	26 	  11 	9 	6 	  32:31   +1 	  	42
 8  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	26 	  11 	7 	8 	  42:36   +6 	  	40
 9  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	26 	  10 	8 	8 	  30:33   -3 	  	38
10  Hannover 96   		26 	  9 	8 	9 	  36:42   -6 	  	35
11  VfL Bochum 	  		26 	  8 	9 	9 	  40:41   -1 	  	33
12  Hertha BSC Berlin 	  	26 	  9 	5 	12 	  28:33   -5 	  	32
13  Borussia Dortmund 	  	26 	  8 	7 	11 	  39:44   -5 	  	31
14  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	26 	  6 	6 	14 	  22:37   -15 	  	24
15  Energie Cottbus 	  	26 	  5 	8 	13 	  28:43   -15 	  	23
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	26 	  6 	4 	16 	  27:41   -14 	  	22
17  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	26 	  5 	7 	14 	  25:51   -26 	  	22
18  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	26 	  4 	8 	14 	  27:42   -15 	  	20


M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

2. Liga, Round 26

Hoffenheim must be shopping around for a bigger arena. Their tiny Dietmar-Hopp-stadion is sold out, but hardly a venue for Bundesliga matches - and they have to be seriously contemplating that outcome. Meanwhile, gladbach continue their march to return to the top-flight. They pressed all day against a determined Koblenz, but it took an unlucky own-goal header in injury to get the win. But sometimes that's what you need, and at this point, there's nobody who believes that Gladbach isn't back headed up. A massive win by Köln, despite falling behind after only 2 minutes. This puts the Geisböcke in the coveted 3rd promotion spot.

This was a week for the bottom clubs. Aside from the massive relegation 6 pointer in Osnabrück, Jena and Paderborn take their last chances to save themselves. Jena stunned 1860 with an awy win, while Paderborn rolled a hapless St.Pauli squad. Aue faced down promotion hopeful Mainz, and probably should have got all 3 points.

Of course, the big match was the struggle between Osnabrück and Kaiserslautern. Suprisingly, it was rather a one-sided contest, as the hosts dominated. After taking the lead immediately after the half, VfL wrapped up a huge victory when the outstanding Pierre de Wit slalomed through the FCK defense and hammered home. Although they're not completely out of the woods yet, Osnabrück has one foot in safety. For FCK, this defeat prevents them from climbing out of the drop for the first time in ages.

 
Erzgebirge Aue 		 -  	1. FSV Mainz 05 	3:3 (2:1)	11,500	(Paulus, Nemec, Müller - Gunkel, Karhan 2)
SC Freiburg	 	 -  	Alemannia Aachen 	1:0 (1:0) 	16,200	(Jäger)
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 	 -  	FC Augsburg 		2:0 (0:0) 	 5,680	(Ibisevic 2) 		
SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	 -  	SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	1:1 (1:0) 	 7,860	(Nicu - Achenbach)
Kickers Offenbach 	 -  	1. FC Köln 		1:3 (1:1) 	16,646	(Judt - Antar, Helmes, Novakovic)
Borussia M'gladbach 	 -  	TuS Koblenz 		1:0 (0:0) 	38,830	(Bajic o.g.)
TSV 1860 München 	 -  	FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	1:2 (0:0) 	38,100	(Göktan - Werner, Schied)
SC Paderborn 07 	 -  	FC St. Pauli 		4:1 (1:1)	 9,022	(Löbe 2, Koen 2 - Kuru)
VfL Osnabrück 		 -  	1. FC Kaiserslautern 	2:0 (0:0)	18,000	(Frommer, de Wit)


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	26 	  14 	9 	3 	  48:27   +21 	  	51
 2  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 	26 	  13 	8 	5 	  41:30   +11 	  	47
 3  1. FC Köln 	  		26 	  13 	6 	7 	  46:33   +13 	  	45
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A)   	26 	  11 	10 	5 	  43:27   +16 	  	43
 5  SC Freiburg 	  	26 	  11 	10 	5 	  36:29   +7 	  	43
 6  SpVgg Greuther Fürth   	26 	  11 	8 	7 	  42:31   +11 	  	41
 7  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N)  	26 	  9 	10 	7 	  40:38   +2 	  	37
 8  TuS Koblenz 	  	26 	  9 	9 	8 	  32:33   -1 	  	36
 9  TSV 1860 München 	  	26 	  8 	11 	7 	  34:29   +5 	  	35
10  Alemannia Aachen (A)   	26 	  8 	9 	9 	  35:38   -3 	  	33
11  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	26 	  8 	7 	11 	  35:45   -10 	  	31
12  FC Augsburg 	  	26 	  8 	6 	12 	  31:37   -6 	  	30
13  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	26 	  7 	9 	10 	  31:39   -8 	  	30
14  Kickers Offenbach 	  	26 	  7 	9 	10 	  30:44   -14 	  	30
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  1. FC Kaiserslautern 	26 	  5 	10 	11 	  25:30   -5 	  	25
16  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	26 	  6 	6 	14 	  35:45   -10 	  	24
17  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	26 	  5 	7 	14 	  36:50   -14 	  	22
18  SC Paderborn 07 	  	26 	  4 	10 	12 	  20:35   -15 	  	22


N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


Mar 26, 2008

Germany whips Swizterland

In a friendly tune-up for the Euro 2008 tournament, Germany had little trouble beating Switzerland 4-0. More details here.


Mar 24, 2008

Oberliga Review

Not surprisingly, the Oberliga Hessen consists of clubs from the central state of Hessen, although some of the clubs also come from the extreme northeast corner of Bayern (e.g. Aschaffenburg, Alzenau etc.). For league purposes, Hessen belongs to the southern region of German football. Generally the clubs are from villages or small towns, although every once in a while, you do get a big fish, or a small club from the big city.

The top 4 clubs will move up to the new 4th division Regionalliga Süd, and the bulk of the clubs will remain in the soon-to-be 5th division Oberliga. The bottom 2 clubs will automatically drop to their respective Landesliga, and the 16th club will playoff for the right to remain in the Oberliga.

The big fish this season is none other than ex-Bundesliga club SV Darmstadt, which has fallen on very hard times. From the late 70s-early 90s, they popped up in the Bundesliga twice, and were a regular fixture in the 2.Liga, and on a couple of occasions barely missed a return to the top flight. But things started going downhill, and in the last decade they've been bouncing between the 3rd/4th divisions. They were relegated from the Regionalliga last season, but seem to recovered at least on the pitch. They lead the league and look good money to qualify. Well, actually, it's not that simple. Darmstadt is bankrupt and basically in administration. So if the court appointed administrators can't figure out a way to straighten things out, this traditional club will be wound up and obviously not allowed to go up - indeed, although the members will undoubtedly "refound" the club, they would be lucky to only get dropped to the Landesliga...

The other clubs toiling in the Hessenliga are small fry, perhaps only Aschaffenburg and Baunatal have ever really made an excursion higher. In trouble now is Frankfurt's no.3 club, Rot-Weiss, which may be 6th division soon.

 
Oberliga Hessen

 1  SV Darmstadt 98 (A) 	24 	  15 	5 	4 	  56:28   +28 	  	50
 2  SV Wehen Wiesbaden II (N) 	24 	  14 	5 	5 	  53:26   +27 	  	47
 3  Eintracht Frankfurt II 	24 	  12 	6 	6 	  46:27   +19 	  	42
 4  KSV Baunatal 	  	24 	  12 	5 	7 	  41:27   +14 	  	41
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  SC Waldgirmes 	  	24 	  12 	4 	8 	  42:44   -2 	  	40
 6  Viktoria Aschaffenburg 	23 	  9 	10 	4 	  28:17   +11 	  	37
 7  TSG Wörsdorf 	  	23 	  10 	7 	6 	  39:32   +7 	  	37
 8  Bayern Alzenau 	  	24 	  11 	3 	10 	  37:36   +1 	  	36
 9  Borussia Fulda 	  	23 	  8 	8 	7 	  36:28   +8 	  	32
10  KSV Klein-Karben 	  	24 	  8 	6 	10 	  42:45   -3 	  	30
11  Eintracht Wetzlar (N) 	24 	  7 	5 	12 	  19:31   -12 	  	26
12  RSV Würges 	  		24 	  7 	5 	12 	  25:40   -15 	  	26
13  FSV Fernwald 	  	24 	  6 	7 	11 	  32:45   -13 	  	25
14  FSC Lohfelden (N) 	  	24 	  7 	3 	14 	  25:45   -20 	  	24
15  Buchonia Flieden 	  	24 	  5 	8 	11 	  26:39   -13 	  	23
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Rot-Weiss Frankfurt (N) 	24 	  6 	5 	13 	  31:45   -14 	  	23
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17  Germania Ober-Roden (N) 	23 	  6 	4 	13 	  27:39   -12 	  	22
18  1. FC Schwalmstadt 	  	22 	  6 	4 	12 	  24:44   -20 	  	22


Mar 21-23, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 25

Bayern was the big winner this week. They had a strong performance against in-form Leverkusen, dominating the match. However the Aspirins might have escaped with a point, due to very poor finishing, as Podolski and Klose wasted sitters. It was left to Luca Toni to once again pull Bayern into the win column, the two strikes putting the Italian at a league leading 16. bayern's win and HSV's stumble puts the Münchener back in control of the board, a comfortable 7 points up.

A northern derby was the occasion for one of Wolfsburg's seldom sell-outs. The match with Hamburg was fairly even, both sides creating chances. As befits a hard fought match, some players got carried away, and in the final 10 minutes, Madlung, Kompany, Grafite and Mathijsen all got their asses tossed. But then it just meant even 9-9 on the field, and 1-1 on the scoreboard.

Bielefeld has been the crap team of the season, once you remove their good start. However, they seemed to have woken up, and were somewhat unlucky not to take full points against a shockingly harmless Werder squad. A silly foul led to a late Bremen penalty that allowed them to escape with the points.

An important away win for Schalke in Berlin, where they have often have problems. The traditional bad-blood between the 2 clubs goes back to the mid 1960s, when the DFB shenanigans allowed Hertha to get relegated, but Schalke was saved by expansion. Very often the Blues have travelled to Berlin in a promising position, only to get their ass kicked and run home like a dog with his tail between his legs. This time, some cold-blooded finishing in the 1st half, then stout defending against the Hertha onslaught (for once not boring their fans with their "sleep-a-naccio") allowed them to bring home the bacon.

A rare Thursday start saw Frankfurt fend off Cottbus in a fierce clash. Energie gave the hosts all they could handle, taking the leading and then defending with everything. Credit to Eintracht that they didn't give up and basically willed themselves a deserved win.

In a wild 2nd half, Stuttgart overran feeble Rostock. The defending champs have been dicking around for most of the season, but now seem to be playing with purpose to at least qualify for UEFA next season. And they've been banging in the goals, all 5 in this match. It's probably not a good time to play VfB, because you could get seriously slapped.

Dortmund dominated the match against Karlsruhe, who hadn't won in the Westfalenstadion since 1986. But the Neons wasted all sorts of chances, and had only a measly goal to show for it. So they were dutifully punished and left to rue the dropped points.

A "must-win" relegation 6 pointer for Nürnberg against Bochum, but once again "der Club" showed why they're evidently too crap to stay up. Bochum has been a tough nut recently, and this week was no different. The match started furiously, with the clubs trading goals in the first 8 minutes. The 1st half remained tense and exciting, but the 2nd half was anything but. Bochum was satisfied with a point, and Nürnberg was too lame to do anything about it. So the fans got a nice pre-Easter nap, and have no excuse not to go to early service on Sunday...

If Duisburg go down, it will be because of matches like these. Having announced themselves back from the dead recently, the Zebras were practically gifted the match by Hannover. Mike Hanke got his ass red carded after only 5 minutes, so MSV basically had the whole match with a man advantage. Instead of trying to win, they kicked around aimlessly like drug-addicted homeless, and the 96ers stunned them by taking the lead. In the 2nd half, MSV woke up to the impending disgrace, but was only able to notch a single goal and split the points.

Team of the Week: probably Bayern
Turd of the Weak: none really, maybe Nürnberg

Attendance: 417,694 (avg 46,410), 24 goals

 
Eintracht Frankfurt 	 -  	Energie Cottbus 	2:1 (0:0) 	45,100	(Caio, Russ - Rost)
Bayern München	 	 -  	Bayer Leverkusen 	2:1 (1:0) 	69,000	(Toni 2 - Bulykin)
VfL Wolfsburg 		 -  	Hamburger SV	 	1:1 (0:1) 	30,000	(Ljuboja - Reinhardt)
1. FC Nürnberg 		 -  	VfL Bochum 		1:1 (1:1) 	43,547	(Misimovic - Sestak)
MSV Duisburg 		 -  	Hannover 96 		1:1 (0:1) 	20,747	(Lamey - Stajner)
Borussia Dortmund 	 -  	Karlsruher SC 		1:1 (1:0)	74,300	(Petric - Freis) 
VfB Stuttgart 		 -  	Hansa Rostock 		4:1 (0:0)	48,000	(Gomez, Pardo, Cacau, Bastürk - Gomez o.g.)
Hertha BSC Berlin	 -  	FC Schalke 04 		1:2 (0:2) 	60,000	(Chahed - Asamoah, Jones)
Arminia Bielefeld 	 -  	Werder Bremen 		1:1 (1:0)	27,000	(Kirch - Diego)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	25 	  15 	8 	2 	  43:14   +29 	  	53
 2  Hamburger SV 	  	25 	  12 	10 	3 	  36:18   +18 	  	46
 3  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	25 	  13 	5 	7 	  46:26   +20 	  	44
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Werder Bremen 	  	25 	  13 	5 	7 	  52:36   +16 	  	44
 5  FC Schalke 04 	  	25 	  12 	8 	5 	  40:26   +14 	  	44
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	25 	  13 	2 	10 	  44:40   +4 	  	41
 7  Eintracht Frankfurt 	25 	  10 	9 	6 	  30:31   -1 	  	39
 8  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	25 	  10 	7 	8 	  41:36   +5 	  	37
 9  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	25 	  10 	7 	8 	  30:33   -3 	  	37
10  Hannover 96 	  	25 	  9 	7 	9 	  36:42   -6 	  	34
11  VfL Bochum 		  	25 	  8 	8 	9 	  37:38   -1 	  	32
12  Hertha BSC Berlin	  	25 	  9 	5 	11 	  27:31   -4 	  	32
13  Borussia Dortmund 	  	25 	  8 	6 	11 	  36:41   -5 	  	30
14  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	25 	  6 	6 	13 	  22:36   -14 	  	24
15  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	25 	  5 	6 	14 	  24:50   -26 	  	21
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Energie Cottbus 	  	25 	  4 	8 	13 	  26:42   -16 	  	20
17  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	25 	  4 	7 	14 	  26:41   -15 	  	19
18  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	25 	  5 	4 	16 	  25:40   -15 	  	19


M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

2. Liga, Round 25

Hoffenheim remains unbeaten in 2008, as they withstood the test in Mainz. The nobodies must be taken as a serious promotion candidate. Köln suffered at home against Wehen, but superb play by GK Mondragon preserved their win. The big loser was Greuther Fürth, who were upended by bottom feeder Jena. Last place Paderborn got their first road win of the season at a certainly disgusted Augsburg. In a significant match, Kaiserslautern failed to win a relegation 5 pointer against Offenbach.

Attendance: 176,040 (avg 19,560), 22 goals

 
FC Augsburg	 	 -  	SC Paderborn 07 	0:1 (0:0)	15,119	(Müller) 	 	
1. FC Kaiserslautern 	 -  	Kickers Offenbach 	1:1 (0:1) 	31,473	(Demai - Sichone)	
FC St. Pauli 		 -  	VfL Osnabrück 		2:1 (1:0) 	22,648	(Rothenbach, Cichon o.g. - Schuon)
Erzgebirge Aue 		 -  	SC Freiburg 		2:2 (1:0) 	10,500	(Orahovac, Nemec - Aogo 2)
FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	 -  	SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	1:0 (1:0) 	 5,000	(Simak)
TuS Koblenz 		 -  	TSV 1860 München 	3:1 (2:1) 	10,800	(Thorandt o.g., Berhalter o.g., Hartmann - Göktan) 		
1. FC Köln 		 -  	SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	2:1 (2:1) 	40,000	(Antar, Vucicevic - Diakité)
1. FSV Mainz 05 	 -  	TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 	1:1 (0:0) 	20,300	(Spilacek o.g. - Ba)
Alemannia Aachen 	 -  	Borussia M'gladbach 	1:1 (1:0)	20,200	(Ebbers - Neuville)


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	25 	  13 	9 	3 	  47:27   +20 	  	48
 2  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 	25 	  12 	8 	5 	  39:30   +9 	  	44
 3  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A) 	25 	  11 	9 	5 	  40:24   +16 	  	42
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FC Köln 	  		25 	  12 	6 	7 	  43:32   +11 	  	42
 5  SpVgg Greuther Fürth   	25 	  11 	7 	7 	  41:30   +11 	  	40
 6  SC Freiburg 	  	25 	  10 	10 	5 	  35:29   +6 	  	40
 7  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N)  	25 	  9 	9 	7 	  39:37   +2 	  	36
 8  TuS Koblenz 	  	25 	  9 	9 	7 	  32:32    0 	  	36
 9  TSV 1860 München 	  	25 	  8 	11 	6 	  33:27   +6 	  	35
10  Alemannia Aachen (A)   	25 	  8 	9 	8 	  35:37   -2 	  	33
11  FC Augsburg 	  	25 	  8 	6 	11 	  31:35   -4 	  	30
12  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	25 	  7 	9 	9 	  30:35   -5 	  	30
13  Kickers Offenbach 	  	25 	  7 	9 	9 	  29:41   -12 	  	30
14  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	25 	  7 	7 	11 	  33:45   -12 	  	28
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  1. FC Kaiserslautern   	25 	  5 	10 	10 	  25:28   -3 	  	25
16  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	25 	  6 	5 	14 	  32:42   -10 	  	23
17  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	25 	  4 	7 	14 	  34:49   -15 	  	19
18  SC Paderborn 07 	  	25 	  3 	10 	12 	  16:34   -18 	  	19

N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


Mar 20, 2008

DFB Pokal


FC Bayern München	- 	VfL Wolfsburg 		2:0 (0:0)	62,000	(Ribery, Klose)
Borussia Dortmund 	- 	FC Carl Zeiss Jena	3:0 (1:0)	80,708	(Tinga, Klimowicz, Petric)

There were no real surprises as both Bayern and Dortmund advanced to the finals. Although both matches were entertaining, in the end the superior team had little difficulty in winning.

Bayern, seeking it's 16th Cup final, dominated from the outset, but Swiss GK Diego Benaglio was sharp, and in general the VW defense was quite strong. Still, Bayern's dominance should have seen them take the lead, but their finishing was poor. Ironically, around the hour mark, it was two defensive lapses in the otherwise stout Wolfsburg defense that lead to the München goals, and the game was wrapped up.

Dortmund returns to the DFB-Pokalfinale for the first time in 19 years, and despite the scoreline, it wasn't as easy as you might think. The underdog Jena, soon to be relegated from the 2.Liga, had everything to play for, and came out confident and fighting. Initially, they tried to catenaccio their way, perhaps intimidated by the sold out crowd that certainly dwarfed anything the Easterners have seen. Dortmund pressured from the start, and broke through after only 13 minutes. After a few more miserable moments, when the Neons could have finished off their opponent, Jena finally decided to throw caution into the wind, opened up, and made it a game. Both sides had chances as until they went into the locker. However, the 2nd half proved to be a nightmare for Jena. And as has been the case often in his career, it was the flawed genius of Czech midfielder Jan Simak that was their undoing. Everyone knows he's a headcase, and after 50 minutes, he committed a foul. He then proceeded to whine and snivel until the ref had no choice but to book him. Instead of shutting his trap, he continued to berate the ref, so he got another yellow and his ass tossed. Dortmund then took control of the game and finished off the upstarts.

So the final in Berlin promises to be an attractive matchup. Early estimates have indicated that already 150,000 ticket requests are in, which is already double the significant Olympiastadion capacity. With Bayern having won 13/15 Cup finals they've participated in, you'd have to figure the'd be the favorites .


Mar 18, 2008

Oberliga Review

The southwest is traditionally one of the weaker conferences, but often has some interesting clubs. In the current setup, the SW will once again be combined with the western region into the Regionalliga West - the top 4 clubs get a spot. The bottom two clubs get relegated into their respective Verbandsliga. The Oberliga Südwest will actually remain, becoming the new 5th division.

The II squad of Mainz pretty much has a lock on one of the Regionalliga spots, and the remaining 3 spots are still open, but a slight gap is opening. Eintracht Trier was one of the more successful clubs in recent years, having a legendary DFB Cup run in the late 1990s that saw them eliminate UEFA Cup champion Schalke and Champions League winner Dortmund!! They also recently dabbled in the 2.Liga, and would be a good bet to make the cut. Worms is well known regionally, but that's about it. 1. FC Saarbrücken is one of the traditional flagships of the southwest, and has fallen on hardtimes. Once in the Bundesliga, they are now struggling to maintain 4th division status. Two further ex-Bundesliga clubs, Homburg and Neunkirchen, are on the verge of dropping. Among the remaining clubs, Pirmasens was once a regional power, now mired in mediocrity. Bad Kreuznach was usually a force in the old German amateur championships, but now would do extremely well to hang on to their Oberliga status.

 

Oberliga Südwest

 1  1. FSV Mainz 05 II 	  	22 	  16 	3 	3 	  56:12   +44 	  	51
 2  Eintracht Trier 	  	22 	  12 	8 	2 	  38:18   +20 	  	44
 3  Wormatia Worms 	  	22 	  14 	2 	6 	  40:24   +16 	  	44
 4  1. FC Saarbrücken (A)  	22 	  12 	5 	5 	  50:24   +26 	  	41
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  1. FC K'lautern II (A)  	22 	  11 	4 	7 	  35:18   +17 	  	37
 6  FC 08 Homburg 	  	22 	  10 	6 	6 	  38:29   +9 	  	36
 7  Borussia Neunkirchen  	22 	  11 	3 	8 	  23:21   +2 	  	36
 8  SpVgg EGC Wirges 	  	22 	  8 	5 	9 	  30:29   +1 	  	29
 9  SC Hauenstein 	  	22 	  8 	5 	9 	  32:36   -4 	  	29
10  FK Pirmasens (A) 	  	22 	  8 	5 	9 	  30:35   -5 	  	29
11  SV Roßbach/Wied (N)   	22 	  7 	7 	8 	  28:33   -5 	  	28
12  TuS Mechtersheim 	  	21 	  8 	4 	9 	  34:45   -11 	  	28
13  TuS Mayen 	 	 	22 	  7 	5 	10 	  35:40   -5 	  	26
14  Sportfreunde Köllerbach (N) 22 	  6 	5 	11 	  27:36   -9 	  	23
15  SC Idar-Oberstein (N)   	22 	  6 	3 	13 	  23:41   -18 	  	21
16  Eintracht Bad Kreuznach  	22 	  4 	6 	12 	  22:49   -27 	  	18
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17  FV Engers 	  		22 	  5 	1 	16 	  21:46   -25 	  	16
18  Rot-Weiß Hasborn 	  	21 	  5 	1 	15 	  20:46   -26 	  	16


Mar 14-16, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 24

A stunning result in Cottbus. Bayern are beaten. Energie had lost the match in München 0-5, and in fact hadn't managed a point or even a goal against Bayern at home since 2001. But with the Stadion der Freundschaft packed, Energie played their match of the season, and climbed out of the drop zone. Meanwhile, Bayern blew a chance to maintain or extend their lead at the top, and disappointed across the board. Obviously Cottbus lacked technical skill, but the players fought for every ball, and never stopped running. Bayern basically wanted to go home and not get their jersies dirty.

Bremen could have got back into the race, as they faced Wolfsburg in a northern derby. However, the VWs were well prepared. They played solid defensive football, and their blitz counterattacks from Brazilians Marcelinho and Grafite caused chaos in the Werder defense. Meanwhile, the Bremen attack was shooting blanks, and their few chances were snuffed out. In the end, a deserved win for Wolfsburg.

Hamburg took advantage of Bayern's slip to creep closer. HSV dominated against Dortmund, creating lots of chances, but then after Guerrero's strike, withdrew into a defensive shell. But the visitors had no clue, and HSV kept all the points.

Leverkusen basically sucked in the 1st half against a crap Nürnberg squad. The guests certainly had dreams of an important away point as they went into the locker rooms at half. But Bayer obviously dosed on Alka-Seltzer and aspirin, and came out storming, basically kicking Nürnberg's ass. Perhaps the result was a bit unfair to "der Club", but in the end, they were deservedly well beaten.

Schalke had a rough time in a Ruhr-derby with Duisburg. MSV fought hard and took the lead, and Schalke had to struggle to get back and win the match.

Two in-form teams met in Bochum, unbeaten in 7 straight matches in the rewirpowerSTADION. Stuttgart had perhaps a slight edge, but in the end, a draw was a fair result.

A nice win for Frankfurt against a surprisingly weak Karlsruhe squad. Eintracht dominated and could have added additional goals.

Not surprisingly, the northeast derby between Rostock and Berlin was basically a snoozer. Neither team looked like they wanted to win the match, and the fans basically were treated to an afternoon nap.

Bielfeld finally got a good result - and ironically, it wasn't enough, as they drop into the relegation zone. Arminia outplayed their hosts in the first half, but in the 2nd, Hannover came back strong and pressured, getting a deserved point. After their promising early seasons, both clubs have slid down the table, but obviously Arminia's collapse has much more dire consequences.

Team of the Week: Cottbus
Turd of the Weak: Bayern, for their lame (non)performance

Attendance: 315,144 (avg 35,016), 19 goals

 

FC Schalke 04 		 -  	MSV Duisburg 		2:1 (0:1) 	61,482	(Kuranyi, Westermann - Georgiev)
VfL Bochum 		 -  	VfB Stuttgart 		1:1 (1:0)	25,086	(Dabrowski - Hitzlsperger) 	
Energie Cottbus 	 -  	Bayern München 		2:0 (2:0)	22,743	(Jelic 2) 
Hamburger SV 		 -  	Borussia Dortmund 	1:0 (0:0) 	57,000	(Guerrero)
Hansa Rostock 		 -  	Hertha BSC 		0:0 (0:0) 	22,500
Hannover 96 		 -  	Arminia Bielefeld 	2:2 (1:2) 	35,104	(Bruggink, Stajner - Mijatovic, Eigler)
Karlsruher SC 		 -  	Eintracht Frankfurt 	0:1 (0:1)	29,348	(Fink) 
Bayer Leverkusen 	 -  	1. FC Nürnberg	 	4:1 (1:1) 	22,500	(Haggui, Glauber, Gekas, Kiessling - Misimovic)
Werder Bremen 		 -  	VfL Wolfsburg	 	0:1 (0:0)	39,381	(Grafite)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	24 	  14 	8 	2 	  41:13   +28 	  	50
 2  Hamburger SV 	  	24 	  12 	9 	3 	  35:17   +18 	  	45
 3  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	24 	  13 	5 	6 	  45:24   +21 	  	44
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Werder Bremen 	  	24 	  13 	4 	7 	  51:35   +16 	  	43
 5  FC Schalke 04 	  	24 	  11 	8 	5 	  38:25   +13 	  	41
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	24 	  12 	2 	10 	  40:39   +1 	  	38
 7  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	24 	  10 	6 	8 	  40:35   +5 	  	36
 8  Eintracht Frankfurt	  	24 	  9 	9 	6 	  28:30   -2 	  	36
 9  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	24 	  10 	6 	8 	  29:32   -3 	  	36
10  Hannover 96 	  	24 	  9 	6 	9 	  35:41   -6 	  	33
11  Hertha BSC Berlin 	  	24 	  9 	5 	10 	  26:29   -3 	  	32
12  VfL Bochum	 	  	24 	  8 	7 	9 	  36:37   -1 	  	31
13  Borussia Dortmund 	  	24 	  8 	5 	11 	  35:40   -5 	  	29
14  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	24 	  6 	6 	12 	  21:32   -11 	  	24
15  Energie Cottbus 	  	24 	  4 	8 	12 	  25:40   -15 	  	20
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	24 	  5 	5 	14 	  23:49   -26 	  	20
17  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	24 	  4 	6 	14 	  25:40   -15 	  	18
18  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	24 	  5 	3 	16 	  24:39   -15 	  	18


M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

2. Liga, Round 24

Gladbach had a rough match with St.Pauli, but prevailed to stay secure at the top. The sensation remains promoted Hoffenheim. FC SAP won their 7th in a row, inflicting Aue's 11th straight away defeat. The Hoffeheimers have now moved into the promotion spot, much to the chagrin of Bundesliga financial officers. Hoffenheim's 6,500 capacity stadium is unlikely to get them all excited. Not only that, they could do a "Gretna" if their main sponsor ever gets bored. Mainz failed get maximum points against the toothless Lions of 1860. But they are certainly happier than Greuther Fürth, who were stunned at home 3 minutes into injury time by the nobodies from Koblenz. Freiburg got their "must-win" against Köln to get back in striking distance.

A huge away victory for Kaiserslautern allows hope to re-appear for the struggling Red Devils. A loss would have just about sunk the ship. After their loss at Offenbach, Jena joins hapless Paderborn in booking a ticket to the 3.Bundesliga. The only thing the Easterners care about is upcoming Tuesday, when they get a big payday against Dortmund in the semi-finals of the DFB-Cup. And of course a sensational win there would not only mean their first final, but potentially an automatic UEFA Cup spot - as Bayern will be a likely finalist!

Attendance: 163,440 (avg 18,160), 14 goals

 
SC Paderborn 07 	 -  	Alemannia Aachen 	0:1 (0:1) 	 5,022	(Herzig)
SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	 -  	1. FC Kaiserslautern 	0:2 (0:2) 	11,162	(König, Ziemer)	
Kickers Offenbach 	 -  	FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	2:1 (1:0) 	 9,258	(Bancé 2 - Torghelle) 		
TSV 1860 München 	 -  	1. FSV Mainz 05 	1:1 (0:0) 	39,000	(Berhalter - Baljak)
VfL Osnabrück	 	 -  	FC Augsburg 		0:2 (0:1) 	12,800	(Thurk, Küntzel) 		
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 	 -  	Erzgebirge Aue 		1:0 (0:0) 	 5,780	(Ibisevic)
SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	 -  	TuS Koblenz 		0:1 (0:0) 	 9,500	(Richter)	
Borussia M'gladbach 	 -  	FC St. Pauli 		1:0 (0:0) 	48,418	(Friend)	
SC Freiburg 		 -  	1. FC Köln 		1:0 (0:0)	22,500	(Jäger) 	


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	24 	  13 	8 	3 	  46:26   +20 	  	47
 2  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 	24 	  12 	7 	5 	  38:29   +9 	  	43
 3  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A) 	24 	  11 	8 	5 	  39:23   +16 	  	41
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	24 	  11 	7 	6 	  41:29   +12 	  	40
 5  1. FC Köln 	  		24 	  11 	6 	7 	  41:31   +10 	  	39
 6  SC Freiburg 	  	24 	  10 	9 	5 	  33:27   +6 	  	39
 7  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N)  	24 	  9 	9 	6 	  38:35   +3 	  	36
 8  TSV 1860 München 	  	24 	  8 	11 	5 	  32:24   +8 	  	35
 9  TuS Koblenz 	  	24 	  8 	9 	7 	  29:31   -2 	  	33
10  Alemannia Aachen (A)   	24 	  8 	8 	8 	  34:36   -2 	  	32
11  FC Augsburg 	  	24 	  8 	6 	10 	  31:34   -3 	  	30
12  Kickers Offenbach 	  	24 	  7 	8 	9 	  28:40   -12 	  	29
13  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	24 	  7 	7 	10 	  32:43   -11 	  	28
14  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	24 	  6 	9 	9 	  28:34   -6 	  	27
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  1. FC Kaiserslautern   	24 	  5 	9 	10 	  24:27   -3 	  	24
16  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	24 	  6 	4 	14 	  30:40   -10 	  	22
17  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	24 	  3 	7 	14 	  33:49   -16 	  	16
18  SC Paderborn 07 	  	24 	  2 	10 	12 	  15:34   -19 	  	16


N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


Mar 11, 2008

Bundesliga update

VfB Stuttgart seems to have played themselves into form. They were victorious 1-0 at Energie Cottbus on a header by Portuguese midfielder Fernando Meira in the 22nd minute. The 13,500 fans at the Stadion der Freundschaft in Cottbus saw energie fight hard, but the result was never in doubt, as Stuttgart controlled the match from start to finish. The defending champs have now moved into 6th place, 1 point behind Schalke and the corresponding automatic UEFA spots.

No bigger stadium for Werder

Rising costs have apparently put an end to Werder Bremen's plans to expand to a 3rd deck for the Weserstadion. Faced with a cost estimate increase of 60 million euros, in a very logical - yet un-football management like - move, the Werder directors decided not to go ahead with an expansion, which would have increased seating by about 8,000, boosting the Weserstadion to 50,000+. However, the fans are not totally being ignored. The club still plans to go ahead with modernization plans to turn it into a "pure football arena". And of course add some additional VIP boxes so the fat cats can thumb their noses at the real fans.


Mar 10, 2008

Oberliga Review

This week we take a look at the Oberliga Westfalen and Nordrhein. These two are combining to form the new 3rd division Regionalliga West, but have also decided to field a single combined Oberliga West as the new 5th division.

The Westfalen division features a couple of small clubs well known in regional football. Preußen Münster was a founding memeber of the Bundesliga in 1963, and a regular fixture in 2nd and 3rd division levels throughout the years. Both Westfalia Herne and SpVgg Erkenschwick have seen better days, but are hoping to sneak into one of the Regionalliga spots. FC Gütersloh 2000 is the continuation of a club that was well established in the 2.Liga until they basically went bankrupt.

The Oberliga Nordrhein contains one famous club: KFC Uerdingen (then known as Bayer Uerdingen) once won the DFB Cup (1984), made it to the semi-finals of the European Cup, and in 1985 finished as 3rd in the Bundesliga!! As it stands now, they would sink down into the 6th division. Schwarz-Weiß Essen hasn't been a force for decades, but they did have a moment of glory in winning the DFB-Cup in 1958. They currently stand a good chance of making it to the new 4th division Regionalliga. The only other club that is somewhat know would be Bonner SC, which represented the sleepy capital of West Germany until reunification. The club is as sleepy as the town, and has basically been invisible.

In both divisions, the unfortunate circumstance of "B" squads of Bundesliga teams dominating continues, and expect to see a couple in the Regionalliga.

 

OBERLIGA WESTFALEN

 1  FC Schalke 04 II 	  	23 	  15 	3 	5 	  39:19   +20 	  	48
 2  Preußen Münster 	  	23 	  13 	8 	2 	  44:15   +29 	  	47
 3  VfL Bochum II 	  	23 	  13 	5 	5 	  40:20   +20 	  	44
 4  Sportfreunde Lotte 	  	22 	  9 	10 	3 	  44:28   +16 	  	37
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  Westfalia Herne 	  	23 	  10 	5 	8 	  36:28   +8 	  	35
 6  SpVgg Erkenschwick 	  	23 	  10 	4 	9 	  37:31   +6 	  	34
 7  Delbrücker SC 	  	23 	  9 	7 	7 	  30:27   +3 	  	34
 8  FC Gütersloh 2000 	  	23 	  9 	7 	7 	  31:29   +2 	  	34
 9  Hammer SpVgg 	  	23 	  10 	4 	9 	  29:29    0 	  	34
10  SV Schermbeck (N) 	  	23 	  7 	10 	6 	  31:30   +1 	  	31
11  Germania Gladbeck (N) 	22 	  7 	6 	9 	  28:34   -6 	  	27
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12  SV Lippstadt 08 	  	23 	  8 	3 	12 	  28:37   -9 	  	27
13  Sportfr. Oestrich-Iserlohn 	23 	  7 	6 	10 	  29:47   -18 	  	27
14  Arminia Bielefeld II 	23 	  6 	7 	10 	  33:36   -3 	  	25
15  FC Eintracht Rheine 	23 	  6 	7 	10 	  23:30   -7 	  	25
16  Rot-Weiss Ahlen II 	  	23 	  6 	6 	11 	  24:37   -13 	  	24
17  SC Wiedenbrück 2000 (N) 	23 	  3 	8 	12 	  23:40   -17 	  	17
18  TSG Sprockhövel (N) 	23 	  1 	8 	14 	  14:46   -32 	  	11


OBERLIGA NORDRHEIN

 1  Bayer Leverkusen II (A) 	23 	  15 	5 	3 	  44:20   +24 	  	50
 2  Borussia M'gladbach II (A) 	23 	  13 	4 	6 	  56:31   +25 	  	43
 3  Schwarz-Weiß Essen 	  	23 	  12 	6 	5 	  29:20   +9 	  	42
 4  1. FC Kleve 	  	23 	  12 	5 	6 	  34:24   +10 	  	41
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  1. FC Köln II 	  	23 	  11 	5 	7 	  31:20   +11 	  	38
 6  SSVg Velbert 	  	22 	  10 	6 	6 	  29:28   +1 	  	36
 7  Fortuna Düsseldorf II (N) 	23 	  10 	3 	10 	  31:31    0 	  	33
 8  Bonner SC	 	  	23 	  9 	4 	10 	  31:30   +1 	  	31
 9  Alemannia Aachen II 	23 	  8 	7 	8 	  26:26    0 	  	31
10  TuRU Düsseldorf 	  	23 	  8 	7 	8 	  25:29   -4 	  	31
11  Germania Dattenfeld (N) 	23 	  8 	6 	9 	  26:25   +1 	  	30
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12  Wuppertaler SV Bor. II 	23 	  8 	5 	10 	  37:43   -6 	  	29
13  MSV Duisburg II 	  	23 	  7 	6 	10 	  50:46   +4 	  	27
14  KFC Uerdingen 05 	  	22 	  7 	6 	9 	  36:42   -6 	  	27
15  VfB Homberg 	  	23 	  6 	7 	10 	  25:37   -12 	  	25
16  Bergisch Gladbach 09 	23 	  5 	5 	13 	  33:45   -12 	  	20
17  VfB Speldorf 	  	23 	  5 	5 	13 	  29:46   -17 	  	20
18  SV Straelen 	  	23 	  3 	6 	14 	  24:53   -29 	  	15


Mar 7-9, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 23

Bayern was the big winner of the weekend. They only did what was needed to grab all the points against a too defensively oriented Karlsruhe squad. Then they enjoyed their beers as Bremen went down in flames and Hamburg dropped points. What was a tight race is now an 8 point gap.

A wild shootout in Stuttgart saw Bremen go down in flames. Werder certainly had their chances to rack up more goals, but it was Stuttgart who nailed their opportunities, with Mario Gomez blasting a hattrick. Meanwhile, Hamburg was sucking wind against relegation threatened Nürnberg. HSV couldn't get untracked, and should be happy with a point, as Nürnberg missed a couple of huge chances to win the match. As it was, it deteriorated into a drab match that put everyone to sleep.

Leverkusen took advantage of others slipping as they clinically dispatched Hannover.

Schalke had a relatively easy time with hapless Bielefeld. They ended their own streak, and kept the lame Arminia squad continuing in their downward spiral, which amazingly still sees them above relegation, because other teams are playing just as crap.

A fair result in Dortmund, as although Borussia had more play, Hertha's well oragnized defense easily held the Neons in check.

Frankfurt and Bochum fought each other to a draw, that on the balance was probably fair. Eintracht had a slight edge, but Bochum's recent good form continued, and they were rewarded with a point.

Wolfsburg had an easy time with Cottbus, who showed none of the fight that they often show. After 20 minutes, the VWs were up 2-0, and coasted home, as Energie never threatened to make a game of it.

Meanwhile, at the bottom, a crucial relegation 6 pointer. Duisburg and Rostock squared off, and the result certainly sucked from the Zebras standpoint. They needed a win. Rostock is probably satisfied with a point, and given the relative even play, they deserved it.

Team of the Week: Stuttgart, finally showing what they can do
Turd of the Weak: Bielefeld sucked again

Attendance: 375,066 (avg 41,674), 24 goals

 

Borussia Dortmund 	 -  	Hertha BSC 		1:1 (1:0) 	69,400	(Kehl - Pantelic)
Arminia Bielefeld 	 -  	FC Schalke 04 		0:2 (0:1) 	26,100	(Varela, Altintop)
VfB Stuttgart 		 -  	Werder Bremen 	 	6:3 (2:1)	55,000	(Gomez 3, Cacau 2, Mertesacker o.g. - Almeida, Boenisch, Rosenberg)
Eintracht Frankfurt 	 -  	VfL Bochum 		1:1 (0:0)	46,700	(Toski - Azaouagh)
VfL Wolfsburg 		 -  	Energie Cottbus 	3:0 (2:0) 	21,260	(Gertner, Marcelinho 2)
Bayern München	 	 -  	Karlsruher SC 		2:0 (1:0) 	69,000	(Toni, Ribery)
MSV Duisburg 		 -  	Hansa Rostock 		1:1 (1:1) 	20,206	(Grlic - Agali)
1. FC Nürnberg 		 -  	Hamburger SV 		0:0 (0:0)	44,900 
Bayer Leverkusen 	 -  	Hannover 96	 	2:0 (2:0)	22,500	(Gekas, Barnetta)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	23 	  14 	8 	1 	  41:11   +30 	  	50
 2  Werder Bremen 	  	23 	  13 	4 	6 	  51:34   +17 	  	43
 3  Hamburger SV 	  	23 	  11 	9 	3 	  34:17   +17 	  	42
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	23 	  12 	5 	6 	  41:23   +18 	  	41
 5  FC Schalke 04 	  	23 	  10 	8 	5 	  36:24   +12 	  	38
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	23 	  10 	6 	7 	  29:31   -2 	  	36
 7  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	22 	  11 	1 	10 	  38:38    0 	  	34
 8  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	23 	  9 	6 	8 	  39:35   +4 	  	33
 9  Eintracht Frankfurt	  	23 	  8 	9 	6 	  27:30   -3 	  	33
10  Hannover 96 	  	23 	  9 	5 	9 	  33:39   -6 	  	32
11  Hertha BSC Berlin 	  	23 	  9 	4 	10 	  26:29   -3 	  	31
12  VfL Bochum 	 	 	23 	  8 	6 	9 	  35:36   -1 	  	30
13  Borussia Dortmund 	  	23 	  8 	5 	10 	  35:39   -4 	  	29
14  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	23 	  6 	5 	12 	  21:32   -11 	  	23
15  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	23 	  5 	4 	14 	  21:47   -26 	  	19
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	23 	  4 	6 	13 	  24:36   -12 	  	18
17  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	23 	  5 	3 	15 	  23:37   -14 	  	18
18  Energie Cottbus 	  	22 	  3 	8 	11 	  23:39   -16 	  	17

M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

2. Liga, Round 23

Gladbach finally gets on track with a win, keeping a bit breathing room at the top. A huge win for Greuther Fürth away to Aachen, but Mainz, Aachen and Köln all win to keep up the pressure. The death throes of once great Kaiserslautern remain painful to watch, as they once again failed to win. But Osnabrück can celebrate a huge away win - a relegation 6 pointer - at Aue.

Attendance: 172,784 (avg 19,198), 17 goals


FC Augsburg 		 -  	Borussia M'gladbach 	0:2 (0:1)	20,204	(Rösler, Friend)
1. FC Kaiserslautern 	 -  	SC Freiburg 		0:0 (0:0) 	21,533	 		
Alemannia Aachen 	 -  	SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	2:5 (1:3) 	17,823	(Nemeth 2 - Kotuljac 2, Felgenhauer, Lanig, Cidmar)
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 	 -  	SC Paderborn 07 	1:0 (0:0) 	 5,350	(Carlos Eduardo)
1. FC Köln 		 -  	TuS Koblenz 		1:0 (0:0) 	48,500	(Novakovic)
1. FSV Mainz 05 	 -  	Kickers Offenbach 	1:0 (0:0) 	20,300	(Hoogland)
FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	 -  	SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	2:2 (2:0) 	 6,721	(Schied, Werner - Werner o.g., Schmidt)
Erzgebirge Aue 		 -  	VfL Osnabrück 		0:1 (0:0) 	10,500	(Thomik)
FC St. Pauli 		 -  	TSV 1860 München 	0:0 (0:0)	21,853


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	23 	  12 	8 	3 	  45:26   +19 	  	44
 2  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A) 	23 	  11 	7 	5 	  38:22   +16 	  	40
 3  SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	23 	  11 	7 	5 	  41:28   +13 	  	40
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 	23 	  11 	7 	5 	  37:29   +8 	  	40
 5  1. FC Köln 	  		23 	  11 	6 	6 	  41:30   +11 	  	39
 6  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N) 	23 	  9 	9 	5 	  38:33   +5 	  	36
 7  SC Freiburg 	  	23 	  9 	9 	5 	  32:27   +5 	  	36
 8  TSV 1860 München 	  	23 	  8 	10 	5 	  31:23   +8 	  	34
 9  TuS Koblenz 	  	23 	  7 	9 	7 	  28:31   -3 	  	30
10  Alemannia Aachen (A)   	23 	  7 	8 	8 	  33:36   -3 	  	29
11  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	23 	  7 	7 	9 	  32:41   -9 	  	28
12  FC Augsburg 	  	23 	  7 	6 	10 	  29:34   -5 	  	27
13  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	23 	  6 	9 	8 	  28:33   -5 	  	27
14  Kickers Offenbach 	  	23 	  6 	8 	9 	  26:39   -13 	  	26
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	23 	  6 	4 	13 	  30:39   -9 	  	22
16  1. FC Kaiserslautern   	23 	  4 	9 	10 	  22:27   -5 	  	21
17  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	23 	  3 	7 	13 	  32:47   -15 	  	16
18  SC Paderborn 07 	  	23 	  2 	10 	11 	  15:33   -18 	  	16


N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


Mar 3, 2008

Oberliga Review

This week we take a look at the two ex-GDR divisions, the Oberliga NOFV-Nord (Nordostdeutscher Fussballverband) and Oberliga NOFV-Süd. Ever since reunification in 1989, the ex-GDR divisions have been handled differently. From a geographical standpoint, the area is vast, but the population is smaller. As there are fewer clubs represented in the regional football federation - compared with other regions - the DFB has insisted on slapping the ex-GDR clubs in some combination with the North or South regions. This time is no exception, as the NOFV will be joining the new Regionalliga Nord, along with the clubs in Nidersachsen, Hamburg, Bremen and Schleswig-Holstein in a new super 4th division (along with West and South).

The top 3 clubs from each NOFV division gain promotion to the new Regionalliga, and 4th place will playoff with it's NOFV counterpart for the right to join. The Oberliga will remain an NOFV fixture, now as the 5th division, split into north and south. Only one club will actually get dropped into the 6th division.

In the north division, Hertha's B squad looks like they'll waltz into Regionalliga. The other spots look up for grabs, although one of Germany's oldest and strongest ethnic clubs, Berlin's Türkiyemspor looks close to claiming another spot. Two famous Berlin clubs are struggling to make the grade: the ex-GDR giant BFC Dynamo and the one time Bundesligist Tennis Borussia. The relegated club is already known, as SV Yesilyurt (another Turkish club) decided to throw in the towel in November and all matches were forfeited.

Whereas the northern section is dominated by Berlin clubs (10) - and the corresponding low attendance, the southern region generally has more fan interest. But famous clubs such as Chemnitz, Sachsen Leipzig, Plauen and Halle are all struggling to make the cut. And one of the ex-GDR's better known clubs, FSV Zwickau (formerly "Sachsenring") has no prospect of getting promoted.


OBERLIGA NOFV-Nord

 1  Hertha BSC Berlin II (A) 	16 	  13 	2 	1 	  40:7 	  +33 	  	41
 2  Türkiyemspor 1978 	  	16 	  11 	2 	3 	  26:12   +14 	  	35
 3  Greifswalder SV 04 (N)  	16 	  10 	1 	5 	  35:17   +18 	  	31
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Hansa Rostock II 	  	15 	  9 	3 	3 	  41:15   +26 	  	30
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  BFC Dynamo Berlin 	  	16 	  8 	5 	3 	  29:15   +14 	  	29
 6  Optik Rathenow (N) 	  	16 	  8 	5 	3 	  22:15   +7 	  	29
 7  Tennis Borussia Berlin  	15 	  8 	3 	4 	  37:15   +22 	  	27
 8  Lichterfelder FC 	  	15 	  7 	2 	6 	  25:31   -6 	  	23
 9  Germania Schöneiche   	16 	  5 	5 	6 	  16:23   -7 	  	20
10  TSG Neustrelitz 	  	15 	  4 	3 	8 	  19:27   -8 	  	15
11  Torgelower SV Greif   	16 	  3 	6 	7 	  19:31   -12 	  	15
12  Spandauer SV (N) 	  	15 	  3 	2 	10 	  17:36   -19 	  	11
13  Ludwigsfelder FC 	  	16 	  1 	6 	9 	  10:35   -25 	  	9
14  BFC Preussen 	  	16 	  1 	4 	11 	  10:42   -32 	  	7
15  Berlin Ankaraspor 	  	15 	  0 	3 	12 	  10:35   -25 	  	3
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  SV Yesilyurt 	  	0 	  0 	0 	0 	   0:0 	   0 	  	0


OBERLIGA NOFV-Süd

 1  SC Borea Dresden 	  	17 	  9 	6 	2 	  25:14   +11 	  	33
 2  Chemnitzer FC 	  	15 	  10 	1 	4 	  32:14   +18 	  	31
 3  SSV Markranstädt (N) 	17 	  9 	3 	5 	  28:22   +6 	  	30
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FC Gera 03 (N) 	  	17 	  8 	4 	5 	  29:23   +6 	  	28
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  VFC Plauen 	  		17 	  8 	4 	5 	  25:21   +4 	  	28
 6  Hallescher FC 	  	16 	  7 	5 	4 	  25:14   +11 	  	26
 7  VfB Auerbach 	  	16 	  7 	5 	4 	  23:12   +11 	  	26
 8  FC Carl Zeiss Jena II  	17 	  7 	4 	6 	  28:25   +3 	  	25
 9  Sachsen Leipzig 	  	17 	  6 	6 	5 	  28:25   +3 	  	24
10  Germania Halberstadt  	17 	  6 	5 	6 	  32:24   +8 	  	23
11  ZFC Meuselwitz 	  	16 	  5 	6 	5 	  26:29   -3 	  	21
12  FC Eilenburg 	  	16 	  5 	3 	8 	  24:32   -8 	  	18
13  Budissa Bautzen 	  	17 	  4 	5 	8 	  15:30   -15 	  	17
14  FSV Zwickau 	  	17 	  3 	6 	8 	  22:31   -9 	  	12
15  VfB Pößneck 	  	17 	  2 	3 	12 	  10:39   -29 	  	9
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  VfB Sangerhausen (N)  	17 	  1 	4 	12 	  10:31   -21 	  	7

Mar 1-2, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 22

In the top match, Bayern had a surprisingly easy time with Schalke, where they traditionally have struggled. Instead the Blues were lame, running around without a clue, and Bayern could have easily banged in a few more after Klose's relatively early opener. After looking excellent at the restart, Schalke is now in total disarray and need to regroup.

Bremen got back on track with a clear victory against Dortmund. Werder was dominant throughout the match, despite a patchwork midfield. A double from Markus Rosenberg decided the match.

Hamburg continued their good form as they blasted Frankfurt. Eintracht managed to hold the match fairly even until early in the 2nd half, when HSV pressure finally led to their collapse.

Karlsruhe showed little effect from last week's thumping, and were back on track in their fine season. They controlled most of the match against Wolfsburg and kept all the points. The VWs had been playing well, but ran into a stone wall like a crash dummy.

Hannover had been without a win in 5 matches, so Nürnberg's visit is just what the doctor ordered. The match was pretty lame, as the 96ers were only doing enough to get the points, and of course Nürnberg is crap. Hannover let der Club equalize, before getting back in gear and quickly deciding the match.

Hertha had an easy time with a hapless Duisburg squad. The fans were bored for about 30 minutes, and then the Berliners knocked in a couple of goals, allowing the fans to sleep for the remaining hour or so.

Bayer Leverkusen has been one of the in-form clubs, but they had to travel to Bochum, who have been quite tough at home. As it ended up, the Aspirins needed a good dose of their sponsor's Alka-Seltzer, as they were beaten down by an energetic VfL squad. The hosts out hustled their visitors, and deservedly ended up with all the points.

The match in Cottbus was postponed due to heavy winds, up to 130 km/hour. It wasn't quite as bad in Rostock, but the critical relegation battle with Bielefeld was allowed to take take place. Since Arminia has been struggling mightily, Hansa wanted to play at all costs and get the points. As it turned out, Bielefeld was in fact the better squad, and could have taken an early lead. Hansa keeper Stefan Wächter was forced to stop a penalty in order to preserve the draw. Then in the last 5 minutes, the teams traded goals to split the points.

Team of the Week: Bochum, just about ending relegation fears
Turd of the Weak: Schalke, the wheels have fallen off again

Attendance: 287,765 (avg 35,961), 21 goals - 8 matches only

 

Hertha BSC Berlin 	 -  	MSV Duisburg 		2:0 (2:0) 	32,382	(Raffael, Pantelic)	
Energie Cottbus 	 -  	VfB Stuttgart 		-:- (-:-) 	postponed
FC Schalke 04 		 -  	Bayern München 		0:1 (0:1) 	61,482	(Klose)
Hannover 96 		 -  	1. FC Nürnberg 		2:1 (1:0) 	31,282	(Bruggink, Huszti - Misimovic)
Werder Bremen 		 -  	Borussia Dortmund 	2:0 (1:0) 	42,100	(Rosenberg 2)
Hansa Rostock 		 -  	Arminia Bielefeld 	1:1 (0:0) 	14,000	(Bartels - Eigler)
Karlsruher SC 		 -  	VfL Wolfsburg 		3:1 (1:1) 	28,871	(Eggimann, Kennedy, Costa - Schäfer)
VfL Bochum 		 -  	Bayer Leverkusen 	2:0 (0:0)	23,781	(Zdebel, Dabrowski)
Hamburger SV	 	 -  	Eintracht Frankfurt 	4:1 (1:0)	53,787	(Guerrero 2, de Jong, Zidan - Kyrgiakos)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	22 	  13 	8 	1 	  39:11   +28 	  	47
 2  Werder Bremen 	  	22 	  13 	4 	5 	  48:28   +20 	  	43
 3  Hamburger SV 	  	22 	  11 	8 	3 	  34:17   +17 	  	41
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	22 	  11 	5 	6 	  39:23   +16 	  	38
 5  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	22 	  10 	6 	6 	  29:29     0 	  	36
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  FC Schalke 04 	  	22 	  9 	8 	5 	  34:24   +10 	  	35
 7  Eintracht Frankfurt	  	22 	  8 	8 	6 	  26:29   -3 	  	32
 8  Hannover 96 	  	22 	  9 	5 	8 	  33:37   -4 	  	32
 9  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	21 	  10 	1 	10 	  32:35   -3 	  	31
10  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	22 	  8 	6 	8 	  36:35   +1 	  	30
11  Hertha BSC Berlin 	  	22 	  9 	3 	10 	  25:28   -3 	  	30
12  VfL Bochum	 	  	22 	  8 	5 	9 	  34:35   -1 	  	29
13  Borussia Dortmund 	  	22 	  8 	4 	10 	  34:38   -4 	  	28
14  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	22 	  6 	4 	12 	  20:31   -11 	  	22
15  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	22 	  5 	4 	13 	  21:45   -24 	  	19
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	22 	  4 	5 	13 	  24:36   -12 	  	17
17  Energie Cottbus 	  	21 	  3 	8 	10 	  23:36   -13 	  	17
18  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	22 	  5 	2 	15 	  22:36   -14 	  	17


M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

2. Liga, Round 22

Gladbach got back on track with a win, Köln missed a huge chance to smack one of their promotion rivals, as the were up 2-0 after only 15 minutes. Freibuerg and Mainz met in a top duel, splitting the points - helping neither side in this amazing promotion "struggle". Hoffenheim and Wehen continue their amazing ascent. 1860 is on the verge of losing it, as they had another drab performance. The fans are beginning to lose faith as well; the 22,000 showing up for a match against Aachen is clearly disappointing for the Lions.

Attendance: 130,464 (avg 14,496), 23 goals


SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	 -  	FC Augsburg 		2:1 (1:0)	 7,749	(König 2 - Thurk)
SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	 -  	1. FC Köln 		2:2 (1:2) 	10,200	(Lanig, Reisinger - Mauersberger, Helmes)
Borussia M'gladbach 	 -  	Erzgebirge Aue 		2:0 (1:0) 	33,451	(Neuville, Friend)
TSV 1860 München 	 -  	Alemannia Aachen 	0:0 (0:0) 	21,800
SC Paderborn 07 	 -  	1. FC Kaiserslautern 	0:0 (0:0) 	 5,000
TuS Koblenz 		 -  	FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	2:0 (1:0)	10,676	(Djokaj, Pektürk)
VfL Osnabrück	 	 -  	1899 Hoffenheim 	0:3 (0:2)	13,000	(Obasi, Carlos Eduardo, Ba)
Kickers Offenbach 	 -  	FC St. Pauli 		4:3 (1:2) 	13,238	(Sichone, Türker, Wörle, Ricardo Sousa - Schnitzler, Morena, Trojan)
SC Freiburg 		 -  	1. FSV Mainz 05 	1:1 (0:0)	15,350	(Schlitte - Subotic)


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A)  	22 	  11 	8 	3 	  43:26   +17 	  	41
 2  SpVgg Greuther Fürth  	22 	  10 	7 	5 	  36:26   +10 	  	37
 3  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A)   	22 	  10 	7 	5 	  37:22   +15 	  	37
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N)  	22 	  10 	7 	5 	  36:29   +7 	  	37
 5  1. FC Köln 	  		22 	  10 	6 	6 	  40:30   +10 	  	36
 6  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N)  	22 	  9 	8 	5 	  36:31   +5 	  	35
 7  SC Freiburg 	  	22 	  9 	8 	5 	  32:27   +5 	  	35
 8  TSV 1860 München 	  	22 	  8 	9 	5 	  31:23   +8 	  	33
 9  TuS Koblenz 	  	22 	  7 	9 	6 	  28:30   -2 	  	30
10  Alemannia Aachen (A)  	22 	  7 	8 	7 	  31:31    0 	  	29
11  FC Augsburg 	  	22 	  7 	6 	9 	  29:32   -3 	  	27
12  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	22 	  6 	8 	8 	  28:33   -5 	  	26
13  Kickers Offenbach 	  	22 	  6 	8 	8 	  26:38   -12 	  	26
14  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	22 	  6 	7 	9 	  31:41   -10 	  	25
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	22 	  6 	4 	12 	  30:38   -8 	  	22
16  1. FC Kaiserslautern  	22 	  4 	8 	10 	  22:27   -5 	  	20
17  SC Paderborn 07 	  	22 	  2 	10 	10 	  15:32   -17 	  	16
18  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	22 	  3 	6 	13 	  30:45   -15 	  	15


N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


Feb 27, 2008

DFB Cup

The quarterfinals of the DFB-Pokal produced some suprises.

Stuttgart was stunned at home by 2.Liga strugglers Carl Zeiss Jena. Clearly the champions expected a ho-hum performance would be enough, and the fans obviously agreed, as they stayed home to watch "German-Idol" ("Deutschland sucht den Superstar"). Well, maybe not, but VfB sucked. Instead, Jena realized that they're 3rd division next season, so they wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. They grabbed the lead, and continued to fight, although it was more Stuttgart incompetance that kept them in. Late in the match, Mario Gomez tied the score, and then 5 minutes into overtime, he struck again. VfB looked on course to another Cup final, but Jena refused to give up. A blunder by VfB GK Ulreich led to Robert Müller equalizing at the final whistle. Then in penalties, Jena knocked in all 5, whereas Stuttgart missed one. Just desserts for sucking, but a great result for Jena.

Dortmund just did what was needed to advance against 2.Liga upstart Hoffenheim. They controlled the 1st half, only conceding a dodgy penalty, and then quickly jumped out at the restart. They then went to sleep, allowing Hoffenheim to regroup and bombard the Borussia goal. They had several chances to get back into the match, but Dortmund keeper Marc Ziegler was in top form and kept Hoffenheim out.

Wolfsburg and Hamburg delivered an exciting match in another northern regional clash. HSV was the better team, but trailed at halftime. Super midfielder Rafael van der Vaart equalized, but in overtime, HSV was clearly out of gas. On the other hand, VWs obviously get good gas mileage, and Wolfsburg took over the proceedings. The game winner was a nice finish by Marcelinho. HSV tried desperately throwing everything forward, but to no avail. Obviously a nice result for Wolfsburg, which could salvage a somewhat disappointing season with a trip to Berlin. For HSV, it's probably best that they're done with this distraction :)

Finally, in the wildest match, Bayern defeated 1860 in the München derby. An exciting match that featured 3 ass-tossings, and Bayern gets highway robbery at the end - a gift penalty. The play itself was generally dominated by Bayern, but the 1860 defense fought a heroic rearguard action. Bayern had a few clear cut chances to take the lead, but either blew them or were foiled by reserve keeper Philipp Tschauner. Frustration then boiled over after 84 minutes when Luca Toni got his ass tossed for a 2nd yellow. A somewhat harsh decision, but ref Peter Gagelman was only warming up. The game was almost won at the death: Lucio was slapped in the face by Schwarz in the penalty box, but the ref was having so much fun, he decided he wanted to hang around another 30 minutes and denied Bayern the penalty. In overtime, you'd think that 1860 would take over with a man advantage. But they didn't really, and soon the clubs were even: Benny Schwarz got his ass tossed for his 2nd yellow. Bayern pressed and almost won at the death when Philipp Lahm's shot missed by centimeters. Then the ref decided that the inevitable penalties were too boring, so they'd only have one! Klose was fouled outside the box at 120. + 1 minutes, the ref gave Bayern the penalty, which Ribery dispatched (twice, as it was repeated). Game over, as 1860 only had time for Markus Thorandt to get red carded. A wild finish to an interesting DFB Cup round...

 

Borussia Dortmund 	-  	1899 Hoffenheim 	3:1 (2:1) 	55,400	(Federico, Tinga, Petric - Copado)
VfB Stuttgart 	 	-  	FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	2:2 pen 4-5 	18,500	(Gomez 2 - Werner, Müller)	
VfL Wolfsburg 		-  	Hamburger SV 		2:1 aet 	29,086	(Grafite, Marcelinho - van der Vaart)
FC Bayern München 	-  	TSV 1860 München 	1:0 aet		69,000	(Ribery)


Feb 25, 2008

Oberliga Review

We'll start an occasional review of what's going on in the 4th division, which along with the 3rd Division Regionalliga is in total chaos: everybody is scrambling for the new 3.Liga and reorganization of the 4th divisions.


OBERLIGA NORD

 1  Holstein Kiel (A) 	  	19 	  14 	3 	2 	  48:13   +35 	  	45
 2  VfB Oldenburg (N) 	  	20 	  12 	3 	5 	  41:26   +15 	  	39
 3  SV Wilhelmshaven (A)  	19 	  11 	5 	3 	  42:18   +24 	  	38
 4  Altona 93 	 	 	20 	  10 	6 	4 	  43:23   +20 	  	36
 5  BV Cloppenburg 	  	20 	  10 	5 	5 	  36:25   +11 	  	35
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  Hannover 96 II 	  	20 	  10 	5 	5 	  31:22   +9 	  	35
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  FC Oberneuland 	  	17 	  9 	4 	4 	  29:16   +13 	  	31
 8  FC St. Pauli II 	  	20 	  9 	4 	7 	  26:22   +4 	  	31
 9  TuS Heeslingen (N) 	  	20 	  8 	4 	8 	  28:31   -3 	  	28
10  SV Meppen 	  		20 	  7 	6 	7 	  35:30   +5 	  	27
11  Eintr. Braunschweig II 	20 	  7 	6 	7 	  25:24   +1 	  	27
12  VfL Osnabrück II 	  	21 	  7 	4 	10 	  32:33   -1 	  	25
13  ASV Bergedorf 85 	  	21 	  7 	4 	10 	  29:46   -17 	  	25
14  VSK Osterholz-Scharmbeck 	19 	  4 	6 	9 	  28:40   -12 	  	18
15  SV Lurup (N) 	  	20 	  3 	6 	11 	  26:44   -18 	  	15
16  VfB Lübeck II (N) 	  	21 	  4 	3 	14 	  23:62   -39 	  	15
17  Eintracht Nordhorn 	  	18 	  3 	3 	12 	  18:37   -19 	  	12
18  SV Henstedt-Rhen 	  	21 	  3 	3 	15 	  12:40   -28 	  	12

The Oberliga Nord has only been around in it's current configuration for a couple of years, as the Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Niedersachsen/Bremen Oberligen merged. And after this season, it will apparently be broken down into it's old setup. Apparently the new 5th divisions will be called "Verbandsliga", which is currently the 5th division.

Top 5 is the place to be: these clubs will qualify for what will be a new 4th division Regionalliga Nord. The 6th place club will be in playoffs with the champs of the current Verbandsligen. In general, the "traditional" clubs, such as Kiel, Oldenburg, Wilhelmshaven are doing quite well, and look to be making the new cut. Somewhat disappointing is that ex-2.Liga club Meppen is currently floundering aimlessly.


Feb 22-24, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 21

The top table clash between bayern and Hamburg was not the entertaining struggle fans hoped for, despite the return of injured playmakers Frank Ribery and Rafael van der Vaart. HSV managed to neutralize Bayern, so most of the action was kicking around in the midfield. A good point for HSV, and bayern can't complain either, as they actually were able to gain ground due to Bremen stubbing their toe. Frankfurt stunned Werder Bremen in somewhat lucky fashion. Werder was largely the dominate squad, despite playmaker Diego getting his ass tossed halfway. Certainly they deserved at least a point, but Amanatidis stole all points as he took advantage of a Bremen defensive lapse.

Schalke missed a chance to move up, and instead the Aspirins gave them a dose of Alka-Seltzer. It was expected to be an exciting top-table clash, but instead it was a dull snoozer. A misplayed cross led to a late goal and Leverkusen's win.

The southwest derby was actually pretty weak, and the result was hardly unexpected: despite the fact that Karlsruhe has played much better football than the defending champs, Stuttgart won for the 8th time against KSC. The win is fair for Stuttgart, as KSC hardly created any chances.

Oddly enough, Wolfsburg and Hertha delivered a somewhat entertaining game, despite the final goal-less result. Hertha was actually the better team, and had a couple of clear chances to take all the points.

Dortmund was hardly impressive, but in the end, they defeated Rostock and thereby likely banish any relegation worries. They controlled the match against a hapless Hansa, and had several chances to put the game away, but in the end their minimalist football was enough to get the result they expected.

A huge victory for Bochum in their relegation battle. VfL upended Hannover in a hard fought match. The Blues managed to hold off the 96er desperate assault in the final quarter hour to preserve the points.

Bielefeld needs to rethink their strategy of "we won't go down because other teams are crappier." In fact, Arminia is clearly demonstrating the requisite crappiness to get relegated. They surely expected a win at home against Duisburg, but such confidence was hardly warranted: they haven't beaten Duisburg at home since 1982. And yet another disappointment was in the cards. MSV grabbed an early lead, and then finished off a crap Bielefeld just after halftime. It seems hard to believe, but Duisburg has a serious chance to slip out of the relegation mire - at Arminia's expense.

In another crucial relegation battle, Nürnberg failed to win against Cottbus. Der Club had chances, but in general was too crappy to grab the win. Energie was lame as expected, but certainly happy about any point on the road. This result leaves all 3 relegation clubs at 17 points, but certainly casting an eye at Bielefeld with 18, but a vastly crappier goal difference.

Team of the Week: Duisburg
Turd of the Weak: Bielfeld

Attendance: 322,861 (avg 35,873), 16 goals

 

VfL Bochum 		 -  	Hannover 96 		2:1 (1:0)	19,902	(Cherundolo, Auer - Hanke)
Bayer Leverkusen 	 -  	FC Schalke 04 		1:0 (0:0) 	22,500	(Friedrich)	
Eintracht Frankfurt 	 -  	Werder Bremen 		1:0 (0:0) 	51,500	(Amanatidis)
VfL Wolfsburg 		 -  	Hertha BSC Berlin	0:0 (0:0)	23,659 	
VfB Stuttgart 		 -  	Karlsruher SC 		3:1 (2:0) 	55,000	(Gomez, Hilbert, Cacau - Hajnal)
Borussia Dortmund 	 -  	Hansa Rostock 		1:0 (0:0)	70,700	(Klimowicz)
Arminia Bielefeld 	 -  	MSV Duisburg 		0:2 (0:1) 	19,200	(Schröter, Ishiaku)
Bayern München 		 -  	Hamburger SV 		1:1 (0:0) 	69,000	(Zé Roberto - Olic)
1. FC Nürnberg 		 -  	Energie Cottbus 	1:1 (0:0)	40,900	(Engelhardt - Sörensen)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	21 	  12 	8 	1 	  38:11   +27 	  	44
 2  Werder Bremen 	  	21 	  12 	4 	5 	  46:28   +18 	  	40
 3  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	21 	  11 	5 	5 	  39:21   +18 	  	38
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Hamburger SV 	  	21 	  10 	8 	3 	  30:16   +14 	  	38
 5  FC Schalke 04 	  	21 	  9 	8 	4 	  34:23   +11 	  	35
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	21 	  9 	6 	6 	  26:28   -2 	  	33
 7  Eintracht Frankfurt   	21 	  8 	8 	5 	  25:25    0 	  	32
 8  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	21 	  10 	1 	10 	  32:35   -3 	  	31
 9  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	21 	  8 	6 	7 	  35:32   +3 	  	30
10  Hannover 96 	  	21 	  8 	5 	8 	  31:36   -5 	  	29
11  Borussia Dortmund 	  	21 	  8 	4 	9 	  34:36   -2 	  	28
12  Hertha BSC Berlin	  	21 	  8 	3 	10 	  23:28   -5 	  	27
13  VfL Bochum 		  	21 	  7 	5 	9 	  32:35   -3 	  	26
14  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	21 	  6 	3 	12 	  19:30   -11 	  	21
15  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	21 	  5 	3 	13 	  20:44   -24 	  	18
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	21 	  4 	5 	12 	  23:34   -11 	  	17
17  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	21 	  5 	2 	14 	  22:34   -12 	  	17
18  Energie Cottbus 	  	21 	  3 	8 	10 	  23:36   -13 	  	17

M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

2. Liga, Round 20

A tough week for the top clubs, as none of them got full points. Instead, sensational dwarfs Hoffenheim and Wehen crept closer to the top spots. The attractive pairings led to some decent crowds, including sell outs in Köln and Osnabrück. Köln hosted a struggling 1860, but failed to impress: yet another lame performance for the suffering Kölner fans.

Kaiserslautern had a golden opportunity to turn things around in the southwestern derby with Koblenz. Their new coach, Milan Sasic, was responsible for bringing koblenz from the Oberliga into the 2.Liga - and now is tasked with saving FCK. But the Reds were shocked by the visitors, who in ice-cold manner finished them off, plunging the Devil fans into further despair. One struggling club did take advantage, Erzgebirge Aue annihilated hapless Paderborn, raising hopes that relegation can be avoided.

Attendance: 178,477 (avg 19,831), 30 goals


1899 Hoffenheim 	 -  	SC Freiburg 		2:0 (1:0) 	 5,500	(Teber, Ba) 	 	
1. FC Köln	 	 -  	1860 München 		0:0 (0:0) 	50,000	
1. FSV Mainz 05 	 -  	FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	2:2 (1:0) 	19,500	(Feulner, Karhan - Simak, Allagui)
VfL Osnabrück 		 -  	Borussia M'gladbach 	2:2 (1:2) 	17,100	(Schoun, Cichon - Friend 2)
FC St. Pauli 		 -  	SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	1:1 (0:1) 	20,117	(Schnitzler - Lanig)
Erzgebirge Aue 		 -  	SC Paderborn 07 	6:0 (3:0) 	10,050	(Orahovac 2, Nemec, Curri, Leandro, Petrous)
FC Augsburg 		 -  	Kickers Offenbach 	1:1 (0:0) 	14,107	(Luz - Türker)
Alemannia Aachen 	 -  	SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	2:3 (1:2) 	19,103	(Fiel, Lehmann - König, Glibo, 	Diakité)
1. FC Kaiserslautern 	 -  	TuS Koblenz 		2:3 (1:2)	23,000	(Reinert, Ziemer - Djokaj 2, Kuqi)


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	21 	  10 	8 	3 	  41:26   +15 	  	38
 2  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A) 	21 	  10 	6 	5 	  36:21   +15 	  	36
 3  SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	21 	  10 	6 	5 	  34:24   +10 	  	36
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FC Köln 	  		21 	  10 	5 	6 	  38:28   +10 	  	35
 5  SC Freiburg 	  	21 	  9	7 	5 	  31:26   +5 	  	34
 6  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 	21 	  9 	7 	5 	  33:29   +4 	  	34
 7  TSV 1860 München 	  	21 	  8 	8 	5 	  31:23   +8 	  	32
 8  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N) 	21 	  8 	8 	5 	  34:30   +4 	  	32
 9  Alemannia Aachen (A) 	21 	  7 	7 	7 	  31:31    0 	  	28
10  FC Augsburg 	  	21 	  7 	6 	8 	  28:30   -2 	  	27
11  TuS Koblenz 	  	21 	  6 	9 	6 	  26:30   -4 	  	27
12  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	21 	  6 	8 	7 	  25:29   -4 	  	26
13  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	21 	  6 	7 	8 	  31:38   -7 	  	25
14  Kickers Offenbach 	  	21 	  5 	8 	8 	  22:35   -13 	  	23
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	21 	  6 	4 	11 	  30:36   -6 	  	22
16  1. FC Kaiserslautern 	21 	  4 	7 	10 	  22:27   -5 	  	19
17  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	21 	  3 	6 	12 	  30:43   -13 	  	15
18  SC Paderborn 07 	  	21 	  2 	9 	10 	  15:32   -17 	  	15


N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


Feb 16-18, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 20

Bayern defended their position as Luca Toni single handedly dispatched a plucky Hannover squad. In reality however, Bayern was never really threatened, as the 96ers had no ambition to try and take all the points. In the end, the Italian World Champion proved why he is the class of Bundesliga strikers by slaying the hosts with his hatt-trick.

Bremen temporarily took the lead as they dispatched Nürnberg without too much difficulty. The guests lost their 7th road match in a row, and although they started brightly, their fate was sealed early - Ivan saenko got his ass tossed after only 20 minutes, and Werder soon took the lead.

Hamburg has had trouble with Bochum at home (last win in 2000), but this time they made short work of their opponents. The guests disappointed across the board, and so in form HSV had little difficulty slapping the Bochumers silly.

Schalke managed to undo the good work from recent play and lose connection to the top. The Blues dominated the match against Wolfsburg, but wasted too many chances to put the game away. So Brazilian Grafite scored twice for the VWs and allowed them to steal all the points.

Newcomer KSC continues their fine form. They pressed hard against Leverkusen, but the Alka-Seltzers were too clever, and grabbed the lead twice. Karlsruhe eventually managed to get a split in the hard fought match.

Stuttgart was coasting to an easy victory at Duisburg, but the host Zebras turned things around in the 2nd half, and deserved to get a point. However, an injury time strike by Thomas Hitzlsperger gave the champion the win, and further evidence that Duisburg is doomed. Another snoozer in Berlin as Hertha and Bielefeld delivered the "goods". But the "sleeper" tactics worked for Berlin, as 3 minutes into injury time Arminia goofed and Raffael stole the winner. Bielefeld clearly wants to get relegated, but so far others are still playing crappier, so they may not get their wish. Yet another listless performance for Hertha, but at least they get the points.

A huge win for Rostock, as a late goal Christian Rahn got them a critical 3 points. Frankfurt probably deserved a point, but in reality didn't do enough, and Hansa seized their opportunity.

Cottbus ran around like chickens with their heads cut off against a defensively oriented Dortmund. Energie controlled the play, but had no ideas how to break down the disciplined Borussia defense, and then ran into some deadly counterattacks. A nice road win for the struggling Neons, but this loss definitely hurts for Cottbus.

Team of the Week: Bayern
Turd of the Weak: Bielefeld

Attendance: 312,204 (avg 34,689), 24 goals

 

FC Schalke 04	 	 -  	VfL Wolfsburg	 	1:2 (0:0)	60,387	(Sanchez - Grafite 2)
MSV Duisburg 		 -  	VfB Stuttgart 		2:3 (0:2) 	21,562	(Niculescu, Ishiaku - Gomez 2, Hitzlsperger)
Karlsruher SC 		 -  	Bayer Leverkusen 	2:2 (0:1) 	28,740	(Freis, Kennedy - Rolfes, Kiessling)
Werder Bremen 		 -  	1. FC Nürnberg 		2:0 (1:0) 	37,073	(Rosenberg, Klasnic)
Energie Cottbus 	 -  	Borussia Dortmund 	0:2 (0:1) 	17,842	(Petric 2)
Hertha BSC Berlin	 -  	Arminia Bielefeld 	1:0 (0:0) 	32,031	(Raffael)
Hansa Rostock	 	 -  	Eintracht Frankfurt 	1:0 (0:0)	15,500	(Rahn) 		
Hannover 96 		 -  	Bayern München 		0:3 (0:0) 	49,000	(Toni 3)		
Hamburger SV	 	 -  	VfL Bochum 		3:0 (1:0) 	50,069	(Jarolim 2, Olic)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	20 	  12 	7 	1 	  37:10   +27 	  	43
 2  Werder Bremen 	  	20 	  12 	4 	4 	  46:27   +19 	  	40
 3  Hamburger SV 	  	20 	  10 	7 	3 	  29:15   +14 	  	37
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	20 	  10 	5 	5 	  38:21   +17 	  	35
 5  FC Schalke 04 	  	20 	  9 	8 	3 	  34:22   +12 	  	35
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	20 	  9 	6 	5 	  25:25    0 	  	33
 7  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	20 	  8 	5 	7 	  35:32   +3 	  	29
 8  Eintracht Frankfurt 	20 	  7 	8 	5 	  24:25   -1 	  	29
 9  Hannover 96 	  	20 	  8 	5 	7 	  30:34   -4 	  	29
10  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	20 	  9 	1 	10 	  29:34   -5 	  	28
11  Hertha BSC Berlin 	  	20 	  8 	2 	10 	  23:28   -5 	  	26
12  Borussia Dortmund 	  	20 	  7 	4 	9 	  33:36   -3 	  	25
13  VfL Bochum	 	  	20 	  6 	5 	9 	  30:34   -4 	  	23
14  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	20 	  6 	3 	11 	  19:29   -10 	  	21
15  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	20 	  5 	3 	12 	  20:42   -22 	  	18
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	20 	  4 	4 	12 	  22:33   -11 	  	16
17  Energie Cottbus 	  	20 	  3 	7 	10 	  22:35   -13 	  	16
18  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	20 	  4 	2 	14 	  20:34   -14 	  	14

M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

Scorers:
1 Toni 		Bayern München 		13
2 Petric 	Borussia Dortmund 	11
3 Diego 	Werder Bremen	 	10
4 van der Vaart Hamburger SV 		10
5 Gomez 	VfB Stuttgart 		10

2. Liga, Round 20

Mainz got a huge boost as they visited leaders Gladbach and came away with a victory. Fürth missed a chance to go top, but they always choke when it counts, and will probably fail once again to gain promotion. Köln and Freiburg got wins to stay in the promotion hunt. Meanwhile 1860 was stunned at home by upstart Hoffenheim, who along with tiny Wehen are giving a good account of themselves in their inaugural 2.Liga season. On the bottom end, Osnabrück got their first road win, and critical points in their bid to stay up. A huge win by Kaiserslautern, which may be just the catalyst needed to wake up the traditional giant. Despite their difficult poisition, indications are that they can climb out. But things are looking pretty grim for Paderborn and Jena, who have one foot in the 3.Liga.

Attendance: 131,099 (avg 14,567), 19 goals


FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	 -  	1. FC Köln 		1:3 (0:1) 	 9,904	(R. Müller - Helmes, Novakovic 2)
TuS Koblenz 		 -  	FC St. Pauli 		1:1 (0:0) 	11,352	(Kuqi - Trojan)
SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	 -  	Erzgebirge Aue 		3:0 (2:0) 	 6,423	(Siegert, Schwarz, König)	
Kickers Offenbach 	 -  	Alemannia Aachen 	1:1 (1:1) 	10,122	(Türker - Kontiris) 
SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	 -  	1. FC Kaiserslautern 	0:1 (0:0) 	 9,700	(Bellinghausen)
SC Freiburg 		 -  	FC Augsburg 		1:0 (1:0) 	13,400	(Matmour)	
TSV 1860 München 	 -  	1899 Hoffenheim 	0:1 (0:1) 	27,600	(Copado)	
SC Paderborn 07 	 -  	VfL Osnabrück 		1:3 (0:0) 	 9,447	(Müller - Thomik, Reichenberger, Cichon)
Borussia M'gladbach 	 -  	1. FSV Mainz 05 	0:1 (0:1)	33,151	(Borja)


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	20 	  10 	7 	3 	  39:24   +15 	  	37
 2  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A)  	20 	  10 	5 	5 	  34:19   +15 	  	35
 3  SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	20 	  10 	5 	5 	  33:23   +10 	  	35
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FC Köln 	  		20 	  10 	4 	6 	  38:28   +10 	  	34
 5  SC Freiburg 	  	20 	  9 	7 	4 	  31:24   +7 	  	34
 6  TSV 1860 München 	  	20 	  8 	7 	5 	  31:23   +8 	  	31
 7  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N)  	20 	  8 	7 	5 	  31:29   +2 	  	31
 8  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N)  	20 	  7 	8 	5 	  31:28   +3 	  	29
 9  Alemannia Aachen (A)  	20 	  7 	7 	6 	  29:28   +1 	  	28
10  FC Augsburg 	  	20 	  7 	5 	8 	  27:29   -2 	  	26
11  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	20 	  6 	7 	7 	  24:28   -4 	  	25
12  TuS Koblenz 	  	20 	  5 	9 	6 	  23:28   -5 	  	24
13  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	20 	  6 	6 	8 	  29:36   -7 	  	24
14  Kickers Offenbach 	  	20 	  5 	7 	8 	  21:34   -13 	  	22
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  1. FC Kaiserslautern  	20 	  4 	7 	9 	  20:24   -4 	  	19
16  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	20 	  5 	4 	11 	  24:36   -12 	  	19
17  SC Paderborn 07 	  	20 	  2 	9 	9 	  15:26   -11 	  	15
18  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	20 	  3 	5 	12 	  28:41   -13 	  	14

N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


Feb 8-11, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 19

The top table clash between bayern and Werder ended in a draw - and the visitors have a lot to be happy about. The 1st half was a hard fought dual that lived up to the pre-billing, but things started to slack off in the 2nd. But Bayern may yet rue the the result. Luca Toni had a penalty saved by Tim Wiese, and his 2nd half "goal" was unfairly denied with a faulty offsides call. The beneficiary of error is...Schalke :). The Blues looked dead and buried, but have started off the 2nd half-season with a bang, and came up with a huge win in the always massive Revier Derby against Dortmund. Thhis allows them to move back within striking distance of the title.

Leverkusen and Hamburg delivered an exciting game with lots of chances on both sides. In general, it was probably the sharp play of HSV GK Frank Rost that got the visitors the point, as the Aspirins bombarded the HSV goal when they fell behind. Overall however, a fair result.

Karlsruhe gets another result, a draw on the road with Hannover. It was a hard fought match, and they almost ended up stealing all 3 points, but for a late 96 goal.

If you needed anymore evidence that defending champ Stuttgart is finished, their dire display against Berlin should settle the matter. Hertha are usually crap, but they ran circles around a lame VfB squad.

Another good win for Frankfurt as they continue their rise up the table. New signing Martin Fenin followed up his debut hattrick with another goal. Meanwhile, Bielefeld continue to struggle and are seriously in danger of the drop.

Bochum missed a chance to move up, as they seemingly had the game against Energie Cottbus in control, up 3-1. But Energie never gave up, and were rewarded with a rare away point. Wolfsburg showed Bochum how to do, as they ground out a win against bottom club Duisburg.

Nürnberg needs to seriously start looking at the 2.Liga train schedule if they can't win matches against relegation rivals. New signing Jan Koller scored his 1st for der Club - not surprising that it was a header. Good result for Rostock, who deserved the point. Nürnberg's board decided to take drastic action after the match: manager Hans Meyer was fired. Oddly enough, it was the veteran Meyer who a couple of years ago came into an almost hopeless situation at Nürnberg and turned things around. Guess they felt he wouldn't be able to do it this time. His replacement is Thomas van Heesen, formerly with Bielefeld, among others, so I guess he has lot's of experience in relegation...

Team of the Week: Schalke
Turd of the Weak: Stuttgart

Attendance: 382,920 (avg 42,547), 31 goals

 

Eintracht Frankfurt 	 -  	Arminia Bielefeld 	2:1 (1:0)	43,300	(Amanatidis, Fenin - Wichniarek)	
Bayer Leverkusen 	 -  	Hamburger SV 		1:1 (0:1) 	22,500	(Friedrich - van der Vaart)
VfB Stuttgart	 	 -  	Hertha BSC Berlin 	1:3 (1:2) 	50,000	(Gomez - Pantelic 2, Raffael)
VfL Bochum 		 -  	Energie Cottbus 	3:3 (2:1) 	22,075	(Ipsa, Sestak, Auer - Papadopulos, Skela, Jelic)
Hannover 96 		 -  	Karlsruher SC 		2:2 (1:0) 	40,112	(Balitsch, Rosenthal - Kennedy, Hajnal)
1. FC Nürnberg	 	 -  	Hansa Rostock 		1:1 (1:1) 	36,470	(Koller - Rahn)
VfL Wolfsburg 		 -  	MSV Duisburg 		2:1 (1:1) 	18,755	(Schäfer, Grafite - Niculescu)
Borussia Dortmund 	 -  	FC Schalke 04 		2:3 (1:2) 	80,708	(Federico, Petric - Asamoah, Amedick o.g., Ernst) 
Bayern München 		 -  	Werder Bremen 		1:1 (1:1)	69,000	(Zé Roberto - Diego)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	19 	  11 	7 	1 	  34:10   +24 	  	40
 2  Werder Bremen 	  	19 	  11 	4 	4 	  44:27   +17 	  	37
 3  FC Schalke 04 	  	19 	  9 	8 	2 	  33:20   +13 	  	35
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	19 	  10 	4 	5 	  36:19   +17 	  	34
 5  Hamburger SV 	  	19 	  9 	7 	3 	  26:15   +11 	  	34
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	19 	  9 	5 	5 	  23:23     0 	  	32
 7  Eintracht Frankfurt   	19 	  7 	8 	4 	  24:24     0 	  	29
 8  Hannover 96 	  	19 	  8 	5 	6 	  30:31   -1 	  	29
 9  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	19 	  7 	5 	7 	  33:31   +2 	  	26
10  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	19 	  8 	1 	10 	  26:32   -6 	  	25
11  VfL Bochum 	  		19 	  6 	5 	8 	  30:31   -1 	  	23
12  Hertha BSC Berlin	  	19 	  7 	2 	10 	  22:28   -6 	  	23
13  Borussia Dortmund 	  	19 	  6 	4 	9 	  31:36   -5 	  	22
14  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	19 	  5 	3 	11 	  18:29   -11 	  	18
15  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	19 	  5 	3 	11 	  20:41   -21 	  	18
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	19 	  4 	4 	11 	  22:31   -9 	  	16
17  Energie Cottbus 	  	19 	  3 	7 	9 	  22:33   -11 	  	16
18  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	19 	  4 	2 	13 	  18:31   -13 	  	14


M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)


2. Liga, Round 19

The big winner this round was Fürth, who won a top table clash at Mainz to consolidate 2nd place. A somewhat surprise result, but Fürth has to be taken seriously. Hoffenheim's tremendous 2nd half against leaders Gladbach is probably the best in the club's history. The big loser is probably once again Kaiserslautern, who fired manager Kjetil Rekdal last week, and still managed to lose at home against 1860. Why K-town continues to suck is one of mysteries of German football, but perhaps the answer is less complicated than we thought: they're just crap. Attendance: 142,417 (avg 15,824), 33 goals



1. FC Kaiserslautern 	 -  	1860 München 		1:2 (1:0) 	28,380	(Schönheim - Kucukovic, Holebas) 
FC St. Pauli 		 -  	FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	2:2 (1:0) 	20,217	(Takyi, Bruns - Ziegner, Simak)
Erzgebirge Aue	 	 -  	Kickers Offenbach 	3:1 (2:0) 	 9,800	(Kaufmann 2, Petrous - Türker)
1899 Hoffenheim 	 -  	Borussia M'gladbach 	4:2 (0:2)        6,350	(Copado 2, Teber, Ba - Kleine, Neuville)
SC Paderborn 07 	 -  	SC Freiburg 		3:2 (1:1) 	 6,792	(Löbe 3 - Ampomah, Akrout) 
1. FSV Mainz 05 	 -  	SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	1:2 (0:0) 	20,000	(Boakye - Kotuljac, Biliskov)
FC Augsburg 		 -  	TuS Koblenz 		1:0 (1:0) 	16,278	(L. Müller)
VfL Osnabrück	 	 -  	SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	0:2 (0:1)	14,400	(König, Simac)
Alemannia Aachen 	 -  	1. FC Köln 		3:2 (1:1)	20,200	(Reghecampf, Kontiris, Fiel - Helmes 2)


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A)  	19 	  10 	7 	2 	  39:23   +16 	  	37
 2  SpVgg Greuther Fürth  	19 	  10 	5 	4 	  33:22   +11 	  	35
 3  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A)   	19 	  9 	5 	5 	  33:19   +14 	  	32
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  TSV 1860 München 	  	19 	  8 	7 	4 	  31:22   +9 	  	31
 5  1. FC Köln 	  		19 	  9 	4 	6 	  35:27   +8 	  	31
 6  SC Freiburg 	  	19 	  8 	7 	4 	  30:24   +6 	  	31
 7  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N)  	19 	  7 	7 	5 	  30:29   +1 	  	28
 8  Alemannia Aachen (A)  	19 	  7 	6 	6 	  28:27   +1 	  	27
 9  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N)  	19 	  6 	8 	5 	  28:28    0 	  	26
10  FC Augsburg 	  	19 	  7 	5 	7 	  27:28   -1 	  	26
11  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	19 	  6 	6 	7 	  23:27   -4 	  	24
12  TuS Koblenz 	  	19 	  5 	8 	6 	  22:27   -5 	  	23
13  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	19 	  5 	6 	8 	  26:35   -9 	  	21
14  Kickers Offenbach 	  	19 	  5 	6 	8 	  20:33   -13 	  	21
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	19 	  5 	4 	10 	  24:33   -9 	  	19
16  1. FC Kaiserslautern   	19 	  3 	7 	9 	  19:24   -5 	  	16
17  SC Paderborn 07 	  	19 	  2 	9 	8 	  14:23   -9 	  	15
18  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	19 	  3 	5 	11 	  27:38   -11 	  	14

N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)

Lame performance of national squad

On Wednesday the 6th, Germany faced off against Austria in Vienna's Ernst Happel stadium for the first 2008 match for both squads. The DFB squad was completely flat, and the Austrians took it to them in the first half. Germany was quite lucky not to be trailing at half. DFB manager Joachim Löw must have ripped his players in the dressing room. Or maybe he said nothing. Afterall, this is Austria we're talking about. So in the half, Germany went out and banged in a few and left winners 3-0. The stats are here.


Feb 1-4, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 18

Rostock showed too much respect for the leaders. Bayern was coasting along easily, but then Mario Kern scored for Hansa, and the last 30+ minutes might have allowed the underdogs to grab a point. However, that wasn't enough, and Bayern brings home the bacon. Werder Bremen on the other hand, collapsed at the wrong moment. In a hard fought match against Bochum, the hosts had the upper hand, but couldn't put VfL away. Then Blues coach Marcel Koller brought in his surprise - new Japanese signing Shinji Ono. He was on the field for about 60 seconds, when he snuck into an offsides position and passed to Benjamin Auer for the equalizer. Then near the end, his cross found Anthar Yahia who headed home for the stunning upset. So Werder's hard work to catch Bayern is undone in 20 minutes.

Hamburg disappointed in the sold out northern derby against Hannover. The guests played too defensively, and let HSV back into the game, but there was nothing more than a point in it. Certainly HSV needs to win matches like this if they want Champions League, but a good point for the 96ers. A solid performance by Schalke saw them roll defending champs Stuttgart, who continue to puddle around haplessly. Karlsruhe continued where they left off, with their outstanding season claiming yet another victim. In a hard fought match, Nürnberg had a slight advantage in the 1st half, but came under increasing pressure in the 2nd. And they cracked, as Andreas Wolf got his ass tossed for his 2nd yellow. This quickly led to KSC taking the lead, and the match was finally finished off by Australian Joshua Kennedy - who had been dumped by Nürnberg in the winterbreak. Revenge is sweet...and der Club is in dire straits.

Energie played another typical scrappy game at home against Leverkusen. They got an early goal, and Bayer couldn't get anything together in the 1st half. As the game degenerated into a kickabout, there was every sign that Cottbus might be able to get another critical home result. However the 2nd half was a wild affair as the Asprins decided the match at the end with a somewhat contraversial penalty.

The player of the week is undoubtedly Frankfurt's new Czech signing, Martin Fenin. The ex-Teplice attacker made his debut for Eintracht, and what a start: a hat-trick. Eintracht completely dominated against a crap Hertha squad, who could have got their ass kicked even worse if the guests hadn't shown some mercy by wasting several chances. Luckily for Hertha, there is enough crap at the bottom that they probably won't have to suffer relegation... Bielfeld started their 2nd half campaign with a a turd. A dismal performance against the Volkswagens stunk to high heavens. Wolfsburg controlled the match from the start, but wasted almost all their chances, being satisfied that a solitary goal would stand up against a hapless Arminia. They were correct.

A wild shootout in a Ruhr derby, and the Zebras of Duisburg seemed to have Dortmund on the ropes. Leading 3-1 with only 20 minutes left, the points seemed in the bag against the disappointing Neons. But then Argie Diego Klimowicz was subbed in. The ex-Wolfsburg star has been a major bust this season, but showed flashes of his skill as he notched two goals to pull a point out of the fire - the last in injury time to break the Zebras hearts.

Team of the Week: Frankfurt, Bochum
Turd of the Weak: Hertha

Attendance: 312,417 (avg 34,713), 30 goals

 

Hansa Rostock 		 -  	Bayern München 		1:2 (0:2)	29,000	(Kern - Ribery, Toni)
Energie Cottbus 	 -  	Bayer Leverkusen 	2:3 (1:0) 	14,966	(Papadopulos, Bassila - Rolfes 2, Bulykin)
Karlsruher SC	 	 -  	1. FC Nürnberg 		2:0 (0:0) 	29,670	(Eichner, Kennedy)
MSV Duisburg 		 -  	Borussia Dortmund 	3:3 (2:0) 	29,120	(Filipescu, Willi, Tararache - Klimowicz 2, Kehl)
Hamburger SV 		 -  	Hannover 96 		1:1 (0:1) 	57,000	(Olic - Huszti)
Hertha BSC Berlin 	 -  	Eintracht Frankfurt 	0:3 (0:1) 	35,930	(Fenin 3)	
Arminia Bielefeld 	 -  	VfL Wolfsburg 		0:1 (0:1) 	18,100	(Grafite)	
FC Schalke 04 		 -  	VfB Stuttgart 		4:1 (1:0) 	61,482	(Kuranyi 2, Westermann, Ze Roberto - da Silva)
Werder Bremen 		 -  	VfL Bochum 		1:2 (1:0)	37,149	(Jensen - Auer, Yahia)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	18 	  11 	6 	1 	  33:9 	  +24 	  	39
 2  Werder Bremen 	  	18 	  11 	3 	4 	  43:26   +17 	  	36
 3  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	18 	  10 	3 	5 	  35:18   +17 	  	33
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Hamburger SV 	  	18 	  9 	6 	3 	  25:14   +11 	  	33
 5  FC Schalke 04 	  	18 	  8 	8 	2 	  30:18   +12 	  	32
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	18 	  9 	4 	5 	  21:21     0 	  	31
 7  Hannover 96 	  	18 	  8 	4 	6 	  28:29   -1 	  	28
 8  Eintracht Frankfurt 	18 	  6 	8 	4 	  22:23   -1 	  	26
 9  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	18 	  8 	1 	9 	  25:29   -4 	  	25
10  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	18 	  6 	5 	7 	  31:30   +1 	  	23
11  VfL Bochum 	  		18 	  6 	4 	8 	  27:28   -1 	  	22
12  Borussia Dortmund 	  	18 	  6 	4 	8 	  29:33   -4 	  	22
13  Hertha BSC Berlin	  	18 	  6 	2 	10 	  19:27   -8 	  	20
14  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	18 	  5 	3 	10 	  19:39   -20 	  	18
15  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	18 	  5 	2 	11 	  17:28   -11 	  	17
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	18 	  4 	3 	11 	  21:30   -9 	  	15
17  Energie Cottbus 	  	18 	  3 	6 	9 	  19:30   -11 	  	15
18  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	18 	  4 	2 	12 	  17:29   -12 	  	14

M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)


 1  Toni 	  Bayern München 	10
 2  Diego  	  Werder Bremen 	9
 3  van der Vaart Hamburger SV 		9 
 4  Klose 	  Bayern München 	9
 5  Sestak 	  VfL Bochum 		8
 6  Petric 	  Borussia Dortmund 	8
 7  Olic 	  Hamburger SV	 	8
 8  Hanke 	  Hannover 96 		8
 9  Gekas 	  Bayer Leverkusen 	8
10  Kuranyi 	  FC Schalke 04 	8

2. Liga, Round 18

No shocking results as the 2.Liga got restarted. Leaders Gladbach gave up a draw against struggling Kaiserslautern, but since Köln and Mainz had identical results, no harm done. Fürth was therefore able to sneak into the desired 3rd spot, although staying there will undoubtedly be difficult. A huge crowd in München's Allianz-Arena saw 1860 go down in flames against Augsburg in a Bavarian derby. Jena and Paderborn's losses just about sink those ships.

Attendance: 201,563 (avg 22,396), 28 goals


Borussia M'gladbach 	 -  	1. FC Kaiserslautern 	1:1 (1:0) 	37,202	(Rösler - Runström)
SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	 -  	1899 Hoffenheim 	0:2 (0:2) 	 6,043	(Salihovic, Ba) 		
1. FC Köln 		 -  	FC St. Pauli 		1:1 (0:1) 	50,000	(Chihi - Meggele) 		
TuS Koblenz	 	 -  	1. FSV Mainz 05 	1:1 (1:1) 	14,053	(Hartmann - Subotic)
TSV 1860 München 	 -  	FC Augsburg 		0:3 (0:1) 	57,400	(Thurk 2, Wenzel)
SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	 -  	Erzgebirge Aue 		2:0 (2:0) 	 9,300	(Reisinger, Kos)
Kickers Offenbach 	 -  	SC Paderborn 07 	2:1 (2:1) 	 9,052	(Bancé, Türker - C. Müller o.g.)
SC Freiburg 		 -  	VfL Osnabrück	 	1:1 (1:1) 	12,000	(Pitroipa - Reichenberger)
FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	 -  	Alemannia Aachen 	2:3 (1:1)	 6,513	(Werner, Schied - Reghecampf, Lehmann, Kontiris)


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	18 	  10 	7 	1 	  37:19   +18 	  	37
 2  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A) 	18 	  9 	5 	4 	  32:17   +15 	  	32
 3  SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	18 	  9 	5 	4 	  31:21   +10 	  	32
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FC Köln 	  		18 	  9 	4 	5 	  33:24   +9 	  	31
 5  SC Freiburg 	  	18 	  8 	7 	3 	  28:21   +7 	  	31
 6  TSV 1860 München 	  	18 	  7 	7 	4 	  29:21   +8 	  	28
 7  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 	18 	  6 	7 	5 	  26:27   -1 	  	25
 8  Alemannia Aachen (A) 	18 	  6 	6 	6 	  25:25    0 	  	24
 9  FC Augsburg 	  	18 	  6 	5 	7 	  26:28   -2 	  	23
10  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N) 	18 	  5 	8 	5 	  26:28   -2 	  	23
11  TuS Koblenz 	  	18 	  5 	8 	5 	  22:26   -4 	  	23
12  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	18 	  6 	5 	7 	  21:25   -4 	  	23
13  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	18 	  5 	6 	7 	  26:33   -7 	  	21
14  Kickers Offenbach 	  	18 	  5 	6 	7 	  19:30   -11 	  	21
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  1. FC Kaiserslautern 	18 	  3 	7 	8 	  18:22   -4 	  	16
16  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	18 	  4 	4 	10 	  21:32   -11 	  	16
17  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	18 	  3 	4 	11 	  25:36   -11 	  	13
18  SC Paderborn 07 	  	18 	  1 	9 	8 	  11:21   -10 	  	12

N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


Jan 27-31, 2008

DFB Cup

No huge upsets in the Achtelfinale of the DFB-Pokal, but 2.Liga clubs Hoffenheim and Jena both knocked off Bundesliga strugglers. The match of the round was undoubtedly regionalliga Nord Wuppertaler SV facing off against Bayern München. This was a dream draw for WSV, who had previously stunned Hertha BSC 2-0 to get this lucrative faceoff. The match was moved to Schalke's Veltins-Arena, as Wuppertal's Zoo-Stadion was clearly too small (current capacity is about 16,500 due to construction). And the fans did turn out, causing the match to start 15 minutes late due to the demand for tickets. In the end, a sell-out crowd of 62,000 witnessed the 3rd division club come back twice from a deficit against the mighty Bayern. The match was deadlocked 2-2 at halftime, but in the 2nd, Bayern, who played with all their frontline players, finally overpowered WSV.

In another 3rd division vs. Bundesliga matchup, Rot-Weiss Essen was without a chance against Hamburg, as HSV walked away with a ho-hum victory. The final matchup almost turned into a sensation. Werder Bremen's II squad was thumped by Stuttgart in the 1st half, but came out guns blazing after the break. Since VfB was just phoning it in, Bremen's reserves almost got the equalizer after trailing 0-3. Meanwhile, the "A" squad of Werder also went down in flames. Dortmund was generally outplayed by Bremen, but took the match by using their opportunities, while Werder wasted their chances. An injury time goal saved Wolfsburg, who then went on to win on penalties against Schalke.

In an attractive 2.Liga matchup, Aachen was coasting 2-0 against 1860 when the Lions stunned their hosts with 3 goals in the last 6 minutes. A penalty by Jan Simak in the 116th minute gave 2.Liga struggler Jena the victory against Bielefeld. Arminia seemed to be in control, but a late leveler sent the game into overtime. This should lead to nice matchup for Jena in the quarterfinals, who look like sure a relegation candidate from the 2.Liga. Meanwhile, the only semi-dwarf, tiny-but-rich Hoffenheim, did well. The newly promoted 2.Liga club sold out their tiny stadium to face Rostock, who disappointed with a crap performance.


TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 	 -  	Hansa Rostock 		2:1 (1:0) 	 5,385	(Nilsson, Orestes o.g - Kern) 	 	
Alemannia Aachen 	 -  	TSV 1860 München 	2:3 (2:0) 	17,520	(Kolev, Ebbers - Schwarz, Kucukovic, Johnson)
Wuppertaler SV Bor. 	 -  	Bayern München 		2:5 (2:2) 	61,482	(Damm, Saglik - Klose 2, Toni, vanBuyten, Altintop)  
Borussia Dortmund 	 -  	Werder Bremen 		2:1 (1:0) 	64,100	(Federico, Klimowicz - Diego)		
FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	 -  	Arminia Bielefeld 	2:1 e.t.	14,500	(Petersen, Simak - Wichniarek)
Rot-Weiss Essen 	 -  	Hamburger SV 		0:3 (0:1)	21,500  (van der Vaart, Trochowski, Olic)
Werder Bremen II 	 -  	VfB Stuttgart 		2:3 (0:3)  	10,310	(Heider, Peitz - Gomez 3)
VfL Wolfsburg	 	 -  	FC Schalke 04 		1:1 5-3 pen	25,831	(Karimov - Lövenkrands)


The quaterfinal parings are as follows: (February 26th)

Borussia Dortmund 	 -  	TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
FC Bayern München 	 -  	TSV 1860 München 
VfB Stuttgart 		 -  	FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  		
VfL Wolfsburg 		 -  	Hamburger SV

Jan 13-20, 2008

Misc News

There have been a few developments during the winter hibernation. Jürgen Klinsmann has been named the new Bayern manager! He will replace Ottmar Hitzfeld, who is unceremoniously getting his ass booted out. However, Klinsi will not take over until the summer, so maybe Hitzfeld can sbotage the team and get them relegated :). This seems like a recipe for failure, but Klinsi proved them wrong when he revived Germany for the 2006 World Cup, so maybe he'll have success. He's already made his first move: Werder Bremen's defensive midfielder Tim Borowski is joining Bayern after his contract runs out this summer. This German policy of allowing guys to sign contracts mid-season is crazy. Can you say "conflict of interest?" Look for Borowski to score an own goal when they face Bayern.

Think you can manage?. Well, you could spend $30 and buy "Football Manager 2008" and lead Bognor Regis Town to the heights of the EPL and Champions League. However, we've got a better idea: manage a real team. You can become the manager of KFC Uerdingen when they face Rot-Weiss Oberhausen in an upcoming match. Uerdingen is on the verge of financial collapse as they struggle under administration. So aside from fund raisers like a friendly against MSV Duisburg, they've come up with a clever plan to raise more cash. Apparently you can bid on eBay to become manager - at last view, the bid was up to 4,100 euros. The current manager, Aleksandr Ristic would be your Assistant. Of course, you get "fired" after the match, but you're in charge before and during. Uerdingen is in desperate straits. The legendary ex-Bundesligist dwarf now struggles in 4th division Oberliga Nordrhein, and needs to raise some 260,000 euros by end of January to avoid being wound up. Apparently they've scraped together almost 100,000, but still have a way to go. Lets hope they pull it off, because how can a club named after "Kentucky Fried Chicken" be allowed to disappear?!

In a move certain to warm the hearts of all German - or at least Dortmund - fans, GK Jens Lehmann has decided to remain with Arsenal. That should keep down the number of own goals and other patzers down in the leaky Borussia defense. Lehmann can't even beat out a stiff like Manuel Almunia at Arse, but for some bizarre reason is still in the national squad. But if he can't get a regular game, he might not be the starter for the Euro 2008 tournament. Apparently, he refused Borussia's offer of a long term contract: he wants to be a free agent at the end of the season!! And he's already 38!! He should have grabbed the contract! Only somebody like Leyton Orient will bother to sign him after this year. (Orient fanously signed Shilton so he could get his 1000th league game...)

Werder Bremen is apparently throwing in the towel. Carlos Alberto, the Brazilian midfielder, cost some 8 million euros, the most expensive purchase in club history. And he sucked. So the plan is to loan him out to Sao Paulo before dumping his ass. Oddly enough, he only played some 45 minutes. Aside from getting in a fight with teammate Boubacar Sanogo, he's exhibited other undisclosed mental deficiencies. His old club, Fluminense is probably having a good laugh, although probably the whole transfer fee has long been plundered by corrupt officials...


Jan 1-6, 2008

Misc News

Werder Bremen is going forward with their planned expansion of the Weserstadion. They had originally planned to start construction in December, but it's been delayed until late January. Construction will take about 1 year, and the new capacity will be about 50,000, an increase about 8,000. Costs of 60 million euros will be paid by the club. Since they virtually sell-out every match, there is certain to be a pent-up demand that will grab all the new seats. Also somewhat encouraging for those against over-commercialization of the game, Werder will not sell the naming rights to the stadium, which will remain "Weserstadion", after the river upon which banks it sits.

Ottmar Hitzfeld fired!. Well, not yet. But just more of the circus surrounding Fc Hollywood. Bayern has already announced that Hitzfeld will leave the club when his contract expires in the summer. And apparently Hitzfeld is already negotiating to take over the Switzerland national coach job.

Winterplans - Some might wonder what the players do when their colleagues in Jolly Old England are furiously kicking each other during the winterbreak. After all the obligatory drinking and carousing, traditionally they've either participated in the worthless indoor tournaments, and of course go to a training camp in warmer climates. Below is a list of where the Bundesliga clubs are practicing:


TURKEY:

Werder Bremen: 		Belek (8.-16.1.)
Schalke 04: 		Belek (6.-13.1.)
Karlsruher SC: 		Belek (11.-19.1.)
Bayer 04 Leverkusen: 	Antalya (5.1.-14. 1.)
Energie Cottbus: 	Antalya (13.-22.1.)

SPAIN:

Bayern München: 	Marbella (13.-19.1.)
Borussia Dortmund: 	Marbella (10.-17.1.)
Hannover 96: 		Teneriffa (7.-14.1.)
Hertha BSC: 		Teneriffa (7.-14.1.)
VfL Bochum: 		Lomas Campoamor/Alicante (11.-19.1.)
MSV Duisburg: 		Huelva (13.-20.1.)
Arminia Bielefeld: 	Chiclana de la Frontera (9.-19.1.)

PORTUGAL:

1. FC Nürnberg: 	Vale do Lobo (9.-17.1.)
Eintracht Frankfurt: 	Portimao (6.-13.1.)
VfL Wolfsburg:		Albufeira (7.-17.1.)

DUBAI:

Hamburger SV: 		Dubai (7.-13.1.)
VfB Stuttgart: 		Dubai (4.-14.1.)
Hansa Rostock: 		Dubai (3.-13.1.)

Tough crowd. Talk about ambitious club bosses. Regionalliga Süd club FC Ingolstadt gave head coach Jürgen Press his New Year's bonus: they fired his ass. Press had led Ingolstadt into the 3rd division last year, and they finished a respectable 5th. This raised expectations, and they spent some money to sign a couple of ex-Bundesliga players. Right now, they sit in 6th place in the RS - and in reality only 1 win away from promotion into the 2.Liga. but evidently the bosses expected something better, I don't know, maybe Champions League. The reason seems to be that Ingolstadt has sucked at home, and the press and fans got on his ass. So despite an excellent road record (6 wins already), stinking in front of the home fans led to his demise.


Dec 23-31, 2007

3.Liga news

The winterbreak will probably mean some unusually big spending among the Regionalliga clubs. Many are looking at qualification of the upcoming 3.Liga as a "life or death" situation. Basically, from 19 northern and 18 southern clubs, 17 will bite the dust and drop to the regional 4th divisions. The teams that finish 3rd-10th in the current Regionalliga will qualify for the new league - and hopefully greater income. However, this is hardly a guaranteed outcome. Clubs currently receive some 375,000 euros from TV money. The new league will guarantee 625,000 euros per club, which is hardly the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Certainly there will be greater marketing opportunities, and combined with more attractive gates, this should definitely raise income. But some folks are dreaming of Pay-TV coming to the rescue, which is absolutely laughable. No one will pay to watch 3rd division football on TV, period. And I wouldn't expect THAT big a windfall at the gate either. Although the Bundesliga packs them in, you already see a huge drop off in the 2.Liga. I'd be surprised if the new 3.Liga average attemdance is over 7,000 - a nice boost from the crap levels now, but don't expect to be signing Ronaldinho on a free.

But as mentioned, most clubs are ready to desperately spend to avoid teh drop. Kickers Stuttgart manager Joachim Cast stated at the members meeeting that "failure to qualify for the 3.Liga would be the end of the club as we know it." (Hmm, you mean as a crap club living in the shadow of VfB?). Union Berlin has decided to fire several employees to concentrate "all available money on the team". Not sure about the logic of RW Erfurt though. They've promised to refund all season ticket holders if they don't qualify for the 3.Liga. But they're probably not sweating, as RWE is currently 2nd in the north, and actually is one of the favorites for promotion into the 2.Liga anyway.

I think in the long run, the 3.Liga is going to be good for the game. If nothing else, it should lead to better press coverage. In fact, Abseits will probably have to regularily feature them as well. On the negative side, I'm guessing that Football Manager 2009 probably won't have a 4th division level in the German leagues, so that means that 17 fewer clubs to manage...


December 18, 2008

Half-season 2. Liga report card

Not too many suprises; here's my take on the season so far. (Grading using American System A-B-C-D-F)

1  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	17 	  10 	6 	1 	  36:18   +18 	  	36

Grade: A

Borussia has been excellent and looks to make a quick return to the Bundesliga


 2  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A) 	17 	  9 	4 	4 	  31:16   +15 	  	31

Grade: A-

Mainz has proven that their Bundesliga adventure was not a fluke, and the have the makings
of an excellent elevator club.

 3  1. FC Köln 	  		17 	  9 	3 	5 	  32:23   +9 	  	30

Grade: B

You can't argue with 3rd place, but Köln has really struggled in most of their matches.
They may will their way back to the Bundesliga, which their dedicated fans deserve, but
they aren't that impressive and will probably drop straight back down.


 4  SC Freiburg 	  	17 	  8 	6 	3 	  27:20   +7 	  	30

Grade: B

The post-Volker Finke era continues, and Freiburg will eventually ride the escalator up
and down once again. They could do it this year with some luck.


 5  SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	17 	  8 	5 	4 	  29:21   +8 	  	29

Grade: B

Fürth is the one club that you never want to see in the Bundesliga. They're a plucky squad,
but they have fewer fans than ASV Wuppertal, playing in the 6th division Landesliga. I'll
have to check the records to see if anyone watched them in the 1920s when they were the
German champs...


 6  TSV 1860 München 	  	17 	  7 	7 	3 	  29:18   +11 	  	28

Grade: B-

When 1860 is good, they're excellent. Otherwise they suck. Obviously a few of the "good"
performances would be enough to see them go up, but don't bet on it.


 7  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N) 	17 	  5 	8 	4 	  26:26    0 	  	23

Grade: B+

Wehen is another village team that had to move to another town to play on a grass field :)
Considering that nothing was expected, they've done quite well so far.


 8  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 	17 	  5 	7 	5 	  24:27   -3 	  	22

Grade: B

Not too much of a surprise, as they have a sugar daddy in one of the SAP founders. If he
loses interest, they'll drop about 5 divisions, but until then, they should be strong
enough to stay afloat in the 2.Liga.

 9  TuS Koblenz 	  	17 	  5 	7 	5 	  21:25   -4 	  	22

Grade: B

What?! They're still in the 2.Liga?! Well, that alone deserves a nice grade!

10  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	17 	  6 	4 	7 	  20:24   -4 	  	22

Grade: B-

A "Kultverein" with great attendance. Just having them in the 2.Liga is a good thing, and
they've been about average on the field.


11  Alemannia Aachen (A) 	17 	  5 	6 	6 	  22:23   -1 	  	21

Grade: D

As a just relegated Bundesliga club, they and their fans expected a lot more. Instead,
Alemannia has struggled and is going nowhere.


12  FC Augsburg 	  	17 	  5 	5 	7 	  23:28   -5 	  	20

Grade: C-

A relatively popular club, I think more was expected than what they've shown so far.


13  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	17 	  5 	5 	7 	  25:32   -7 	  	20

Grade: C

Not much expected of them, so they've met expectations :) As long as they avoid relegation,
they get a pass.


14  Kickers Offenbach 	  	17 	  4 	6 	7 	  17:29   -12 	  	18

Grade: D

A legendary name, and that's about it. They've shown little, and their fans haven't really
turned out either.


15  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	17 	  4 	4 	9 	  21:30   -9 	  	16

Grade: D

They've been lame, and I'm sure they expected at least a mid-table spot.


16  1. FC Kaiserslautern 	17 	  3 	6 	8 	  17:21   -4 	  	15

Grade: F

One of the legendary names in German football, and they've sucked!! Even their fans have
begun to turn their back. I can't believe they could get relegated, but the numbers don't
lie. I think they'll turn things around, but they expected to challenge for promotion.


17  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	17 	  3 	4 	10 	  23:33   -10 	  	13

Grade: D

They just look crap, so there's not much else to say.


18  SC Paderborn 07 	  	17 	  1 	9 	7 	  10:19   -9 	  	12

Grade: D

Well, they've only scored 10 goals, that about says it all. Nobody watches their games, so
they should do everybody a favor a drop a division.

December 17, 2008

Half-season Bundesliga report card

Not too many suprises; here's my take on the season so far. (Grading using American System A-B-C-D-F)

1  FC Bayern München 	  	17 	  10 	6 	1 	  31:8 	  +23 	  	36

Grade:	B

Bayern was flying along with a solid "A" as they were running away with the league. However,
they began to fall apart in the last 6-7 matches, and really aren't living up to their own
expectations. Having spent over 70 million euros on new players, they would expect to have
things sewn up by now. Instead, they're fighting for the title.

 2  Werder Bremen 	  	17 	  11 	3 	3 	  42:24   +18 	  	36

Grade: A

Werder were expected to challenge, then got off to a lame start. The exclamation was a 0-4
home thrashing against Bayern, and they seemed finished. But lo and behold, despite their
expensive 8 million euro purchase (Carlos Alberto) being a bust, they put things together
and have caught Bayern. Whether they have the horses to finish is questionable, but they've
proven to be a force.

 3  Hamburger SV 	  	17 	  9 	5 	3 	  24:13   +11 	  	32

Grade: A-

HSV looks relatively crap on paper, but they've performed consistently well this half-season.
They seem to rely too much on playmaker Rafael van der Vaart, and lack scoring punch. But
the sum seems greater than the individual parts, and they've got the most out of it.


 4  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	17 	  9 	3 	5 	  32:16   +16 	  	30

Grade: B+

Leverkusen started a bit slow, but caught fire. This squad is below the quality of some of
the past years, but have found their stride. Still, their ass-whup at Bremen on the last 
day shows their limits - probably a solid UEFA spot.


 5  FC Schalke 04 	  	17 	  7 	8 	2 	  26:17   +9 	  	29

Grade: B

Schalke was expected by some to suck with playmaker Lincoln leaving. And they still struggle
to score. But overall, they've proven to be very tough to beat, and therefore seem to be
on course to where they deserve to be.


 6  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	17 	  8 	4 	5 	  19:21   -2 	  	28

Grade: A+

Everybody pegged KSC for a quick drop. Although I suspect they'll slide down the table,
they've really been the sensation of the season so far. The team spirit is outstanding, and
with a few exceptions, they've given 100% in every match.


 7  Hannover 96 	  	17 	  8 	3 	6 	  27:28   -1 	  	27

Grade: B

96 was on the verge of a better grade, but then they got their ass kicked in Cottbus. That
shows that they're not ready for prime-time. Still, a very solid first half.

 8  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	17 	  8 	1 	8 	  24:25   -1 	  	25

Grade: C-

The defending champ sucked so bad, it hurt. Then they had a good mini-run. No title defense,
and their heavy spending amounted to zero, as their purchases have been busts. Given that
they're the defending champ, unless they at least make UEFA, this season is already a total
failure.

 9  Eintracht Frankfurt   	17 	  5 	8 	4 	  19:23   -4 	  	23

Grade: B-

I honestly expected Frankfurt to suck more, but they've proven to be up and down. They've
actually won more games than they've lost, which is somewhat of a shock.


10  Borussia Dortmund 	  	17 	  6 	3 	8 	  26:30   -4 	  	21

Grade: C-

I expected Borussia to steam, but not like a freshly dumped turd on a cold winter's day!
The Neons have been capable of sublime football, and then stunk unbelievably. Such a big 
club needs to do better.


11  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	17 	  5 	5 	7 	  30:30    0 	  	20

Grade: C

They got rid of almost their whole team, and then brought in a bunch of nobodies as
replacements. But they've not totally sucked, and are bumming around OK.


12  Hertha BSC Berlin 	  	17 	  6 	2 	9 	  19:24   -5 	  	20

Grade: D

They suck! They need to fire GM Dieter Hoeness! They're boring! This is potentially a huge
club, yet they continue to dick around aimlessly. Knocked out of Cup by a 3rd division 
nobody. Seems like only one good player (Pantelic). Still, they're capable of a lot more.


13  VfL Bochum 	  		17 	  5 	4 	8 	  25:27   -2 	  	19

Grade: C

Bochum got rid of Gekas, the league's top scorer. What did you expect? Well, they've
probably done a bit better than expected though, and generally have shown fight.


14  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	17 	  5 	3 	9 	  19:38   -19 	  	18

Grade: C-

Arminia was headed for an "F" based on how they played the last few weeks, but turned
things around. All their purchases were busts, so they're doing it with last season's
players.


15  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	17 	  5 	2 	10 	  16:26   -10 	  	17

Grade: C

Hansa everyone expected to be crap, and they have been, but have shown some fighting spirit.


16  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	17 	  4 	3 	10 	  21:28   -7 	  	15

Grade: D-

Fans expected good things from "der Club", but the most you can hear is whining about how
the refs have robbed them of points. Objectively, that's probably true, but they've sucked,
pure and simple. 


17  Energie Cottbus 	  	17 	  3 	6 	8 	  17:27   -10 	  	15

Grade: C-

Energie was another that looked destined for an "F", but the last few weeks have recovered
their legendary fighting spirit. (They can't afford anything else). Probably not enough to
save them, but anything but relegation means grade B or better...


18  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	17 	  4 	1 	12 	  14:26   -12 	  	13

Grade: D

They sucked like expected. Not much else you can really say. But how can you give them an
F when the most they can even hope for is 15th place?

December 15-17, 2008

Misc Stuff

Rumour has it that MSV Duisburg is going to dump Ailton during the winterbreak. They've decided that he was a worthless buy ("duh"), after all, he's only scored 1 goal. I guess it's true, but since the Zebras have sucked, maybe they should fire everybody. Ailton was once a legend in the Bundesliga, based on his feats at Werder Bremen. Then he got too old and fat. I think the emphasis is on the latter...Bayern has pulled a suprise as they forked over 13 million euros to sign 18 year old defender Breno from Brazilian champ Sao Paulo. This means that bayern has already spent about 85 million euros on new players this season, which is about half of the WHOLE Bundesliga total.

Bundesliga, Round 17

Werder Bremen met in-form Leverkusen, and the fans did not go away disappointed. In wild shootout the Bremers beat down the challenge from the Aspirins, who in the end could not fend off the Werder assault. This allows Bremen to equal Bayern at the top of the table. Meanwhile, Bayern was satisfied with just a point at Hertha, who must have been slightly put off that they couldn't bore another opponent to death. Berlin decided that perhaps that strategy wouldn't work, so to ensure a positive result, they also turned to catenaccio. Bayern could have cared less, so the sold out Olympia stadium was treated mostly to fans yawning.

Karlsruhe has been the sensation of the 1st half of the season, and once again they get a decent result. They took the lead against Hamburg, and then hung on against furious HSV pressure. In the end, the visitors got a deserved point in injury time, but KSC has to be happy getting another point they probably hadn't counted on when the season began.

Schalke looked to be sailing to an easy victory against Nürnberg, dominating the 1st half and waltzing home against a lame Club squad. But the 2nd half was a complete reversal, as the Blues fell apart, and FCN pressed them to the wall. The visitors were unlucky not to come away with at least a point, as they hit the woodwork twice, and seemed to have a clear penalty denied. Based on recent form, you certainly would have expected that Bielefeld would get their ass kicked by Stuttgart. Instead, Arminia ran around hectically, but the defending champ was even worse, and their two Mexican stars wanted an early exit, so they could catch a quick flight home for the holidays. So for the 2nd year in a row, two VfB players got their ass red carded. Arminia couldn't believe their luck, and took advantage with two late goals.

A rare sell-out in Volkswagen-town, and the fans were treated to a shock crap Dortmund. The Neons had looked to have found their stride recently, instead they sucked across the board. Hosts Wolfsburg had been struggling, but took this opportunity with glee and ripped Dortmund's ass. Rostock dominated the game against a lame Bochum squad to pull out of the relegation spots. The match was hardly in question, as the visitors disappointed across the board, showing none of the spark of the last few matches.

A revival of sorts certainly underway in the east. Energie Cottbus looked dead and buried, but in the last few weeks they've really raised the level of their game. They completely dominated a shockingly crap Hannover squad, who should be happy they didn't get ripped even more.

Meanwhile, Duisburg looks like they're ready to give up. They played poorly once again, allowing Frankfurt to grab their 1st road win of the season. In this form, the Zebras are going straight back down.

Team of the Week: Werder Bremen
Turd of the Weak: Dortmund

Attendance: 311,493 (avg 34,610), 27 goals


Energie Cottbus 	 -  	Hannover 96 		5:1 (3:0)	14,026	(Bassila, Sörensen, Rangelov 2, Ziebig - Kleine)
FC Schalke 04	 	 -  	1. FC Nürnberg 		2:1 (2:0) 	61,482	(Asamoah, Engelhardt o.g. - Charisteas)
Werder Bremen	 	 -  	Bayer Leverkusen 	5:2 (1:1) 	39,308	(Klasnic 2, Diego, Fritz, Rosenberg - Barnetta, Kiessling)
Hertha BSC Berlin 	 -  	Bayern München 		0:0 (0:0) 	74,220
Arminia Bielefeld 	 -  	VfB Stuttgart 		2:0 (0:0) 	20,600	(Kamper, Wichniarek)
VfL Wolfsburg 		 -  	Borussia Dortmund 	4:0 (2:0) 	30,000  (Schäfer, Costa, Gentner, Dzeko)
Karlsruher SC 		 -  	Hamburger SV 		1:1 (0:0) 	30,300	(Timm - Olic) 		
Hansa Rostock 		 -  	VfL Bochum 		2:0 (2:0) 	15,000	(Bülow, Hähnge)
MSV Duisburg 		 -  	Eintracht Frankfurt 	0:1 (0:1)	26,557	(Amanatidis)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	17 	  10 	6 	1 	  31:8 	  +23 	  	36
 2  Werder Bremen 	  	17 	  11 	3 	3 	  42:24   +18 	  	36
 3  Hamburger SV 	  	17 	  9 	5 	3 	  24:13   +11 	  	32
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	17 	  9 	3 	5 	  32:16   +16 	  	30
 5  FC Schalke 04 	  	17 	  7 	8 	2 	  26:17   +9 	  	29
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	17 	  8 	4 	5 	  19:21   -2 	  	28
 7  Hannover 96 	  	17 	  8 	3 	6 	  27:28   -1 	  	27
 8  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	17 	  8 	1 	8 	  24:25   -1 	  	25
 9  Eintracht Frankfurt   	17 	  5 	8 	4 	  19:23   -4 	  	23
10  Borussia Dortmund 	  	17 	  6 	3 	8 	  26:30   -4 	  	21
11  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	17 	  5 	5 	7 	  30:30    0 	  	20
12  Hertha BSC Berlin 	  	17 	  6 	2 	9 	  19:24   -5 	  	20
13  VfL Bochum 	  		17 	  5 	4 	8 	  25:27   -2 	  	19
14  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	17 	  5 	3 	9 	  19:38   -19 	  	18
15  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	17 	  5 	2 	10 	  16:26   -10 	  	17
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	17 	  4 	3 	10 	  21:28   -7 	  	15
17  Energie Cottbus 	  	17 	  3 	6 	8 	  17:27   -10 	  	15
18  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	17 	  4 	1 	12 	  14:26   -12 	  	13


M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

Top Scorers:
1  Diego 		Bremen 		9
2  van der Vaart 	Hamburg 	9
3  Klose 		München 	9
4  Toni 		München 	9
5  Sestak 		Bochum	 	8
6  Petric 		Dortmund 	8
7  Hanke 		Hannover  	8
8  Gekas 		Leverkusen 	8

2. Liga, Round 17

 

TuS Koblenz	 	 -  	Alemannia Aachen 	0:0 (0:0)	 9,000
Kickers Offenbach 	 -  	VfL Osnabrück 		3:3 (1:1) 	 8,219	(Hornig, Türker, Toppmöller - Reichenberger 3) 		
FC St. Pauli 		 -  	1. FSV Mainz 05 	1:0 (1:0) 	17,800	(Eger)	
Borussia M'gladbach 	 -  	SC Paderborn 07 	1:1 (0:0) 	41,000	(Coulibaly - Djurisic)		
SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	 -  	1899 Hoffenheim 	4:1 (1:1) 	 8,000	(Cidimar 2, Burkhardt, Adlung - Edu)
TSV 1860 München 	 -  	Erzgebirge Aue 		5:0 (2:0) 	22,300	(Bierofka 2, Berhalter, Holebas, Kucukovic)
FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	 -  	FC Augsburg	 	1:2 (0:2) 	 8,453	(Petersen - da Costa, Ledezma)
SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	 -  	SC Freiburg	 	2:2 (2:1) 	10,354	(Siegert, Kokot - Krmas, Bencik) 
1. FC Köln 		 -  	1. FC Kaiserslautern 	2:1 (1:1)	46,000	(McKenna, Mohamad - Simpson)


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	17 	  10 	6 	1 	  36:18   +18 	  	36
 2  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A) 	17 	  9 	4 	4 	  31:16   +15 	  	31
 3  1. FC Köln 	  		17 	  9 	3 	5 	  32:23   +9 	  	30
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  SC Freiburg 	  	17 	  8 	6 	3 	  27:20   +7 	  	30
 5  SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	17 	  8 	5 	4 	  29:21   +8 	  	29
 6  TSV 1860 München 	  	17 	  7 	7 	3 	  29:18   +11 	  	28
 7  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N) 	17 	  5 	8 	4 	  26:26    0 	  	23
 8  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 	17 	  5 	7 	5 	  24:27   -3 	  	22
 9  TuS Koblenz 	  	17 	  5 	7 	5 	  21:25   -4 	  	22
10  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	17 	  6 	4 	7 	  20:24   -4 	  	22
11  Alemannia Aachen (A) 	17 	  5 	6 	6 	  22:23   -1 	  	21
12  FC Augsburg 	  	17 	  5 	5 	7 	  23:28   -5 	  	20
13  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	17 	  5 	5 	7 	  25:32   -7 	  	20
14  Kickers Offenbach 	  	17 	  4 	6 	7 	  17:29   -12 	  	18
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	17 	  4 	4 	9 	  21:30   -9 	  	16
16  1. FC Kaiserslautern 	17 	  3 	6 	8 	  17:21   -4 	  	15
17  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	17 	  3 	4 	10 	  23:33   -10 	  	13
18  SC Paderborn 07 	  	17 	  1 	9 	7 	  10:19   -9 	  	12


N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)

Top Scorers:
1  Novakovic 		Köln 		14
2  Reichenberger 	Osnabrück 	12
3  Friend 		M'gladbach 	10
4  Borja 		Mainz 05 	9
5  Reisinger 		Fürth 		8



December 13, 2008

Regionalliga Winterbreak

The 3rd division Regionalliga has finished up it's schedule for 2007, and goes into winter hibernation until February. This is of course a very exciting season, as it's "make-or-break" for all clubs. Next year, there will be a single "Dritte Liga" (3.Liga), so everybody is scrambling to at least qualify for the new league - if not actually jump up to the 2.Liga. The cutoff spot is 10th place, else you're essentially relegated. In addition, a maximum of 4 formerly "amateur" squads of pro teams ("II") can qualify for the 3.Liga, although so far, that doesn't look to be a major problem.

The battle in the north has been fierce so far. Wuppertal has taken the lead, and ex-GDR club Erfurt holds the coveted 2nd spot. However, the "traditional" powers such as Oberhausen, Düsseldorf and Dresden - all ex-Bundesliga clubs, are hot on the trail. Meanwhile, ex-Bundesliga names such as Essen and Braunschweig are struggling to make the 3.Liga cut. Additional surprises have been the weak play of Magdeburg and Lübeck, and perhaps the strong effort from Emden, who were topping the table not too long ago. The north division will be in the spotlight end of January when Wuppertal takes on none other than the Evil Empire (Bayern München) in the DFB-Cup. The match has been moved from Wuppertal's Zoo-Stadion to Schalke's Veltins-Arena, and is an expected sell-out. The Regionalliga clubs are not necessarily pushovers, as in the past they've claimed some big scalps. (A few years ago, Trier knocked out Dortmund, who had won the Champions League. That year they also eliminated Schalke - who had just won the UEFA Cup.)

In the South, things are a bit strange. There are two ex-Bundesliga squads, Unterhaching and Stuttgarter Kickers, but they've been non-factors. Promoted side Sandhausen, generally unknown except among the players wives and girlfriends, tops the league and already has one foot in the 2.Liga. All of the other clubs would have to be considered "small-fry", at least at the box office. This has been a general trend in the southern Regionalliga, which usually draws far fewer spectators than their northern counterparts.


Regionalliga Nord

 1  Wuppertaler SV Bor. 	20 	  12 	1 	7 	  37:27   +10 	  	37
 2  Rot-Weiß Erfurt 	  	20 	  10 	5 	5 	  41:23   +18 	  	35
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Rot-Weiss Oberhausen (N) 	20 	  10 	4 	6 	  33:21   +12 	  	34
 4  Borussia Dortmund II 	20 	  9 	7 	4 	  22:16   +6 	  	34
 5  Werder Bremen II 	  	20 	  10 	3 	7 	  31:26   +5 	  	33
 6  Fortuna Düsseldorf 	  	20 	  9 	6 	5 	  17:12   +5 	  	33
 7  Kickers Emden 	  	20 	  10 	3 	7 	  22:18   +4 	  	33
 8  Dynamo Dresden 	  	19 	  9 	5 	5 	  27:17   +10 	  	32
 9  1. FC Union Berlin 	  	20 	  9 	5 	6 	  35:30   +5 	  	32
10  Rot-Weiss Essen (A) 	20 	  8 	6 	6 	  25:17   +8 	  	30
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11  Rot-Weiss Ahlen 	  	20 	  7 	7 	6 	  34:31   +3 	  	28
12  Eintr. Braunschweig (A) 	20 	  6 	7 	7 	  29:29    0 	  	25
13  1. FC Magdeburg 	  	20 	  6 	6 	8 	  19:24   -5 	  	24
14  Hamburger SV II 	  	19 	  5 	6 	8 	  19:26   -7 	  	21
15  SV Babelsberg 03 (N) 	20 	  5 	5 	10 	  23:33   -10 	  	20
16  Energie Cottbus II (N) 	20 	  5 	4 	11 	  10:23   -13 	  	19
17  SC Verl (N) 	  	19 	  5 	3 	11 	  12:21   -9 	  	18
18  VfB Lübeck	 	  	20 	  4 	5 	11 	  17:29   -12 	  	17
19  VfL Wolfsburg II (N) 	19 	  3 	4 	12 	  14:44   -30 	  	13

N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


Regionalliga Süd

 1  SV Sandhausen (N) 	  	19 	  11 	4 	4 	  25:13   +12 	  	37
 2  VfB Stuttgart II 	  	19 	  11 	4 	4 	  24:13   +11 	  	37 (*)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  VfR Aalen 	  		19 	  9 	6 	4 	  38:22   +16 	  	33 (*)
 4  Jahn Regensburg (N) 	19 	  9 	4 	6 	  24:23   +1 	  	31
 5  FSV Frankfurt (N) 	  	19 	  8 	6 	5 	  31:21   +10 	  	30
 6  FC Ingolstadt 04 	  	19 	  8 	6 	5 	  26:23   +3 	  	30
 7  Wacker Burghausen (A) 	19 	  6 	9 	4 	  21:20   +1 	  	27
 8  FC Bayern München II 	19 	  6 	7 	6 	  23:19   +4 	  	25
 9  SV Elversberg 	  	19 	  7 	4 	8 	  22:28   -6 	  	25
10  SpVgg Unterhaching (A) 	19 	  6 	6 	7 	  27:23   +4 	  	24
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11  Hessen Kassel 	  	18 	  6 	5 	7 	  28:26   +2 	  	23
12  Sportfr. Siegen 	  	19 	  4 	11 	4 	  21:22   -1 	  	23
13  TSV 1860 München II 	19 	  7 	2 	10 	  21:26   -5 	  	23
14  SSV Reutlingen 05 	  	18 	  4 	10 	4 	  24:26   -2 	  	22
15  SC Pfullendorf 	  	19 	  4 	7 	8 	  20:24   -4 	  	19
16  Stuttgarter Kickers 	19 	  4 	7 	8 	  15:22   -7 	  	19
17  Karlsruher SC II 	  	19 	  3 	9 	7 	  15:25   -10 	  	18
18  FSV LU-Oggersheim (N) 	19 	  1 	5 	13 	   9:38   -29 	  	8

N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)

* - Stuttgart II ineligible for promotion, so Aalen moves up.



December 7-9, 2008

Misc Stuff

Arminia Bielefeld has fired head coach Ernst Middendorp. This was his 3rd tour in the Heidewald, previously 1988-90 and 1994-98. In fact, he had recently signed a contract extension. That proved to be a nice move, as Arminia had to fork over 1.5 million euros in severance. And the popular Middendorp indicated that he'll still be around Arminia - in fact he intends to watch the matches in the stands among the Bielefeld fans. For those that are interested in this sort of thing, this was the 307th coach firing since the Bundesliga started in 1963. This season, only Sander from Cottbus had been canned, although there are certainly more to follow.

Bayern continues to revive the "FC Hollywood" theme. GK Olli Kahn was censured by the club for lashing out at the lack of fighting spirit of his teammates. President Franz Beckenbauer criticized head coach Ottmar Hitzfeld for no being tough enough. Hitzfeld was a shoo-in for a contract extension a few weeks ago, but now it seems unlikely. In fact, you might even get even money betting on him getting his ass fired. VP Uli Hoeness decided to blame the fans for "crappy atmosphere". ("Für eure Scheiß-Stimmung seid ihr doch selber verantwortlich!") and also revealed that what he really thinks about the VIPs - they're just there to fork over money. ("Was glaubt ihr, warum wir den Logen-Besitzern das Geld aus der Tasche ziehen"). Then as usual, he proved that he hasn't been taking his meds, as he lashed out at local 2.Liga club 1860 ("Without us, they'd been bankrupt a long time ago.") Young defender Christian Lell has been a revelation for Bayern. Pressed into service when France star Willy Sagnol was out injured, Lell has played brilliantly and kept his spot even though the Frenchie has recovered. But Lell is fitting right in with the Hollywood theme, as he was apparently arrested for slapping his girlfriend on a München street. And this isn't the first occasion, since a few months ago he was drunk and punched her in a disco too. Then Bayern had their priorities straight, as they fined him for that incident. But I guess this time they figured what the hell, boys will be boys, and we're in crisis! - and he was inserted into the starting lineup even as the police investigated. Perhaps Hoeness felt that the girlfriend was one of those crappy fans...

In some good München news, Grünwalder Straße stadium lives! The traditional park of Bayern and 1860 was scheduled to be torn down, but apparently the city had 2nd thoughts. Instead, it will remain for at least 10 years, and the Bayern and 1860 "II" and youth squads will continue to play there. Both had largely moved to the Olympiastadion in 1972, and of course to the new Allianz-Arena recently. but it's nice that this München landmark will still be around for a bit.

There should be some increasing player transfer news. Traditionally, Germany has less activity in midseason than say England, but with more standard UEFA windows, expect more action. Bayern is denying rumours of a transfer of young forward Jens Schlaudraff to Stuttgart - who could really use him, as Mario Gomez and Cacau are injured. When you consider Bayern's motivation in getting Schlaudraff from Aachen was probably to prevent somebody else from getting him, I guess their denial makes sense. But don't expect to see Schlaudraff playing in any matches soon, as he suffers from the dreaded "Bankholzsplinterimarschverletzung". Meanwhile, Frankfurt and Schalke are arguing over the transfer of Albert Streit to the Blues. Streit had signed a contract with Schalke starting June 1, 2008 (yeah, you can do that in Germany). But Schalke wanted him in January. And Streit is now supposedly injured for at least 6 weeks and can't play for Frankfurt. Needless to say, Eintracht isn't too happy.

Hannover 96 president Martin Kind is campaigning to get rid of the 50+1 rule. Basically, this rule insures that the actual club (and members) maintains at least 50% + 1 control of the professional team. Therefore it is impossible for crooks like Roman Abramovich and Thaksin Shinwatra or other dubious characters to control clubs as happens too often in England. Kind's idea is to open the league to blatant naked capitalism so they can make more money. This would allow German football clubs to be raped and stripped of assets and become personal fiefdoms of egomaniac gangsters. The 50+1 rule prevents that from becoming a reality. Of course, it makes it harder to get a share of the ill-gotten gains into the clubs, but as Schalke has proven with their Gazprom deal, it's possible with some clever jumping through the hoops...

Bundesliga, Round 16

Huge crowds were treated to a surprise weekend, as the top clubs all stubbed their toes. Bayern was stunned as they could not find their way into the goal against a crap Duisburg squad. Apparently they felt they could just show up and phone it in. The Zebras defended well, and their reward was their first point in München since 1994. Hamburg figured to gain some ground back after last week's defeat against Bremen. Afterall, Cottbus was coming to down, so an automatic 3 points at the Park before the players get drunk at strip clubs in the Reeperbahn, no? Energie just circled the wagons and kicked anything that moved. HSV was half asleep, and refused to wake up even after halftime. And Cottbus GK Tremel was brilliant. So Energie steals a point they certainly never dreamed of.

Given that Bayern and HSV dropped points, this was the chance for Werder to seize control of the table. However, they didn't count on an inspired Hannover in another Nord-derby. In a wild match, Hannover's Mike Hanke nailed a hat-trick, giving 96 a somewhat lucky win over Bremen. Hannover came out firing on all cylinders, taking a 3-1 advantage, but Werder fought back to equalize. Overall, they probably deserved a point - and certainly wanted a win - but instead they get nothing. Hannover will take the win, as it vaults them into a UEFA spot, an indication that things have continued to improve.

Taking aspirin is supposed to be good for you, and Bayer Leverkusen has quietly climbed up the table to where they're now in serious striking distance of the top 3. The Alka-Seltzers won their 5th in a row, basically a walk in the park against a harmless Rostock squad.

Schalke was able to salvage a point through the late game heroics of their defender Heiko Westermann. His two goals robbed Frankfurt of a win they thought they had in the bag. After a boring 1st half, eintracht came out guns blazing, and seemingly haad the points wrapped up. But they let it slip away, and Schalke gets something out of nada.

Defending champ Stuttgart didn't have an easy time against Wolfsburg. The match was up for grabs, but Stuttgart eventually got a deserved 3 points as they took advantage of their chances, whereas the Volkswagens dallied on theirs.

Dortmund followed up their victory at Stuttgart with an ass-kicking romp over hapless Bielefeld. The Neons completely dominated Arminia, who played like a amateur squad at a friendly. Borussia probably could have scored even more, but the players were basically partying with the fans - thinking about those steins of beer they would be downing in another 30 minutes or so. Nevertheless, coach Thomas Doll has to be happy that his squad is now out of crisis mode.

Bochum and Karlsruhe had an entertaining draw, that pretty much was a fair result. For KSC, after a lame outing where they got bitch-slapped in Cottbus, they're back on track, grabbing points that few thought they could get, and keeping their fine season on track.

Der "Club" had been thrown into complete despair after their shoddy defeat at Duisburg last week, but boring Hertha came to town - just what the doctor ordered. So Nürnberg did enough in the 1st half to put the Berliners away, and then coasted to a critical 3 points.

Team of the Week: Dortmund
Turd of the Weak: Bielefeld

Attendance: 442,356 (avg 49,151), 30 goals



Borussia Dortmund 	 -  	Arminia Bielefeld 	6:1 (2:0) 	78,500	(Tinga, Schuler, Petric, Valdez, Kringe, Federico - Kirch)
VfB Stuttgart 		 -  	VfL Wolfsburg 		3:1 (1:0) 	53,000	(Marica, Cacau, Hitzlsperger - Dzeko)
Bayern München 		 -  	MSV Duisburg 		0:0 (0:0) 	69,000 		
Hamburger SV 		 -  	Energie Cottbus 	0:0 (0:0) 	56,132
VfL Bochum 		 -  	Karlsruher SC 		2:2 (1:1) 	20,784	(Sestak 2 - Hajnal, Freis)
Hannover 96 		 -  	Werder Bremen 		4:3 (3:2) 	49,000	(Hanke 3, Baumann - Rosenberg 2, Diego) 
Eintracht Frankfurt 	 -  	FC Schalke 04 		2:2 (0:0) 	51,500	(Toski, Amanatidis - Westermann 2)
Bayer Leverkusen 	 -  	Hansa Rostock 		3:0 (1:0) 	22,500	(Rolfes, Freier, Gekas)
1. FC Nürnberg 		 -  	Hertha BSC Berlin 	2:1 (2:0)	41,940	(Charisteas, Misimovic - Lustenberger)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	16 	  10 	5 	1 	  31:8 	  +23 	  	35
 2  Werder Bremen 	  	16 	  10 	3 	3 	  37:22   +15 	  	33
 3  Hamburger SV 	  	16 	  9 	4 	3 	  23:12   +11 	  	31
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	16 	  9 	3 	4 	  30:11   +19 	  	30
 5  Hannover 96 	  	16 	  8 	3 	5 	  26:23   +3 	  	27
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	16 	  8 	3 	5 	  18:20   -2 	  	27
 7  FC Schalke 04 	  	16 	  6 	8 	2 	  24:16   +8 	  	26
 8  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	16 	  8 	1 	7 	  24:23   +1 	  	25
 9  Borussia Dortmund 	  	16 	  6 	3 	7 	  26:26    0 	  	21
10  Eintracht Frankfurt   	16 	  4 	8 	4 	  18:23   -5 	  	20
11  VfL Bochum 	  		16 	  5 	4 	7 	  25:25    0 	  	19
12  Hertha BSC Berlin 	  	16 	  6 	1 	9 	  19:24   -5 	  	19
13  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	16 	  4 	5 	7 	  26:30   -4 	  	17
14  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	16 	  4 	3 	9 	  20:26   -6 	  	15
15  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	16 	  4 	3 	9 	  17:38   -21 	  	15
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	16 	  4 	2 	10 	  14:26   -12 	  	14
17  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	16 	  4 	1 	11 	  14:25   -11 	  	13
18  Energie Cottbus 	  	16 	  2 	6 	8 	  12:26   -14 	  	12


M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

Top Scorers:

1  van der Vaart	Hamburg 	9
2  Klose 		München 	9
3  Toni 		München 	9
4  Sestak 		Bochum 		8
5  Diego 		Bremen 		8
6  Petric 		Dortmund 	8
7  Hanke 		Hannover  	8
8  Gekas 		Leverkusen 	8

2. Liga, Round 16

Gladbach seized control of the 2.Liga with an impressive away win at Freiburg. In the always tight 2.Liga, they've given themselves breathing room, and it is beginning to appear that a return to the Bundesliga is certain. Mainz also got a huge win, downing Köln. Mainz is thus almost firmly entrenched as the 2nd contender. Of course, the 3rd spot is chaotically wide open. Kaiserslautern suffers a stunning defeat against Jena in a relegation battle. With K-town up 2-0 and cruising, this is all the more surprising. And the K'lautern fans are in a season long shock, since the expected to contend for promotion.

 


1. FSV Mainz 05 	 -  	1. FC Köln 		1:0 (0:0)	20,300	(Hoogland)
Alemannia Aachen 	 -  	FC St. Pauli 		2:2 (0:1) 	21,200	(Reghecampf, Kolev - Meggele, Kuru)
Erzgebirge Aue 		 -  	TuS Koblenz 		0:0 (0:0) 	 7,500
1. FC Kaiserslautern 	 -  	FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	2:3 (2:0) 	24,517	(Jendrisek, Simpson - Torghelle, Omodiagbe, Petersen) 		
FC Augsburg 		 -  	SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	3:0 (1:0) 	17,821	(Ledezma, Möhrle, Kern)
SC Paderborn 07 	 -  	SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	1:1 (1:0) 	 5,287	(Koen - König)	
1899 Hoffenheim 	 -  	Kickers Offenbach 	2:2 (2:0) 	 6,173	(Ba, Copado - Toppmöller, Türker)	
VfL Osnabrück 		 -  	TSV 1860 München 	3:0 (2:0) 	17,000	(Reichenberger 2, Cichon)	
SC Freiburg	 	 -  	Borussia M'gladbach 	1:3 (0:1)	24,000	(Paauwe o.g. - Rösler 2, Friend)


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	16 	 10 	5 	1 	  35:17   +18 	  	35
 2  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A) 	16 	  9 	4 	3 	  31:15   +16 	  	31
 3  SC Freiburg 	  	16 	  8 	5 	3 	  25:18   +7 	  	29
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FC Köln 	  		16 	  8 	3 	5 	  30:22   +8 	  	27
 5  SpVgg Greuther Fürth   	16 	  7 	5 	4 	  25:20   +5 	  	26
 6  TSV 1860 München 	  	16 	  6 	7 	3 	  24:18   +6 	  	25
 7  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N)   	16 	  5 	7 	4 	  24:24    0 	  	22
 8  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N)  	16 	  5 	7 	4 	  23:23    0 	  	22
 9  TuS Koblenz 	  	16 	  5 	6 	5 	  21:25   -4 	  	21
10  Alemannia Aachen (A)   	16 	  5 	5 	6 	  22:23   -1 	  	20
11  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	16 	  5 	4 	7 	  19:24   -5 	  	19
12  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	16 	  5 	4 	7 	  22:29   -7 	  	19
13  FC Augsburg 	  	16 	  4 	5 	7 	  21:27   -6 	  	17
14  Kickers Offenbach 	  	16 	  4 	5 	7 	  14:26   -12 	  	17
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	16 	  4 	4 	8 	  21:25   -4 	  	16
16  1. FC Kaiserslautern   	16 	  3 	6 	7 	  16:19   -3 	  	15
17  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	16 	  3 	4 	9 	  22:31   -9 	  	13
18  SC Paderborn 07 	  	16 	  1 	8 	7 	   9:18   -9 	  	11


N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)

Top Scorers:
1 	Novakovic 	1. FC Köln 	14
2 	Borja 	1. FSV Mainz 05 	9
  	Friend 	Borussia M'gladbach 	9
  	Reichenberger 	VfL Osnabrück 	9
5 	Reisinger 	SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	8
6 	Gunkel 	1. FSV Mainz 05 	7
  	Neuville 	Borussia M'gladbach 	7
  	di Salvo 	1860 München 	7


December 3, 2008

Misc News

The Euro 2008 draw was a mized bag for Germany - they will probably have some difficulties. They get host Austria, a decent Polish team, and England conquerors Croatia. They should be able to qualify, although given recent form, they'll probably bore everybody to death doing so.

Some interesting financial details of Euro 2008 have been announced. UEFA is guaranteeing 184 million euros for the participants. Each of 16 participants get 7.5 million up front. During group play, a win is rewarded with 1 million, a draw with 500,000 euros. Getting to the quarterfinals pays 2 million, and reaching the semis earns an additional 3 million. Finally, the winner gets 7.5 million, the losing finalist 4.5 million.

Rumours are flying around that VfL Wolfsburg intends to sign Jens Lehmann as their new GK. Head coach Felix Magath is apparently unhappy with current no.1 Simon Jentzsch, and of course Lehmann is a benchwarmer with Arsenal. Supposedly his spot on the Euro 2008 squad is in jeopardy if Lehmann isn;t a first team regular - and given the fact that his foot is usually in his mouth instead of making saves, it's unlikely that Lehmann will be back in the Arse squad.

Ex-international Fredi Bobic is picking Germany to beat Italy on penalties and win the Euro 2008! OK, stop laughing already. And you thought he was out of football because he was too old. Obviously, there are some other deficiencies at work. And Croatia is his "secret tip". Although you have to wonder how much of a secret they could be after kicking England's ass twice.

Bundesliga, Round 15

An interesting round, due to the big Werder-HSV clash, and also the revival of some clubs that had been struggling...

An exciting top-clash in the northern derby between Werder and HSV was only somewhat marred by crap goalkeeping on both sides. Bremen was the stronger team and deserve their win, which keeps them on Bayern's ass. Bremen's pressure was in the end too much, allthough everytime they took the lead, they wanted to cut back and just wait for the final whistle. HSV came back the first time, but really lacked the will power to come back again.

Bayern grabbed the top spot back from Bremen in a Sunday stroll through Bielefeld. Arminia mostly ran around like a chicken with it's head cut off, so Bayern pretty much coasted home with minimal effort, after Franck Ribery dribbled around the goalie to put them ahead. Arminia continues to slide down the table and better wake up if they don't want to get their ass relegated.

Bayer Leverkusen kicked Hertha's ass on the road. Hopefully they were courteous visitors and left the hosts with some Alka-Seltzer or other Bayer products, because after another shameful performance, the Berlin fans will need them. For Bayer, they've now won 4 in a row, and have to be considered a threat to the top clubs. Hertha continues to be a threat to the health of their fans. Schalke had their hands full in a Ruhr derby with revived Bochum, and failed to make their first half dominance turn into a commanding lead. But although they might have let it slip away, in the end Bochum didn't show anything, so Schalke gets the points and stays near the top clubs.

Just when you think you've got Dortmund figured out (i.e. "They'll be good" or "They suck", recently mostly the latter), they come up with a suprise. And this is huge, as they upended in-form Stuttgart away from home. Both teams wasted lots of chances, but in the end it was the Neons stealing all the points, but you can't say they didn't earn it, as they considerably improved on their recent crap form.

Friday night saw Hansa Rostock go down in flames, but you have to feel for Hansa. They were the better team for most of the 2nd half, generating some good chances. Then Hannover, which looked to have shot it's wad by not capitalizing on 1st half pressure, struck 3 times in the last 5 minutes to send the home side to a miserable defeat.

A good away point for Frankfurt, which was in injury crisis. Wolfsburg looked the better squad, but frankfurt never gave up and fought to get their deserved point. Nobody showed up in Cottbus to watch Energie get their 2nd win and thoroughly dominate a shockingly crap Karlsruhe. It's too bad, because they missed a Sorbian version of the "lov parade" as their two Bulgarians scored the goals. Did I mention that KSC was crap? Shows how your perspective can change. Prior to the season, if you had written "KSC was crap.", nobody would have had a second thought. But since KSC has been one of the impressive squads of teh early rounds, when they suck, it's news. Perhaps their players expected the "lov parade" to mean bare boobs, instead of getting their ass kicked by bargain basement Bulgarians...

Finally, Duisburg finally got another win, at the expense of Nürnberg. Der Club actually dominated the match and had all sorts of chances to grab the win. But they blew it, no surprise there. Meanwhile, the Zebras continued to play crap, but finally realized that Nürnberg was an emperor with now clothes. So Grlic knocked home a goal and MSV takes all the points.

Team of the Week: Werder
Turd of the Weak: Hertha (lame), Nürnberg (they blew it)

Attendance: 291,522 (avg. 32,391), 21 goals


Hansa Rostock	 	 -  	Hannover 96 		0:3 (0:0) 	17,000	(Fahrenhorst, Hanke, Stajner)
VfB Stuttgart	 	 -  	Borussia Dortmund 	1:2 (1:1) 	55,000	(Meira - Delpierre o.g., Petric)
FC Schalke 04	 	 -  	VfL Bochum	 	1:0 (1:0) 	61,482	(Bordon)
Werder Bremen	 	 -  	Hamburger SV 		2:1 (1:0) 	42,100	(Sanogo, Pasanen - van der Vaart)
Hertha BSC Berlin	 -  	Bayer Leverkusen	0:3 (0:1)	40,527	(Ramelow, Barnetta, Barbarez) 	
Energie Cottbus 	 -  	Karlsruher SC 		2:0 (0:0)	10,914	(Angelov, Rangelov)
VfL Wolfsburg 	 	 -  	Eintracht Frankfurt 	2:2 (1:1)	20,656	(Gentner, Dzeko - Chris, Fink) 	
Arminia Bielefeld 	 -  	Bayern München 		0:1 (0:1) 	23,800	(Ribery)	
MSV Duisburg 		 -  	1. FC Nürnberg 		1:0 (0:0)	20,313	(Grlic)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	15 	  10 	4 	1 	  31:8 	  +23 	  	34
 2  Werder Bremen 	  	15 	  10 	3 	2 	  34:18   +16 	  	33
 3  Hamburger SV 	  	15 	  9 	3 	3 	  23:12   +11 	  	30
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	15 	  8 	3 	4 	  27:11   +16 	  	27
 5  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	15 	  8 	2 	5 	  16:18   -2 	  	26
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  FC Schalke 04 	  	15 	  6 	7 	2 	  22:14   +8 	  	25
 7  Hannover 96 	  	15 	  7 	3 	5 	  22:20   +2 	  	24
 8  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	15 	  7 	1 	7 	  21:22   -1 	  	22
 9  Hertha BSC Berlin	  	15 	  6 	1 	8 	  18:22   -4 	  	19
10  Eintracht Frankfurt   	15 	  4 	7 	4 	  16:21   -5 	  	19
11  VfL Bochum 	  		15 	  5 	3 	7 	  23:23    0 	  	18
12  Borussia Dortmund 	  	15 	  5 	3 	7 	  20:25   -5 	  	18
13  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	15 	  4 	5 	6 	  25:27   -2 	  	17
14  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	15 	  4 	3 	8 	  16:32   -16 	  	15
15  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	15 	  4 	2 	9 	  14:23   -9 	  	14
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	15 	  3 	3 	9 	  18:25   -7 	  	12
17  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	15 	  4 	0 	11 	  14:25   -11 	  	12
18  Energie Cottbus 	  	15 	  2 	5 	8 	  12:26   -14 	  	11

M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

Top Scorers:

1 	van der Vaart 	Hamburger SV 	9
2  	Klose 		Bayern München 	9
3  	Toni 		Bayern München 	9
4 	Pantelic 	Hertha BSC 	7
5  	Diego 		Werder Bremen 	7
6  	Hugo Almeida 	Werder Bremen 	7
7  	Sanogo 		Werder Bremen 	7
8  	Petric 		Dortmund 	7
9  	Gekas 		Leverkusen 	7
10  	Gomez 		VfB Stuttgart 	7

2. Liga, Round 15

Leaders Gladbach and Freiburg were held, but Mainz had a thumping win at fellow "relegee" Aachen to boost their campaign. Köln maintained pace with a strong outing. Fürth had a wild shootout, but as usual, nobody showed up to watch. Kaiserslautern shows signs of life with an important, if lucky, win in Hamburg.

Attendance: 148,809 (avg 16,534), 31 goals

 

FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	 -  	Erzgebirge Aue 		2:1 (0:1) 	 9,587	(Petersen, Simak - Emmerich) 	 	
SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	 -  	Borussia M'gladbach 	1:1 (1:0) 	12,066	(Simic - Colautti)
FC St. Pauli 		 -  	1. FC Kaiserslautern 	3:4 (2:3) 	17,800	(Takyi, Trojan, Meggele - Simpson, Jendrisek, Broniszewski, Bellinghaus)
SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	 -  	VfL Osnabrück 		6:3 (3:1) 	 5,500	(Reisinger 2, Kotuljac 2, Nehrig, Lanig - Reichenberger 2, Manno)
TSV 1860 München 	 -  	SC Paderborn 07 	0:0 (0:0) 	28,100
1. FC Köln 		 -  	FC Augsburg 		3:0 (1:0) 	39,200	(Novakovic 2, Broich) 		
TuS Koblenz 		 -  	1899 Hoffenheim 	2:2 (1:1) 	 8,503	(Sukalo, Dzaka - Salihovic, Edu)
Kickers Offenbach 	 -  	SC Freiburg 		0:0 (0:0) 	 9,314
Alemannia Aachen 	 -  	1. FSV Mainz 05 	0:3 (0:1)	18,739	(Borja 3)


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	15 	  9 	5 	1 	  32:16   +16 	  	32
 2  SC Freiburg 	  	15 	  8 	5 	2 	  24:15   +9 	  	29
 3  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A)  	15 	  8 	4 	3 	  30:15   +15 	  	28
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FC Köln 	  		15 	  8 	3 	4 	  30:21   +9 	  	27
 5  SpVgg Greuther Fürth  	15 	  7 	5 	3 	  25:17   +8 	  	26
 6  TSV 1860 München 	  	15 	  6 	7 	2 	  24:15   +9 	  	25
 7  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N)  	15 	  5 	6 	4 	  23:23    0 	  	21
 8  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N)  	15 	  5 	6 	4 	  21:21    0 	  	21
 9  TuS Koblenz 	  	15 	  5 	5 	5 	  21:25   -4 	  	20
10  Alemannia Aachen (A)  	15 	  5 	4 	6 	  20:21   -1 	  	19
11  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	15 	  5 	3 	7 	  17:22   -5 	  	18
12  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	15 	  4 	4 	7 	  19:29   -10 	  	16
13  Kickers Offenbach 	  	15 	  4 	4 	7 	  12:24   -12 	  	16
14  1. FC Kaiserslautern  	15 	  3 	6 	6 	  14:16   -2 	  	15
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	15 	  4 	3 	8 	  21:25   -4 	  	15
16  FC Augsburg 	  	15 	  3 	5 	7 	  18:27   -9 	  	14
17  SC Paderborn 07 	  	15 	  1 	7 	7 	   8:17   -9 	  	10
18  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	15 	  2 	4 	9 	  19:29   -10 	  	10

N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)

Top Scorers:
1 	Novakovic 	Köln 		14
2 	Borja 		Mainz 05 	9
3  	Friend 		M'gladbach 	9
4 	Reisinger 	Fürth	 	8
5 	Gunkel 		Mainz 05 	7
6  	Neuville 	M'gladbach 	7
7  	di Salvo 	1860 München 	7
8  	Reichenberger 	Osnabrück 	7


November 26, 2008

Misc News

Ex-Bundesliga star and coach Ewald Lienen was hit by a rock that crashed through the window of the team bus thrown by hooligans. His squad Panionios Athens had just lost at PAOK Saloniki. He wasn't severely hurt, but professed to be shocked. But I'm sure he'll get used to it, as this type of thuggery is all too common in Greek football, although it my be a bit rough for the ex-peacenik to accept:)

Borussia Dortmund had their annual members meeting, and not surprisingly it didn't go to well. Some 800 members greeted the management and squad ("all decked up like runway models") with boos, catcalls and whistles. Then general manager Hans-Joachim Watzke continued the ass-whipping. He demanded the players show more enthusiasm "like the 3rd division Regionalliga squad" and for foreign "stars" like Nelson Valdez "to start concentrating on Borussia instead of the national team - because we pay your salary." Well, I suppose so, but since Valdez is generally crap, I don't see what the point is. In fact, you should hope he scores about 50 goals for Paraguay, because then some dummy club will buy him for zillions. Oops, already happened, it was Dortmund. Nevermind. Anyway, Watzke warned "it's 5 before midnight", but they can still make their goals. Whatever those might be. There was some good news. Young midfielder Florian Kringe, one of the few decent players, renewed his contract through 2012. If he continues to improve, maybe they can sell him to Bayern...

Michael Ballack actually is back, at least somewhat. He played a reserve game for Chelsea. This could be good news for the national team, which has sucked recently. "kicker" says that nothing stands in the way of his return to the EPL. Well, except that Chelski probably doesn't need him. Perhaps he should go on short-term loan to an amateur club like Derby County.

Hamburg is trying to convince Rafael van der Vaart to stay. The Dutchman is HSV's star player, and maybe the best in the Bundesliga. He tried to get out of his contract, but HSV held firm. But his contract ends next year, so they're offering to double his salary (to 4 million euros, net, I believe) to get an extension. Probably not going to happen.

Germany got a tough draw in the 2010 World Cup Qualification. Although they should be able to beat lame Russia (1 measly goal against Andorra?!), given their recent form, they will struggle against powerhouses Wales, Finland, Azerbaijan and super Liechtenstein.


November 25, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 14

Leaders Bayern got back on the win track, although it was a painful struggle against a passive Wolfsburg. Bayern controlled the match, but had a hard time turning that into any advantage. And they needed the awkward win, as both Werder and HSV remain close on their tail.

Cottbus remains a tough place to play, and facing Werder, Energie fought furiously despite the odds. Bremen dominated the play, but the Cottbus defense held firm, and Energie had some good chances on the counters. In the end, a somewhat dodgy penalty gave Werder the lead, and they cold-bloodedly finished off the home side when they came out of their shell.

Hamburg also got a win against an east club to maintain pace. They controlled the whole match against a defensively packed Hansa squad, but really didn't press the issue. They took their chances and coasted to victory.

Newly promoted Karlsruhe continues to impress. They dominated against Berlin, but found themselves trailing at halftime against the run of play - another sneak attack by Hertha's goalmaker Marko Pantelic. However, KSC kept up the pressure and got the deserved win. They may not be winning big (Goal difference is 0), but KSC keeps on collecting points. Hertha remains one of the Bundesliga's underachievers. They've gone through a few coaches, so maybe they should start by canning General Manager Dieter Hoeness...

A wild match in Hannover saw Schalke end up with a win. Hannover was somewhat lucky to take the lead, but Schalke fought back, both teams going all out. So the fans were entertained, and somewhat unsual, the Blues managed to pull out the win, which, on balance, they probably deserved.

Leverkusen was taking a nap during the 1st half against Duisburg, but after they woke up they ripped the hapless Zebras. The Aspirins remain a solid Euro squad and the Pepto-Bismol-Park a fortress...

After their crap start, champions Stuttgart are now the in-form team, with 4 wins on the trot. Although a title defense is pretty much out of the question, a Euro spot is a realistic goal. VfB ran rings around their hosts, a suprisingly lame Eintracht Frankfurt squad, hardly inspired by the packed house.

Bielefeld continues to drop like a rock. In an important relegation battle, they got their ass ripped by a rampaging Bochum side, and they were lucky it didn't turn into a debacle. In fact, if it wasn't for an excellent performance by reserve goalkeeper Rowan Fernandez, it would have been bloody.

A huge win for struggling Nürnberg, who get back in the race for salvation. A loss would have sunk their ship, or sprung another leak, as with Duisburg and Cottbus. But fortunately, a crap Dortmund squad showed up, their lame performance just what the doctor ordered. Der "Club" didn't do much, but the Neons offered less than zero, so an easy 3 points for the home side.

Team of the Week: Stuttgart (great performance), Nürnberg (signs of a pulse)
Turd of the Weak: Bielefeld

Attendance: 354,400 (avg 39,378), 30 goals



Karlsruher SC 		 -  	Hertha BSC 		2:1 (0:1) 	29,217	(Hajnal, Freis - Pantelic)
Bayern München 		 -  	VfL Wolfsburg 		2:1 (1:0)	69,000	(Klose, Ribery - Dejagah)
Bayer Leverkusen 	 -  	MSV Duisburg 		4:1 (0:1) 	22,500	(Barbarez, Rolfes, Freier, Gekas - Mokhtari)
VfL Bochum 		 -  	Arminia Bielefeld 	3:0 (2:0) 	20,478	(Mieciel 2, Dabrowski)
Hannover 96 		 -  	FC Schalke 04 		2:3 (1:1)	49,000	(Huszti 2 - Kuranyi 2, Halil Altintop) 
Energie Cottbus 	 -  	Werder Bremen 		0:2 (0:0)	14,685	(Diego, Mosquera) 
Eintracht Frankfurt 	 -  	VfB Stuttgart 		1:4 (1:1) 	51,500	(Köhler - Hilbert, Marica, Hitzlsperger, Cacau)
1. FC Nürnberg 		 -  	Borussia Dortmund 	2:0 (1:0) 	41,020	(Galasek, Charisteas)
Hamburger SV 		 -  	Hansa Rostock	 	2:0 (1:0)	57,000	(van der Vaart, Olic)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	14 	  9 	4 	1 	  30:8 	  +22 	  	31
 2  Werder Bremen 	  	14 	  9 	3 	2 	  32:17   +15 	  	30
 3  Hamburger SV 	  	14 	  9 	3 	2 	  22:10   +12 	  	30
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	14 	  8 	2 	4 	  16:16    0 	  	26
 5  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	14 	  7 	3 	4 	  24:11   +13 	  	24
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  FC Schalke 04 	  	14 	  5 	7 	2 	  21:14   +7 	  	22
 7  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	14 	  7 	1 	6 	  20:20    0 	  	22
 8  Hannover 96 	  	14 	  6 	3 	5 	  19:20   -1 	  	21
 9  Hertha BSC Berlin 	  	14 	  6 	1 	7 	  18:19   -1 	  	19
10  VfL Bochum 	 	 	14 	  5 	3 	6 	  23:22   +1 	  	18
11  Eintracht Frankfurt 	14 	  4 	6 	4 	  14:19   -5 	  	18
12  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	14 	  4 	4 	6 	  23:25   -2 	  	16
13  Borussia Dortmund 	  	14 	  4 	3 	7 	  18:24   -6 	  	15
14  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	14 	  4 	3 	7 	  16:31   -15 	  	15
15  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	14 	  4 	2 	8 	  14:20   -6 	  	14
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	14 	  3 	3 	8 	  18:24   -6 	  	12
17  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	14 	  3 	0 	11 	  13:25   -12 	  	9
18  Energie Cottbus 	  	14 	  1 	5 	8 	  10:26   -16 	  	8

M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

2. Liga, Round 14

Gladbach continues on course to promotion, the only top club to get a win. But a good result for 1860, drawing at Freiburg, and Köln creeps closer to the promised land. Mainz missed a chance to win the hard fought local derby with Lautern. (A few years ago, K-folks would have laughed off the prospect of a "derby" with Mainz. Now they're thrilled they don't lose.) Paderborn gets their first win! And the team that has to forever live with the shame is Greuther Fürth.

Attendance: 153,229 (avg 17,025), 15 goals

 

Borussia M'gladbach 	 -  	Kickers Offenbach 	3:0 (1:0) 	36,502	(Ndjeng, Brouwers, Paauwe)
SC Paderborn 07 	 -  	SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	1:0 (0:0) 	 4,545	(Schüßler)
SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	 -  	TuS Koblenz 		0:2 (0:0) 	 8,379	(Sahin, Doo-Ri Cha)	
VfL Osnabrück	 	 -  	FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	1:1 (1:0) 	13,000	(Cichon - Werner)
SC Freiburg 		 -  	1860 München 		2:2 (1:0) 	21,650	(Uzoma, Pitroipa - Schwarz, Kucukovic)
FC Augsburg 		 -  	Alemannia Aachen 	1:0 (0:0) 	11,153	(Benschneider)
Erzgebirge Aue 		 -  	FC St. Pauli 		0:0 (0:0) 	12,500 	
1899 Hoffenheim 	 -  	1. FC Köln 		0:2 (0:1)  	 6,350	(Novakovic, Helmes)	
1. FC Kaiserslautern 	 -  	1. FSV Mainz 05 	0:0 (0:0)	39,150


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	14 	  9 	4 	1 	  31:15   +16 	  	31
 2  SC Freiburg 	  	14 	  8 	4 	2 	  24:15   +9 	  	28
 3  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A) 	14 	  7 	4 	3 	  27:15   +12 	  	25
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  TSV 1860 München 	  	14 	  6 	6 	2 	  24:15   +9 	  	24
 5  1. FC Köln 	  		14 	  7 	3 	4 	  27:21   +6 	  	24
 6  SpVgg Greuther Fürth   	14 	  6 	5 	3 	  19:14   +5 	  	23
 7  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N)   	14 	  5 	5 	4 	  22:22    0 	  	20
 8  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N)   	14 	  5 	5 	4 	  19:19    0 	  	20
 9  Alemannia Aachen (A)  	14 	  5 	4 	5 	  20:18   +2 	  	19
10  TuS Koblenz 	  	14 	  5 	4 	5 	  19:23   -4 	  	19
11  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	14 	  5 	3 	6 	  14:18   -4 	  	18
12  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	14 	  4 	4 	6 	  16:23   -7 	  	16
13  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	14 	  4 	3 	7 	  20:23   -3 	  	15
14  Kickers Offenbach 	  	14 	  4 	3 	7 	  12:24   -12 	  	15
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  FC Augsburg 	  	14 	  3 	5 	6 	  18:24   -6 	  	14
16  1. FC Kaiserslautern  	14 	  2 	6 	6 	  10:13   -3 	  	12
17  SC Paderborn 07 	  	14 	  1 	6 	7 	   8:17   -9 	  	9
18  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	14 	  1 	4 	9 	  17:28   -11 	  	7

N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


November 21, 2008

Barf. Germany can't beat Wales

Yeah, they sucked. 0-0. Nuff said.


November 17, 2008

Yawn. Germany beats Cyprus.

Basically, a ho-hum performance for the DFB squad. Qualification for Euro 2008 was already assured, so they really didn't have much to play for - except to erase the disgrace of their last performance against Cyprus, a measly draw for which they should be truly embarassed. Plus of course, they kinda sucked against the Czechs in their last match...

Head coach Joachim Löw had to make lots of changes in his squad, as many regulars were out due to injury. This opened up some opportunities for the benchwarmers to strut their stuff. One to take advantage was wonderboy "Prince" Lukas Podolski, who can't even get in a game at bayern. But he started brilliantly, dribbling around three defenders and crossing to Clemens Fritz, whose flying header found the net for the early lead. The Germans kept attacking, and a quarter of an hour later, Miro Klose put them up 2-0. The match was basically over, as the Cypriots were worthless. The DFB squad, except for the engeretic Podolski, basically went to sleep, and the fans at least could go get their beer and sausages before halftime. In fact, the Cypriots almost got a goal after about 30 minutes, as Aloneftis was left wide open by a snoozing German defense. But instead of sticking his foot in his mouth, which is what he usually does, GK Jens Lehmann made a foot save.

In the 2nd half, aside from some further demos by Prinz Poldi (including a goal and a shot off the post), there wasn't much to write home about. All in all, a ho-hum win against a crap opponent.


Match Number: 	796
Date:		17-November-2007
Location:	Hannover
Competition:	Euro 2008 Qualifying

GERMANY:
Lehmann
A. Friedrich, Mertesacker, Metzelder, Lahm
Hitzlsperger
Fritz (77.  Hilbert), Podolski
Trochowski (66.  Borowski)
Gomez (72.  Hanke), Klose
 
CYPRUS:
Georgallidis
Theodotou (27. Nikolaou), Christou, Lambrou, Garpozis
Charalambidis (46. Theofilou), Satsias, Makridis, Aloneftis
Okkas, Constantinou (69. Yiasoumis)
 
Scoring:
1:0 Fritz (2.) 
2:0 Klose (20.) 
3:0 Podolski (53.) 
4:0 Hitzlsperger (82.) 
 
Referee: Rasmussen (Denmark) 

Attendance:  45,016 (sold out) 


November 11, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 13

Just when everyone thought that Bayern would run away and hide the title early, it's now a wide open race. Ironically, defending champ Stuttgart seems to have finally gotten out of their doldrums, perhaps realizing that everything was in the toilet after getting reemed in Lyon midweek in the Champions League. With that competition over, the champs appear to have refocused on the Bundesliga and try to sneak into Europe for next year. They played with purpose against Bayern, who not only looked crap, but lost Lucio getting his ass tossed for repeated fouls. The match was over by halftime, and if today's performance was any indication, Bayern needs a swift kick in the ass if they want to dominate the league. For Stuttgart, their most impressive performance of the season, and perhaps they'll start rolling up the points and acting like defending champs.

Hamburg had a chance to take the lead, but although Schalke regularily chokes when it counts, there is too much talent on the squad to suck two weeks in a row. The match was generally crap, although their was lots of hectic running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Overall, a draw was a fair result.

The "winner" this week was Bremen, who have leapt into the title race. You could look at the scoreline and think that surprise team Karlsruhe got a new hole ripped by a rampaging Werder, but you would be wrong. KSC actually played decently for the first half, but they had no solution for the outstanding Diego His second strike just before half seemed to take the wind out of the promoted club, and a rampant Werder gave KSC a bitch-slapping lesson in the 2nd half. After a slow start, Werder seems to have hit stride, so Bayern had better wake up if they want the title they put a deposit on by spending zillions of euros in the offseason.

Dortmund generally had the advantage against Frankfurt, but then suddenly found themselves behind after about an hour. Not only that, Diego Klimowicz got conked on the head and suffered a concussion. But Florian Kringe scored to save the Neons an embarassing home loss. Good point for Frankfurt though.

Things looked grim in Berlin. Not that Hertha is struggling. But a sudden snow storm promised to keep the crowds down. And with goal-threat Pantelic leaving early due to injury, the snooze-football that Hertha serves up promised to be even more sleep inducing. (And you know if you fall asleep in the snow, you might never wake up. A potential disaster were Hertha would permanently lose some 35,000 supporters). But despite phoning it in, Hertha got lucky on two accounts: Hannover was rather clueless on how to transform their advantage into a win, and Pantelic's replacement André Lima scored a late winner.

The eastern derby was a huge relegation battle, and despite stuttering, Hansa deservedly gets the points against Cottbus. The decisive factor was Enrico Kern, who notched a hat-trick for the Rostocker, giving them slight breathing room at the bottom. A good effort by Energie, but they're going down.

Bielefeld woke up from their comatose state that has dominated their last few weeks. They won a crucial relegation battle with a bravo 2nd half performance against fellow strugglers Nürnberg. Der Club had started well, and seemed in control, but were clearly out of gas after the break. A grim relegation atmosphere must pervade the Nürnberg locker room now, and they need to do something soon if they want to stick around. For Arminia, welcome points, and let's see if it stops the rot.

A critical relegation battle may have indicated that another "favorite" has been determined. Duisburg had not lost at home to Bochum in 26 years, but their loss suggests that they should start planning their visit to Hoffenheim next season. Bochum played defensively, but cleverly took advantage of their counter chances. Meanwhile, the Zebras wasted their opportunities and look doomed, unless someone lights a fire under their ass.

Finally, the "Who cares?" match pitted commercial products Volkswagen and Pharmaceuticals. Cars and Drugs. Alka-Seltzer prevails, mainly due to the "Eagle" flying high in the Pepto-Bismol net. (GK Rene Adler (eagle) was outstanding for Bayer)

Team of the Week: Werder Bremen, honorable mention to Stuttgart
Turd of the Weak: Duisburg, Nürnberg - booking 2.Liga train schedules?

Attendance: 348,942 (avg 38,771), 27 goals


MSV Duisburg 		 -  	VfL Bochum	 	0:2 (0:1)	24,259	(Imhof, Bechmann) 	 	
VfB Stuttgart	 	 -  	Bayern München 		3:1 (3:0) 	55,600	(Gomez 2, Bastürk - Toni)	
FC Schalke 04	 	 -  	Hamburger SV 		1:1 (1:1) 	61,482	(Krstajic - Olic)
Werder Bremen	 	 -  	Karlsruher SC 		4:0 (2:0) 	39,869	(Diego 2, Almeida, Naldo)
Borussia Dortmund 	 -  	Eintracht Frankfurt 	1:1 (0:0) 	75,300	(Kringe - Amanatidis)
Hertha BSC Berlin	 -  	Hannover 96 		1:0 (0:0) 	34,213	(André Lima)
Hansa Rostock 		 -  	Energie Cottbus 	3:2 (1:0) 	20,000	(Kern 3 - da Silva, Skela)
Arminia Bielefeld 	 -  	1. FC Nürnberg 		3:1 (0:1) 	18,000	(Kauf, Wichniarek, Zuma - Wolf)
VfL Wolfsburg	 	 -  	Bayer Leverkusen 	1:2 (0:1)	20,219	(Friedrich o.g. - Barnetta, Kiessling)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	13 	  8 	4 	1 	  28:7 	  +21 	  	28
 2  Werder Bremen 	  	13 	  8 	3 	2 	  30:17   +13 	  	27
 3  Hamburger SV 	  	13 	  8 	3 	2 	  20:10   +10 	  	27
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	13 	  7 	2 	4 	  14:15   -1 	  	23
 5  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	13 	  6 	3 	4 	  20:10   +10 	  	21
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  Hannover 96 	  	13 	  6 	3 	4 	  17:17    0 	  	21
 7  FC Schalke 04 	  	13 	  4 	7 	2 	  18:12   +6 	  	19
 8  Hertha BSC Berlin 	  	13 	  6 	1 	6 	  17:17    0 	  	19
 9  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	13 	  6 	1 	6 	  16:19   -3 	  	19
10  Eintracht Frankfurt 	13 	  4 	6 	3 	  13:15   -2 	  	18
11  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	13 	  4 	4 	5 	  22:23   -1 	  	16
12  VfL Bochum	 	  	13 	  4 	3 	6 	  20:22   -2 	  	15
13  Borussia Dortmund 	  	13 	  4 	3 	6 	  18:22   -4 	  	15
14  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	13 	  4 	3 	6 	  16:28   -12 	  	15
15  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	13 	  4 	2 	7 	  14:18   -4 	  	14
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	13 	  2 	3 	8 	  16:24   -8 	  	9
17  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	13 	  3 	0 	10 	  12:21   -9 	  	9
18  Energie Cottbus 	  	13 	  1 	5 	7 	  10:24   -14 	  	8


M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

2. Liga, Round 13

Gladbach remains on top with a draw at 1860. Mainz enters the promotion group as they whack Osnabrück. The struggle at the top will probably continue till the season's end, like it almost always does. Another loss for Kaiserslautern, the alarm bells are going off. Rumour has it that sports director Michael Schjönberg is willing to step down in order that the incoming manager has "complete control" - this is what potential "saviour" Klaus Toppmöller demanded. Jena and Paderborn look hopeless already.

Attendance: 150,969 (avg 16,774), 18 goals


1. FSV Mainz 05 	 -  	VfL Osnabrück 		4:1 (1:1)	19,000	(Hoogland, Borja, Amri, Gunkel - Reichenberger)
1. FC Köln 		 -  	Erzgebirge Aue 		3:2 (2:2)	34,000	(Helmes, Novakovic 2 - Klinka, Nemec)
Kickers Offenbach 	 -  	SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	0:0 (0:0)	 8,763
Alemannia Aachen 	 -  	1. FC Kaiserslautern 	2:1 (1:0)	20,773	(Milchraum, Reghecampf - Jendrisek)
SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	 -  	SC Freiburg 		1:1 (0:0) 	 6,300	(Reisinger - Pitroipa)
FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	 -  	1899 Hoffenheim 	0:1 (0:0) 	 6,985	(Edu)
FC St. Pauli 		 -  	FC Augsburg	 	2:0 (1:0) 	16,800	(Joy, Brunnemann)
TSV 1860 München 	 -  	Borussia M'gladbach 	0:0 (0:0)	31,000 	  	
TuS Koblenz 		 -  	SC Paderborn 07 	0:0 (0:0)	 7,348


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	13 	  8 	4 	1 	  28:15   +13 	  	28
 2  SC Freiburg 	  	13 	  8 	3 	2 	  22:13   +9 	  	27
 3  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A) 	13 	  7 	3 	3 	  27:15   +12 	  	24
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  TSV 1860 München 	  	13 	  6 	5 	2 	  22:13   +9 	  	23
 5  SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	13 	  6 	5 	2 	  19:13   +6 	  	23
 6  1. FC Köln 	  		13 	  6 	3 	4 	  25:21   +4 	  	21
 7  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N) 	13 	  5 	5 	3 	  22:20   +2 	  	20
 8  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 	13 	  5 	5 	3 	  19:17   +2 	  	20
 9  Alemannia Aachen (A) 	13 	  5 	4 	4 	  20:17   +3 	  	19
10  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	13 	  5 	2 	6 	  14:18   -4 	  	17
11  TuS Koblenz 	  	12 	  4 	3 	5 	  17:23   -6 	  	15
12  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	13 	  4 	3 	6 	  15:22   -7 	  	15
13  Kickers Offenbach 	  	13 	  4 	3 	6 	  12:21   -9 	  	15
14  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	13 	  4 	2 	7 	  20:23   -3 	  	14
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  1. FC Kaiserslautern 	13 	  2 	5 	6 	  10:13   -3 	  	11
16  FC Augsburg 	  	13 	  2 	5 	6 	  17:24   -7 	  	11
17  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	13 	  1 	3 	9 	  16:27   -11 	  	6
18  SC Paderborn 07 	  	12 	  0 	5 	7 	   7:17   -10 	  	5


N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


November 4, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 12

Bayern has become lax in the past few weeks, opening up chances for whoever wants to take advantage. Frankfurt decided that catenaccio was the only way to not go down at the Allianz, so they surrounded their box with 9 players. (The 10th would make runs to the sideline every now and then to grab a water bottle for his colleagues.) By walling up and kicking anything that moved, they hoped to salvage a draw. Bayern pressured the whole game, but lacked the spark to take down Eintracht. A wasted 2 points for the leaders, but a valuable digit for the visitors.

HSV could take advantage of Bayern's snoozing with a win, and they got the points - although Hertha made things surprisingly tough. After Hamburg took the early lead, one might have expected the Berliners to phone it in, as they often do. And sure enough, they tried their version of "rope-a-dope" in the 1st half. HSV piled up chances, but was shooting blanks. Then, like Muhamad Ali in Zaire, Hertha came out blazing in the 2nd half, and tied the game. But credit to HSV, they took that as a challenge, and assaulted the Hertha goal in the final phase, getting the win with about 10 minutes to spare. A deserved 3 points for the 'Burgers. They've cut Bayern's runaway lead to only 2 points, so the Bundesliga might get interesting yet.

Werder dominated the first half against Rostock, but only had one measly goal to show for it, as they wasted tons of chances. Apparently they decided not to bother in the 2nd half, and went to sleep. They were in no danger because Hansa had been in a deep slumber from the opening whistle. So Bremen coasted home to the points, happy that they make up ground to the leaders. Rostock? Apparently they could care less, as they will depend on their home form to stay up.

Schalke disgraced themselves by becoming the first team to get no points against Cottbus. And their defeat was not without merit, as they basically sucked. Energie fought for every ball, and although they often lacked skill, their 100% effort often gave them chances. Bassila rammed home a rebound after a scramble in front of goal, and despite dominating possesion, Schalke was unable to equalize. To make matters worse, Kevin Kuranyi left with an injury, so the anemic Blues offense should suck even more in the future. After several performances that had their fans grabbing for Alka-Seltzer, Bayer Pepto-Bismol finally got down to business and bitch-slapped a crap Arminia squad. Bayer looked quite peppy, created lots of chances, and generally kicked Bielefeld's ass. Hannover's win wasn't pretty, as the 96ers lacked style. But they made up for it with fighting spirit. Meanwhile, the Neons continued to waste chances, and would rue that lackadasical finishing, as Hannover gave them the beat down and grabbed all the points. Dortmund is one of those clubs that needs a swift kick in the ass, as they have more talent then they're showing. Hannover on the other hand is getting the maximum out of what they've got - and right now it's a UEFA spot!

Two struggling teams, and something had to give. And it was der Club that takes it in the shorts. In general, Nürnberg controlled the match against Stuttgart, but were done in by a blitz sneak attack from Mario Gomez, followed by 70 minutes of Stuttgart catenaccio. A sorry display by the defending champs, but at this moment, they're not worried about style, just grabbing a few points to straighten things out. Nürnberg remains in crisis, and don't be surprised if saviour (from previous seasons) Hans Meyer gets his ass fired soon. Bochum finally put things together, with a brilliant first half performance as they squashed the VW-Bugs. But being Bochum, they got sloppy as usual, and let Wolfsburg back in the game in the 2nd half. But even Bochum couldn't screw this one up, and they grab some important points in the relegation battle.

Finally, in a duel of promoted sides, KSC dominated the match, doing enough to grab a goal and then coast. The Zebras were crap, and never really threatened the hosts. In fact, GK Tom Starke had to save a penalty from Kapllani to prevent a worse loss. So Karlsruhe continues to stun the pundits, picking up points, and are almost certainly hanging around for at least another season. Meanwhile, Duisburg fans are undoubtedly checking the 2.Liga city train schedules, and seeing if they can get big discounts by purchasing a year in advance.

Attendance: 346,049 (avg 38,450), 22 goals

Team of the Week: Cottbus
Turd of the Weak: Schalke


Energie Cottbus 	 -  	FC Schalke 04 		1:0 (0:0) 	17,012	(Bassila)
Werder Bremen 		 -  	Hansa Rostock 		1:0 (1:0) 	41,738	(Almeida)
Bayern München 		 -  	Eintracht Frankfurt 	0:0 (0:0)	69,000
Bayer Leverkusen 	 -  	Arminia Bielefeld 	4:0 (3:0)	22,500	(Gekas 2, Barbarez 2)
1. FC Nürnberg 		 -  	VfB Stuttgart 		0:1 (0:1) 	45,565	(Gomez)
Hamburger SV 		 -  	Hertha BSC 		2:1 (1:0) 	56,493	(Guerrero, Reinhardt - Ebert)
Hannover 96 		 -  	Borussia Dortmund 	2:1 (0:0)	45,087	(Huszti, Schulz - Kringe) 
VfL Bochum 		 -  	VfL Wolfsburg 		5:3 (4:0)	20,940	(Sestak 2, Maltritz, Fuchs, Epalle - Schäfer, Grafite 2) 
Karlsruher SC	 	 -  	MSV Duisburg 		1:0 (1:0)	27,714	(Eggimann)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	12 	  8 	4 	0 	  27:4 	  +23 	  	28
 2  Hamburger SV 	  	12 	  8 	2 	2 	  19:9 	  +10 	  	26
 3  Werder Bremen 	  	12 	  7 	3 	2 	  26:17   +9 	  	24
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	12 	  7 	2 	3 	  14:11   +3 	  	23
 5  Hannover 96 	  	12 	  6 	3 	3 	  17:16   +1 	  	21
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	12 	  5 	3 	4 	  18:9 	  +9 	  	18
 7  FC Schalke 04 	  	12 	  4 	6 	2 	  17:11   +6 	  	18
 8  Eintracht Frankfurt   	12 	  4 	5 	3 	  12:14   -2 	  	17
 9  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	12 	  4 	4 	4 	  21:21    0 	  	16
10  Hertha BSC Berlin 	  	12 	  5 	1 	6 	  16:17   -1 	  	16
11  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	12 	  5 	1 	6 	  13:18   -5 	  	16
12  Borussia Dortmund 	  	12 	  4 	2 	6 	  17:21   -4 	  	14
13  VfL Bochum 	  		12 	  3 	3 	6 	  18:22   -4 	  	12
14  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	12 	  3 	3 	6 	  13:27   -14 	  	12
15  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	12 	  3 	2 	7 	  11:16   -5 	  	11
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	12 	  2 	3 	7 	  15:21   -6 	  	9
17  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	12 	  3 	0 	9 	  12:19   -7 	  	9
18  Energie Cottbus 	  	12 	  1 	5 	6 	   8:21   -13 	  	8


M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

2. Liga, Round 12

Leaders Gladbach and Freiburg gained some space as 1860 stubbed their toe at Wehen. Paderborn is now the only professional team in Germany (top 3 divisions) without a win.

Attendance: 118,701 (avg 13,189), 22 goals


VfL Osnabrück 		 -  	1. FC Köln	 	2:1 (2:0) 	17,100	(Schuon, Reichenberger - Helmes)
Erzgebirge Aue	 	 -  	Alemannia Aachen 	2:1 (1:1) 	 9,450	(Heller, Loose - Ebbers)
Kickers Offenbach 	 -  	SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	1:2 (1:0) 	 8,059	(Toppmöller - Sieger o.g., Burkhardt)
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 	 -  	FC St. Pauli 		1:1 (0:1)        6,350	(Morena o.g. - Takyi)
SC Freiburg 		 -  	TuS Koblenz 		4:2 (0:0) 	13,600	(Bencik, Pitroipa, Mesic, Aogo - Djokaj 2)
FC Augsburg 		 -  	1. FC Kaiserslautern 	0:0 (0:0) 	17,218
SC Paderborn 07 	 -  	1. FSV Mainz 05 	1:1 (1:1) 	 6,790	(Koen - Hoogland)
SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	 -  	TSV 1860 München 	0:0 (0:0)	11,375
Borussia M'gladbach 	 -  	FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	2:1 (1:1)	28,759	(Neuville 2 - Torghelle)


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	12 	  8 	3 	1 	  28:15   +13 	  	27
 2  SC Freiburg 	  	12 	  8 	2 	2 	  21:12   +9 	  	26
 3  TSV 1860 München 	  	12 	  6 	4 	2 	  22:13   +9 	  	22
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	12 	  6 	4 	2 	  18:12   +6 	  	22
 5  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A) 	12 	  6 	3 	3 	  23:14   +9 	  	21
 6  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N) 	12 	  5 	4 	3 	  22:20   +2 	  	19
 7  1. FC Köln 	  		12 	  5 	3 	4 	  22:19   +3 	  	18
 8  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N)   	12 	  4 	5 	3 	  18:17   +1 	  	17
 9  Alemannia Aachen (A)   	12 	  4 	4 	4 	  18:16   +2 	  	16
10  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	12 	  4 	3 	5 	  14:18   -4 	  	15
11  TuS Koblenz 	  	12 	  4 	3 	5 	  17:23   -6 	  	15
12  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	12 	  4 	2 	6 	  18:20   -2 	  	14
13  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	12 	  4 	2 	6 	  12:18   -6 	  	14
14  Kickers Offenbach 	  	12 	  4 	2 	6 	  12:21   -9 	  	14
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  1. FC Kaiserslautern   	12 	  2 	5 	5 	   9:11   -2 	  	11
16  FC Augsburg 	  	12 	  2 	5 	5 	  17:22   -5 	  	11
17  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	12 	  1 	3 	8 	  16:26   -10 	  	6
18  SC Paderborn 07 	  	12 	  0 	5 	7 	   7:17   -10 	  	5


N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


October 31, 2008

DFB Pokal

The 2nd round of the DFB Cup produced some surprises. In a huge upset, 3rd Division Regionalliga squad Wuppertaler SV stunned Hertha BSC 2-0. This is the first time in 44 years that WSV has made it past the 2nd round. (The "main" round. The Cup actually starts with regional competitions to determine qualifiers that will join the big clubs in the main rounds).

The other surprise of the round is that Nürnberg went down in flames at Jena. Der Club had taken the lead in OT, but Jena came back and won on penalties. Even more amazing is that Jena played almost an hour a man short, as Sandor Torghelle got his ass tossed for repeated fouls. But clearly boosted by a sold out home crowd, the hosts fought der Club to the end and deservedly took their scalp on penalties. Stuttgart narrowly avoided the same fate. A last minute goal in OT by Mario Gomez saved their ass, after Paderborn had stunningly come back from a 0-2 deficit.

In general, there's less interest in the Cup for Bundesliga crowds, but both Schalke and Bayern München packed them in. Not sure about the attraction of Hannover, but the old Bayern-Gladbach rivalry might have something to do with the sell-out in München - despite Gladbach being in the 2.Liga these days.


Werder Bremen II 	 -  	FC St. Pauli 		4:2 (2:2) pen	14,754	(Schindler, Harnik - Rothenbach, Kuru)
Wuppertaler SV Bor. 	 -  	Hertha BSC Berlin 	2:0 (0:0) 	12,399	(Lintjens, Jerat)
Alemannia Aachen 	 -  	VfL Bochum 		3:2 (0:1) 	17,838	(Milchraum, Pecka, Ebbers - Ebbers o.g., Drsek)
Hansa Rostock 	  	 -  	Kickers Offenbach 	6:0 (4:0) 	10,200	(Kern 2, Beinlich, Rydlewicz, Yelen, Langen)
TSV 1860 München 	 -  	1. FSV Mainz 05 	2:1 (0:0) 	14,200	(di Salvo, Göktan - Borja)
Karlsruher SC 	 	 -  	VfL Wolfsburg 		0:1 (0:1) 	20,846	(Dejagah)	
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 	 -  	SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	2:1 (2:1) 	 4,384	(Carlos Eduardo, Copado - Kotuljac)	
FC Schalke 04 	 	 -  	Hannover 96 		2:0 (0:0) ot	60,422	(Rafinha, Kuranyi)	
VfB Stuttgart 		 -  	SC Paderborn 07 	3:2 (2:2) ot 	 7,500	(Hitzlsperger 2, Gomez - Koen, Döring)
Hamburger SV 		 -  	SC Freiburg 		3:1 (1:1) 	39,261	(Trochowski, Olic, van der Vaart - Matmour)
Werder Bremen 		 -  	MSV Duisburg 		4:0 (0:0) 	24,279	(Borowski, Almeida, Rosenberg, Mosquera)
Borussia Dortmund	 -  	Eintracht Frankfurt 	2:1 (0:1) 	45,800	(Brzenska, Petric - Amanatidis)	
TuS Koblenz 		 -  	Arminia Bielefeld	1:2 (1:1) ot	 9,352	(Mavric - Eigler 2)
FC Carl Zeis Jena	 -  	1. FC Nürnberg 		5:4 (2:2) pen	15,610	(Torghelle, Müller - Misimovic)
Rot-Weiss Essen 	 -  	1. FC Kaiserslautern 	2:1 (1:0) 	13,818	(Brandy, Czyszczon - Runström)
Bayern München	 	 -  	Borussia M'gladbach	3:1 (0:0)	69,000	(Toni 2, Klose - Ndjeng)

October 28, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 11

This week was a snoozer if you like to see goals scored. The matches themselves weren't too bad, but not too many shots were on target. Perhaps everyone was saving something for the upcoming midweek DFB-Cup clashes...

Leaders Bayern ran into a road block in a packed signal-Iduna stadium. The Neons fought hard and pressed the leaders, although in the end it was a scoreless draw. This is a fair result, and given Dortmund's shakiness, a good point for them. For Bayern, they were pressed more than usual, but still haven't lost. On the other hand, this was their 1st BL match without midfielder Franck Ribery, and they looked pretty ordinary.

This week's top match was Schalke hosting Bremen, and both clubs created lots of chances. Schalke, no surprise, wasted almost all of them. Bremen got back in the match, and Sanogo especially wasted some huge opportunities to steal the points. Schalke actually looked the better team, but all they get is a measly point.

Hamburg took advantage of the slip ups of the leaders, although you wouldn't have guessed it for their effort. Duisburg was harmless and looked crap, but HSV was content just to play kickabout for most of the match. A goal at the hour mark was pretty much enough to bring home the bacon.

Stuttgart finally stopped the rot, and Alka-Seltzer was just what the doctor ordered. A lucky win, but the champs will take it. meanwhile, Leverkusen has quietly started to suck so embattled head coach Skibbe will probably start using more of Bayer's products.

Hertha had an easy time against a crap Bochum squad. They should have scored a lot more, especially in the 2nd half, but that might have caused an interruption in the fan's afternoon nap. And Hertha is all about putting their fans to sleep. Frankfurt and Hannover had a hard fought, but ultimately dull draw. After a "statement" win last week, this week Nürnberg got run over by a Volkswagen. Wolfsburg pretty much had the game warpped up by half, as der Club especially stunk. The visitors woke up a bit in the 2nd half, but were finished off by a goal from MOTM Dejagah. Nürnberg remains in crisis, but VW continues to get results when they have to.

Suprise team Karlsruhe travelled to fellow promotee Rostock, and the match was a rather lifeless draw. KSC had the edge in chances, but Hansa deserved the point. However, given preseason prognosis from most pundits, I'm sure KSC doesn't mind an away point. A crap match in Bielefeld was dominated by Arminia, but they couldn't break through the packed Cottbus defense. When they finally broke through, they forgot to play through to the final whistle, and Energie grabbed a point in injury time. Nice for the visitors, although it should hardly matter in a few months. But for Arminia, they may come to rue those lost points.

Team of the Week: nobody
Turd of the Weak: nobody

Attendance: 353,974 (avg 39,330), 12 measly goals



Eintracht Frankfurt 	 -  	Hannover 96 		0:0 (0:0) 	44,700 	 	
VfB Stuttgart	 	 -  	Bayer Leverkusen 	1:0 (0:0) 	51,000	(Beck) 		
FC Schalke 04 		 -  	Werder Bremen 		1:1 (1:1) 	61,482	(Grossmüller - Naldo)
Hertha BSC Berlin 	 -  	VfL Bochum 		2:0 (2:0) 	34,580	(Maltritz o.g., Pantelic)
Arminia Bielefeld 	 -  	Energie Cottbus 	1:1 (0:0) 	17,600	(Kamper - Sörensen) 
VfL Wolfsburg 	 	 -  	1. FC Nürnberg 		3:1 (2:0) 	19,798	(Charisteas o.g., Grafite, Dejagah - Misimovic)
Hansa Rostock 	 	 -  	Karlsruher SC 		0:0 (0:0) 	14,000
Borussia Dortmund 	 -  	Bayern München 		0:0 (0:0) 	80,708
MSV Duisburg 	 	 -  	Hamburger SV	 	0:1 (0:1)	30,106	(Kompany)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	11 	  8 	3 	0 	  27:4 	  +23 	  	27
 2  Hamburger SV 	  	11 	  7 	2 	2 	  17:8 	  +9 	  	23
 3  Werder Bremen 	  	11 	  6 	3 	2 	  25:17   +8 	  	21
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	11 	  6 	2 	3 	  13:11   +2 	  	20
 5  FC Schalke 04 	  	11 	  4 	6 	1 	  17:10   +7 	  	18
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  Hannover 96 	  	11 	  5 	3 	3 	  15:15    0 	  	18
 7  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	11 	  4 	4 	3 	  18:16   +2 	  	16
 8  Hertha BSC Berlin	  	11 	  5 	1 	5 	  15:15    0 	  	16
 9  Eintracht Frankfurt	  	11 	  4 	4 	3 	  12:14   -2 	  	16
10  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	11 	  4 	3 	4 	  14:9 	  +5 	  	15
11  Borussia Dortmund 	  	11 	  4 	2 	5 	  16:19   -3 	  	14
12  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	11 	  4 	1 	6 	  12:18   -6 	  	13
13  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	11 	  3 	3 	5 	  13:23   -10 	  	12
14  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	11 	  3 	2 	6 	  11:15   -4 	  	11
15  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	11 	  2 	3 	6 	  15:20   -5 	  	9
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  VfL Bochum 	  		11 	  2 	3 	6 	  13:19   -6 	  	9
17  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	11 	  3 	0 	8 	  12:18   -6 	  	9
18  Energie Cottbus 	  	11 	  0 	5 	6 	   7:21	  -14 	  	5


M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)


2. Liga, Round 11

Gladbach showed that they want back to the Bundesliga with an impressive away win at perennial 2.Liga pretender Fürth. With most of the other leaders stubbing their toes, Köln was able to sneak closer by eaking out a win over stubborn Paderborn, who remain winless.

Attendance: 166,918 (avg 18,546), 27 goals


1. FSV Mainz 05 	 -  	FC Augsburg 		1:1 (1:0) 	19,500	(Pekovic - Möhrle)
Alemannia Aachen 	 -  	1899 Hoffenheim 	2:2 (1:0) 	18,710	(Strehle, Lehmann - Copado, Paljic)	
SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	 -  	Borussia M'gladbach 	1:3 (0:2) 	13,000	(Reisinger - Friend 3)
TSV 1860 München 	 -  	Kickers Offenbach 	3:0 (1:0) 	22,300	(Bender, Göktan 2)
FC St. Pauli 	 	 -  	SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	1:1 (0:1) 	15,200	(Boll - Diakité)	
1. FC Kaiserslautern 	 -  	Erzgebirge Aue 		2:0 (2:0) 	21,040	(Bendrier, Jendrisek)	
1. FC Köln 		 -  	SC Paderborn 07 	2:1 (1:0) 	41,000	(Novakovic 2 - Döring)
TuS Koblenz 		 -  	VfL Osnabrück 		1:0 (0:0) 	 9,142	(Bogavac)	
FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	 -  	SC Freiburg 		1:2 (0:1)	 7,026	(Werner - Pitroipa, Krmas) 


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	11 	  7 	3 	1 	  26:14   +12 	  	24
 2  SC Freiburg 	  	11 	  7 	2 	2 	  17:10   +7 	  	23
 3  TSV 1860 München 	  	11 	  6 	3 	2 	  22:13   +9 	  	21
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A) 	11 	  6 	2 	3 	  22:13   +9 	  	20
 5  SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	11 	  5 	4 	2 	  16:11   +5 	  	19
 6  1. FC Köln 	  		11 	  5 	3 	3 	  21:17   +4 	  	18
 7  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N) 	11 	  5 	3 	3 	  22:20   +2 	  	18
 8  Alemannia Aachen (A) 	11 	  4 	4 	3 	  17:14   +3 	  	16
 9  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 	11 	  4 	4 	3 	  17:16   +1 	  	16
10  TuS Koblenz 	  	11 	  4 	3 	4 	  15:19   -4 	  	15
11  Kickers Offenbach 	  	11 	  4 	2 	5 	  11:19   -8 	  	14
12  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	11 	  4 	1 	6 	  11:17   -6 	  	13
13  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	11 	  3 	3 	5 	  12:17   -5 	  	12
14  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	11 	  3 	2 	6 	  16:19   -3 	  	11
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  1. FC Kaiserslautern 	11 	  2 	4 	5 	   9:11   -2 	  	10
16  FC Augsburg 	  	11 	  2 	4 	5 	  17:22   -5 	  	10
17  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	11 	  1 	3 	7 	  15:24   -9 	  	6
18  SC Paderborn 07 	  	11 	  0 	4 	7 	   6:16   -10 	  	4


N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


October 21, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 10

Leaders Bayern München were forced to fight hard for their win in Bochum. The hosts to an early shock lead, but despite running around hard, were thrown back on the defensive for the rest of the match. Bayern controlled the whole match and finally got a deserved equalizer when Klose assisted to Ribery. They coninued their pressure in the 2nd half, although Bochum at least made a greater effort to go forward. After bayern took the lead however, despite some intensified effort, Bochum really had nothing left. In any case, the relegation battle won't depend on points like this, so they should just move on - they have to be concerned about 7 matches without a win though.

Bremen seems to have recovered from their slow start. Hertha tried to catenaccio their way to a point, but were forced to open up when they fell behind. They got the equalizer, but Werder didn't allow them to shut things again, and struck quickly.

Nobody seems to know what Dortmund team will show up, as they remain inconsistent. They grabbed a lead (twice) at Leverkusen, and looked pretty strong. The Aspirins were forced to pressure the whole match to salvage a point. The Neons defended desperately, but Bayer was able to a late goal and get a deserved draw.

All of a sudden, and quite quietly, things are looking good over in Hamburg. A sold old Nordbank Arena, and an ass-kicking deleivered to champions Stuttgart. What could be better? Croatian international Ivica Olic wrapped up the game with a hat-trick after a little over half an hour. And what was Stuttgart's highpoint? Probably Pavel Pardo getting his ass tossed at the stroke of half-time for kicking Jarolim. Supposedly he wanted to kick the ball, but he probably wanted to kick the "balls" instead. HSV phoned it in during the 2nd period, instead of going for the jugular. A shockingly crap performance by Stuttgart. They really suck this year. If their not careful, they could become the first defending champion to get relegated the next season - a feat only accomplished by Nürnberg in 1969. Not likely, but it would be amusing.

Rostock had the first home sellout of the year, and got an altogether deserved point - a gift from Schalke GK manfred Neuer. He throw was intercepted by Marc Stein who put in the equalizer. Schalke seems to be drifting around aimlessly. They were really in control of this match and probably should have brought home the bacon. Besides, when you get a gift-horse of an Asamoah goal, you'd better take advantage of it. But it just goes to show that they can't get the job done. For Hansa, a critical point that might come in handy in their desperate relegation fight.

Suprise newcomer Karlsruhe and tumbling Bielfeld delivered a snoozer that split the points. KSC is probably still in shock from their good start, so you can't expect much - I'm sure they'll be happy whenever they don't lose. Arminia needed to stop their pointless run, so are probably happy as well.

A wild first half in a northern derby between Hannover and Wolfsburg. 96 was probably the better squad, but was unable to get the victory. A couple of interesting goal scorers - one week before his 38th birthday, 96 dinosaur Michael Tarnat gets a rare one. And contraversial U21 international Ashkan Dejagah notches for VW. A welcome distraction for Dejagah, a dual German/Iranian citizen who pulled out of Germany's U21 match in Israel. I'm sure he'd rather be noted for scoring goals than non-footballing headlines in the press. For Hannover, this is the type of match they need to win if they want to raise their game to the next level, perhaps an indication that they aren't ready.

Nürnberg took out all the frustration of their poor season on a hapless Frankfurt squad. The visitors actually grabbed an early lead, but Der Club pulled out all the stops and attacked furiously. They were rewarded with 5 goals, and it really should have been more. Certainly a demonstration of what Nürnberg is capable of, but likely this will be an exception rather than the rule. A critical away for Duisburg in a relegation battle at Cottbus. Although it's still early in the season, if Energie is going to lose matches like this, they're probably already beyond salvation. As it is, they're mired in the bottom with no wins. The hosts actually controlled the match, and after falling behind on a Bjorn Schlicke free kick, they pressured the Zebras before getting the equalizer. However, MSV stole the points in one of their few counterattacks.

Team of the Week: Hamburg, Nürnberg
Turd of the Weak: Stuttgart - remember 1969!

Attendance: 305,182, (avg 33,909) , 32 goals


Energie Cottbus 	 -  	MSV Duisburg	 	1:2 (0:1)	14,853	(Rost - Schlicke, Grlic)
Werder Bremen 		 -  	Hertha BSC Berlin 	3:2 (0:0) 	40,278	(Almeida, Rosenberg, Andreasen - Gilberto, Okoronkwo) 		
Bayer Leverkusen 	 -  	Borussia Dortmund 	2:2 (0:1) 	22,500	(Gekas, Kiessling - Petric)
1. FC Nürnberg 		 -  	Eintracht Frankfurt 	5:1 (1:1) 	45,050	(Charisteas, Mintal 2, Misimovic, Kennedy - Takahara)
VfL Bochum 		 -  	Bayern München 		1:2 (1:1) 	31,328	(Grote - Ribery, Schweinsteiger)
Hansa Rostock 		 -  	FC Schalke 04 		1:1 (0:1) 	29,000	(Stein - Asamoah)
Hamburger SV 		 -  	VfB Stuttgart 		4:1 (3:0) 	57,000	(Olic 3, Mathijsen - Tasci)
Hannover 96 		 -  	VfL Wolfsburg 		2:2 (2:2) 	37,812	(Pinto, Tarnat - Marcelinho, Dejagah)	
Karlsruher SC 		 -  	Arminia Bielefeld 	0:0 (0:0)	27,361


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	10 	  8 	2 	0 	  27:4 	  +23 	  	26
 2  Werder Bremen 	  	10 	  6 	2 	2 	  24:16   +8 	  	20
 3  Hamburger SV 	  	10 	  6 	2 	2 	  16:8 	  +8 	  	20
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	10 	  6 	1 	3 	  13:11   +2 	  	19
 5  FC Schalke 04 	  	10 	  4 	5 	1 	  16:9 	  +7 	  	17
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  Hannover 96 	  	10 	  5 	2 	3 	  15:15    0 	  	17
 7  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	10 	  4 	3 	3 	  14:8 	  +6 	  	15
 8  Eintracht Frankfurt 	10 	  4 	3 	3 	  12:14   -2 	  	15
 9  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	10 	  3 	4 	3 	  15:15    0 	  	13
10  Hertha BSC Berlin 	  	10 	  4 	1 	5 	  13:15   -2 	  	13
11  Borussia Dortmund 	  	10 	  4 	1 	5 	  16:19   -3 	  	13
12  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	10 	  3 	2 	5 	  12:22   -10 	  	11
13  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	10 	  3 	1 	6 	  11:15   -4 	  	10
14  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	10 	  3 	1 	6 	  11:18   -7 	  	10
15  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	10 	  2 	3 	5 	  14:17   -3 	  	9
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  VfL Bochum 		  	10 	  2 	3 	5 	  13:17   -4 	  	9
17  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	10 	  3 	0 	7 	  12:17   -5 	  	9
18  Energie Cottbus 	  	10 	  0 	4 	6 	  6:20 	  -14 	  	4


M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

2. Liga, Round 10

Some big derby matches. First, two non-traditional derbies: A sold out Hoffeheim crowd saw a surprise win over storied K-town. And in another sold out match in Wiesbaden, Wehen didn't have the right stuff against Mainz. A Bavarian derby saw a big crowd, and 1860 was stunningly bitch-slapped silly by Fürth. Finally, a Rhein classic, as Gladbach hosted Köln. This used to be one of Germany's premier matches, and even today, there is great interest. Over 100,000 ticket requests came in, and half the folks were lucky. They were treated to a boring defensive struggle - but only in the first half. In the 2nd, both teams threw caution into the win and went to all out attack. Köln seemed in serious trouble when Mitreski got tossed for his 2nd yellow. But against all odds, Helmes grabbed the lead on a solo run. Gladbach soon equalized and a wild back and forth ensued until the final whistle.

Attendance: 196,809 (avg 21,868), 27 goals


Kickers Offenbach 	 -  	TuS Koblenz 		1:1 (0:1)	 9,847	(Türker - Djokaj)
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 	 -  	1. FC Kaiserslautern 	1:0 (0:0) 	 6,350	(Ibisevic)
VfL Osnabrück 		 -  	Alemannia Aachen 	2:2 (1:2) 	16,000	(Thomic, Nemeth o.g. - Nemeth, Milchraum)	
SC Freiburg 		 -  	FC St. Pauli 		2:0 (1:0) 	22,400	(Matmour, Bencik)
TSV 1860 München 	 -  	SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	0:3 (0:1) 	60,000	(Karaslavov 2, Maierhofer)
Erzgebirge Aue	 	 -  	FC Augsburg 		3:0 (0:0) 	 9,500	(Curri, Kos, Nemec)
SC Paderborn 07 	 -  	FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	2:2 (2:2) 	 6,079	(Koen, Sinkala - Torghelle, Werner)
SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	 -  	1. FSV Mainz 05 	1:3 (0:1) 	12,566	(Atem - Vrancic, Subotic, Borja)
Borussia M'gladbach 	 -  	1. FC Köln 		2:2 (0:0)	54,067	(Neuville, Daems - Mohamad, Helmes)


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	10 	  6 	3 	1 	  23:13   +10 	  	21
 2  SC Freiburg 	  	10 	  6 	2 	2 	  15:9 	  +6 	  	20
 3  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A)   	10 	  6 	1 	3 	  21:12   +9 	  	19
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  SpVgg Greuther Fürth   	10 	  5 	4 	1 	  15:8 	  +7 	  	19
 5  TSV 1860 München 	  	10 	  5 	3 	2 	  19:13   +6 	  	18
 6  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N)  	10 	  5 	2 	3 	  21:19   +2 	  	17
 7  1. FC Köln 		  	10	  4 	3 	3 	  19:16   +3 	  	15
 8  Alemannia Aachen (A)   	10 	  4 	3 	3 	  15:12   +3 	  	15
 9  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N)   	10 	  4 	3 	3 	  15:14   +1 	  	15
10  Kickers Offenbach 	  	10 	  4 	2 	4 	  11:16   -5 	  	14
11  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	10 	  3 	3 	4 	  12:16   -4 	  	12
12  TuS Koblenz 	  	10 	  3 	3 	4 	  14:19   -5 	  	12
13  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	10 	  4 	0 	6 	  10:16   -6 	  	12
14  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	10 	  3 	2 	5 	  16:17   -1 	  	11
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  FC Augsburg 	  	10 	  2 	3 	5 	  16:21   -5 	  	9
16  1. FC Kaiserslautern 	10 	  1 	4 	5 	  7:11 	  -4 	  	7
17  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	10 	  1 	3 	6 	  14:22   -8 	  	6
18  SC Paderborn 07 	  	10 	  0 	4 	6 	  5:14 	  -9 	  	4


N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)

October 18, 2008

Germany bitch-slapped!! Euro 2008 Qualifier: Germany - Czech Republic 0:3

The earlier news that Germany became the first nation to qualify for the Euro 2008 finals has been replaced by the dire performance as they got their asses ripped by rampant Czechs. And this after Franz Beckenbauer heralded the DFB squad as Europe's best. Well, welcome back to earth, Herr Kaiser.

Of course, with qualification in the bag, one might have expected a let down. But they were ripped wide open by a clever Czech team that wanted to assure their qualification as well.

Things started horribly, as after less than 2 minutes, ex-Dortmunder Jan Koller laid off the ball to Libor Sionko, who calmly slotted home. A "hospital pass" by Bastian Schweinsteiger initiated the whole mess. So Hildebrand's first touch was to take the ball out of the net. The Germans were stunned, but at least launched some fierce attacks. Then Frings and Metzelder were napping, and Marek Matejovski snuck in after 23 minutes for the killer. After this, the DFB basically started to phone it in, with a few lackadasical attacks and crap defending. The Czechs got a 3rd goal from Plasil, but the players didn't seem to mind too much, as the boos and whistling had subsided - most of the fans had already left the stadium.

After the match, coach Joachim Löw defended his team, stating "The players didn't deserve the boos." And Torsten Frings merely commented wryly "Well, they cheer us when we win, and boo us when we lose." However, most fans beg to differ. They boo when it seems like the team should be arrested for impersonating footballers, or indicted on charges of "refusal to work". (Arbeitsverweigerung. Germans love words like that!). Losing isn't the problem, but listless effort certainly deserves some response from the fans? You can't take anything away from the Czechs, but Germany clearly attempted to phone it in, and it backfired.

This lame performance will hopefully serve as a wakeup call.


October 14, 2008

Euro 2008 Qualifier: Ireland - Germany 0:0

A massive crowd in Dublin's Croke Park saw the DFB squad pushed to the limit. They only needed a point to secure their qualification to the 2008 Euro tournament. Meanwhile, the Irish absoutley needed to win to maintain their chances for qualification. As a result, the Irish attacked ferociously and fought hard for every ball. The Germans seemed to be taken aback, and were pushed back on the defensive from the start. Most attempts at counterattack were somewhat feeble, although Podolski had a couple of clear chances to steal the points after he came on. The Irish tested Jens Lehmann, and for once the Arsenal GK let his skills (rather than his mouth) do the talking. Tottenham's Robbie Keane had the huge chance in the 49th minute, as the DFB offisde trap fell asleep, and he was all by himself. However he hurried his attempt over the end-line. This was a pretty good inidcation that the Irish would never score, even though they put some even more desperate pressure towards the end. That pretty much eliminates them from competition, as they have a wimpy goal difference to go along with a huge deficit to catch the Czechs.

All-in-all, hardly a decent performance by Germany, but they got what they came for, along with a pint of Guinness..


Group D:

Slovakia 	 -  	San Marino 	7:0 (3:0) 
Cyprus	 	 -  	Wales 		3:1 (1:1)
Ireland 	 -  	Germany 	0:0 (0:0)

 1  Germany 	  	9 	  7 	2 	0 	  31:4 	 +27 	  	23
 2  Czech Republic 	9 	  6 	2 	1 	  19:4 	 +15 	  	20
 3  Ireland 	  	10 	  4 	3 	3 	  14:11  +3 	  	15
 4  Slovakia 	  	10 	  4 	1 	5 	  27:20  +7 	  	13
 5  Cyprus 	  	9 	  4 	1 	4 	  16:17  -1 	  	13
 6  Wales 	  	9 	  3 	1 	5 	  14:16  -2 	  	10
 7  San Marino 	  	10 	  0 	0 	10 	  1:50 	 -49 	  	0


October 7, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 9

Playing on Sunday, Bayern already knew that Schalke stubbed their toe - and proceeded to waltz home by totally dominating this Bavarian derby. Der Club was inferior across the board, and there is need for some serious ass-kicking by the coaching squad. For Bayern, a stroll in the park, and they push their lead to 5 points. Probably insurmountable at this point :) I have to admit that I was wrong about Luca Toni - I figured he'd suck like most Italians in the Bundesliga - but 8 goals already prove that he's the real thing. He'll probably score goals like on a factory conveyor belt for a couple of years, then his ass will unceremoniously get shipped out when VP Karl-Heinz Rumennigge notices that he's getting too close to his "No.2 All-time Bayern goal scorer" - just like his predecessor Roy Makaay. Interesting that even with Miro Klose out injured, high priced youngsters Jens Schlaudraff and Lukas Podolski couldn't even get a start - although both came in as subs late in the game. I wonder if they're suffering from the dreaded Bankholzsplinterimarschverletzung...

Karlsruhe is the sensational newcomer! They travlled to title contender Schalke and stunned the Blues. KSC played out of a tough defensive shell, and as usual, Schalke had no clue to break it down. The visitors launched counterattacks and come away with a famous victory. Schalke merely demonstrates once again why they're not "Meister der Herzen" (Champions of the Heart) but rather "Meister der Schmerzen" (Champions of Pain). Let's face it, they're not good enough. And when they look like they're good enough (like last year), they'll choke. It's hard to explain, I mean, you can't prove it. But neither can you prove "Moore's Law of Microprocessors" or that the simplex method is the best way to solve the traveling salesman problem in Linear Programming. For Karlsruhe, an amazing start to the season that nobody expected. And the team is made up of nobodies, the players have to read the names on each others back, for heaven's sake.

Champions Stuttgart continue to suck. In fact, this one was basically over in 8 minutes, when Fernando Meira stupidly handled the ball, conceded a penalty and got his ass red carded to boot. Game, set, match. Hannover accepted the gift and easily brings home the bacon. The world is perhaps back in order, as Hertha reverts to their "put the fans to sleep" strategy. Since Cottbus was desperate for a point, they bunkered down and the fans were treated to a snoozer. For Energie, it's a good point, and Hertha should feel ashamed of themselves. Perhaps the fans should sue the club for impersonating football players. A hard fought derby in Dortmund saw Giovanni Federico decide the match with a hard blast. Good win for the Neons, as Christian Wörns got his ass tossed and they had to win it with 10. Bochum will feel hard done by, thinking they deserved a point.

An away win at Duisburg, and you might think that Werder is back on track. But you could be wrong. Bremen struggled mightily against the Zebras - despite a TWO man advantage. With the match tied 1-1, Caceres got his ass tossed, and then a bit later Georgiev got kicked out for "insulting the referee." What a dumbass! There's no excuse for that, especially when your club is struggling. As it was, Werder took advantage and scored twice, wrapping up a road win that they probably didn't deserve - sending MSV to their 6th straight defeat.

Bielefeld continues to drop like a rock, despite their dedicated fans (sold out stadium) trying to will life into the moribund squad. The good start is now ancient history. Hamburg steals the points in a drab match thanks to yet another goal by playmaker Rafael van der Vaart. How valuable is the Dutchman? He's scored in 8 straight HSV matches - all except week 1!! He wanted away in the offseason, but HSV management refused to let him go. They've been pretty dumb over the years, but I guess they were pretty smart here.

Frankfurt got a big win against Bayer Aspirin. In a hard fought match, last year's most inconsistent club continued their up-and-down form. The Alka-Seltzers might feel hard done by, but they haven't scored a goal in two matches, as their "score" was a Frankfurt gift.

A rather dire match in Wolfsburg, but the fans must have known how important this match was, as they showed up in big numbers (at least for Wolfsburg). Either that, or Volkswagen closed the weekend shifts and sent the workers to the stadium. No matter, with newcomer Rostock visiting, 3 points were essential. And the VWs struggled, Marcelinho even missing a penalty. It was left to Bosnian sub Edin Dzeko to grab the winner with a minute left. For Hansa, they showed nothing, but I suppose given their recent positive results, they earned a "break".

Team of the Week: Karlsruhe
Turd of the Weak: Stuttgart

Attendance: 427,934 (avg 47,548), 20 goals


Borussia Dortmund 	 -  	VfL Bochum 		2:1 (1:1)	72,200	(Tinga, Federico - Mieciel) 	
VfB Stuttgart	 	 -  	Hannover 96 		0:2 (0:1)	49,000	(Hustzi 2) 
FC Schalke 04 		 -  	Karlsruher SC 		0:2 (0:0) 	61,482	(Timm 2)
Hertha BSC Berlin 	 -  	Energie Cottbus 	0:0 (0:0) 	48,719
Arminia Bielefeld 	 -  	Hamburger SV 		0:1 (0:0) 	22,800	(van der Vaart)
VfL Wolfsburg 		 -  	Hansa Rostock 		1:0 (0:0)	26,127	(Dzeko) 
MSV Duisburg 		 -  	Werder Bremen 		1:3 (1:1) 	31,006	(Ailton - Jensen, Sanogo, Andreasen)
Bayern München 		 -  	1. FC Nürnberg	 	3:0 (2:0) 	69,000	(Toni 2, Ze Roberto)
Eintracht Frankfurt 	 -  	Bayer Leverkusen 	2:1 (0:0)	47,600	(Kyrgiakos 2 - Russ o.g.)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	9 	  7 	2 	0 	  25:3 	  +22 	  	23
 2  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	9 	  6 	0 	3 	  13:11   +2 	  	18
 3  Werder Bremen 	  	9 	  5 	2 	2 	  21:14   +7 	  	17
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Hamburger SV 	  	9 	  5 	2 	2 	  12:7 	  +5 	  	17
 5  FC Schalke 04 	  	9 	  4 	4 	1 	  15:8 	  +7 	  	16
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  Hannover 96 	  	9 	  5 	1 	3 	  13:13    0 	  	16
 7  Eintracht Frankfurt 	9 	  4 	3 	2 	  11:9 	  +2 	  	15
 8  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	9 	  4 	2 	3 	  12:6 	  +6 	  	14
 9  Hertha BSC Berlin 	  	9 	  4 	1 	4 	  11:12   -1 	  	13
10  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	9 	  3 	3 	3 	  13:13    0 	  	12
11  Borussia Dortmund 	  	9 	  4 	0 	5 	  14:17   -3 	  	12
12  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	9 	  3 	1 	5 	  10:14   -4 	  	10
13  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	9 	  3 	1 	5 	  12:22   -10 	  	10
14  VfL Bochum	 	  	9 	  2 	3 	4 	  12:15   -3 	  	9
15  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	9 	  3 	0 	6 	  10:14   -4 	  	9
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	9 	  2 	0 	7 	  10:16   -6 	  	6
17  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	9 	  1 	3 	5 	  9:16 	  -7 	  	6
18  Energie Cottbus 	  	9 	  0 	4 	5 	  5:18 	  -13 	  	4


M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

2. Liga, Round 9

A great match for leaders Gladbach, and a nice away win for 1860. Kaiserslautern gets their first win of the season, and will probably start their slow climb back.

Attendance: 159,183 (avg 17,687), 30 goals


Greuther Fürth 		 -  	SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	1:1 (1:1)	 7,500	(Lanig - Siegert)
1. FC Köln 		 -  	Kickers Offenbach 	4:1 (2:1) 	35,000	(Chihi, McKenna, Mohamad, Helmes - Judt)
FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	 -  	1860 München 		0:2 (0:0) 	11,314	(Bierofka, Göktan)
1. FSV Mainz 05 	 -  	Erzgebirge Aue 		4:1 (0:1) 	19,500	(Borja 2, Amri, Gunkel- Heller)
1. FC Kaiserslautern 	 -  	VfL Osnabrück 		3:0 (1:0) 	21,715	(Runström, Enochs (o.g.), Opara)
FC Augsburg 	 	 -  	1899 Hoffenheim 	2:2 (2:0) 	15,026	(Benschneider, Diabang - Carlos Eduardo, Teber)
TuS Koblenz 	 	 -  	Borussia M'gladbach 	0:5 (0:2) 	15,000	(Paauwe, Friend 2, Rösler, Rafael)
FC St. Pauli 	 	 -  	SC Paderborn 07 	2:1 (2:0) 	15,300	(Braun, Takyi - Koen)
Alemannia Aachen 	 -  	SC Freiburg 		2:0 (1:0)	18,828	(Klitzpera, Reghecampf)


 1  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	9 	  6 	2 	1 	  21:11   +10 	  	20
 2  TSV 1860 München 	  	9 	  5 	3 	1 	  19:10   +9 	  	18
 3  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N) 	9 	  5 	2 	2 	  20:16   +4 	  	17
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  SC Freiburg 	  	9 	  5 	2 	2 	  13:9 	  +4 	  	17
 5  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A) 	9 	  5 	1 	3 	  18:11   +7 	  	16
 6  Spvgg Greuther Fürth 	9 	  4 	4 	1 	  12:8 	  +4 	  	16
 7  1. FC Köln 	  		9 	  4 	2 	3 	  17:14   +3 	  	14
 8  Alemannia Aachen (A) 	9 	  4 	2 	3 	  13:10   +3 	  	14
 9  Kickers Offenbach 	  	9 	  4 	1 	4 	  10:15   -5 	  	13
10  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 	9 	  3 	3 	3 	  14:14    0 	  	12
11  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	9 	  4 	0 	5 	  10:14   -4 	  	12
12  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	9 	  3 	2 	4 	  10:14   -4 	  	11
13  TuS Koblenz 	  	9 	  3 	2 	4 	  13:18   -5 	  	11
14  FC Augsburg 	  	9 	  2 	3 	4 	  16:18   -2 	  	9
15  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	9 	  2 	2 	5 	  13:17   -4 	  	8
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Kaiserslautern 	9 	  1 	4 	4 	  7:10 	  -3 	  	7
17  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	9 	  1 	2 	6 	  12:20   -8 	  	5
18  SC Paderborn 07 	  	9 	  0 	3 	6 	  3:12 	  -9 	  	3


N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


Sep 30, 2008

Bundesliga, Round 8

Bayern wins the title! Well, perhaps premature, but the signs point to the favorite waltzing through. They faced a tough task at Luserkusen, who have often forced Pepto-Bismol or Alka-Seltzer down their guests throat. And the Aspirins actually took the game to München, forcing the leaders back into the defensive. However, Bayern's defense held firm, and a counterattack led to yet another Klose-Toni combination, and Bayern brings home the bacon. Winning these tough games on the road (that they would have blown last year) indicates that they're focused to win the title.

Schalke had a tough match against Hertha, and as usual, couldn't use their field advantage to goals. But a penalty by Rafinha was all they needed to keep pace with Bayern, and they look like the only club that can stop the Müncheners.

Werder took out all the frustrations from their poor start by annihilating hapless Arminia Bielefeld. This was Bremen's largest victory since an identical win against Offenbach in 1983. And in fact, Werder could have scored a few more, but apparently felt some mercy. After a promising begin to the season, Bielefeld has come crashing down to earth with 3 straight losses and are in danger of seeing their season collapse.

HSV is the only club that has played every Bundesliga season since the start in 1963. This was their 1500th match, and it looked like they would win this northern derby. Another goal by Dutch playmaker Rafael van der Vaart, this time on a direct free kick, looked to have finally given the Hamburgers the victory, but the VWs got the just result of their hard work and scored the tying goal near the end. Obviously a better result for the visitors, since they are worried about battling relegation.

A wild shootout at the rewirpowerSTADION, in which Nürnberg looked to be the better squad. However Bochum fought hard and looked to grab all the points after finally grabbing the lead, only to see the visitors grab a deserved point with a offside suspicious goal. After some tough results, both clubs should be happy with their performances.

Promoted Karlsruhe is the early sensation! This team of nobodies continues to collect points, and they stuffed Dortmund in a deserved home win. The Neons looked crap once again, - after showing some signs that they might be decent - proving that they're just mediocre. A fully deserved win for KSC, collecting valuable points against the inevitable tough times ahead.

If you needed proof that Stuttgart will not defend their title, look no further. Rostock continues their revival with their 3rd win in a row. Hansa scored two early goals and coasted home against an embarassingly lame champion.

A portion of Zebra steak was on the menu, and hosts Hannover gobbled up the points on offer. They really should have won in a rout, as Duisburg looked as crap as you might expect on the road. But the 96ers were probably just happy to get through the match and head to the pub for some Herrenhäuser.

Cottbus still hasn't won, and probably most of the Bundesliga fans remain happy - getting Energie relegated is probably on high on most club treasurers' list. And the tailenders were dominant in the first half, in new head coach Bojan Prasnikar's first match. (The club apparently decided on a non-German manager, since none of their players speak German :)). But Frankfurt woke up in the 2nd half, and stormed back to get a point.

Team of the Week: Werder
Turd of the Weak: Bielefeld (how could it be anybody else?)

Attendance: 287,886 (avg 31,987), 35 goals

 

FC Schalke 04 		 -  	Hertha BSC Berlin 	1:0 (1:0)	60,511	(Rafinha) 	 	
Werder Bremen 		 -  	Arminia Bielefeld 	8:1 (4:1) 	40,120	(Sanogo 2, Almeida 2, Niemeyer, Mertesacker, Rosenberg, Diego - Wichniarek)	
Bayer Leverkusen 	 -  	Bayern München 		0:1 (0:1) 	22,500	(Toni) 		
Hamburger SV 		 -  	VfL Wolfsburg 		2:2 (1:0) 	54,055	(Reinhardt, van der Vaart - Grafite, Dejagah)
VfL Bochum 		 -  	1. FC Nürnberg	 	3:3 (1:1) 	18,615	(Sestak 2, Mieciel - Kluge 2, Misimovic)
Karlsruher SC 		 -  	Borussia Dortmund 	3:1 (1:1) 	29,920	(Porcello, Eggimann, Freis - Wörns)
Hansa Rostock 		 -  	VfB Stuttgart 		2:1 (2:0) 	19,000	(Rathgeb, Orestes - Gomez)
Hannover 96	 	 -  	MSV Duisburg 		2:1 (1:1) 	28,875	(Schulz 2 - Ishiaku)
Energie Cottbus 	 -  	Eintracht Frankfurt 	2:2 (2:0)	14,290	(Rangelov 2 - Amanatidis 2)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	8 	  6 	2 	0 	  	22:3 	 +19 	  	20
 2  FC Schalke 04 	  	8 	  4 	4 	0 	  	15:6 	 +9 	  	16
 3  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	8 	  5 	0 	3 	  	11:11 	  0 	  	15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	8 	  4 	2 	2 	  	11:4 	 +7 	  	14
 5  Werder Bremen 	  	8 	  4 	2 	2 	  	18:13 	 +5 	  	14
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  Hamburger SV 	  	8 	  4 	2 	2 	  	11:7 	 +4 	  	14
 7  Hannover 96 	  	8 	  4 	1 	3 	  	11:13 	 -2 	  	13
 8  Eintracht Frankfurt	  	8 	  3 	3 	2 	  	9:8 	 +1 	  	12
 9  Hertha BSC Berlin 	  	8 	  4 	0 	4 	  	11:12 	 -1 	  	12
10  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	8 	  3 	1 	4 	  	10:12 	 -2 	  	10
11  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	8 	  3 	1 	4 	  	12:21 	 -9 	  	10
12  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	8 	  2 	3 	3 	  	12:13 	 -1 	  	9
13  VfL Bochum	 	  	8 	  2 	3 	3 	  	11:13 	 -2 	  	9
14  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	8 	  3 	0 	5 	  	10:13 	 -3 	  	9
15  Borussia Dortmund 	  	8 	  3 	0 	5 	  	12:16 	 -4 	  	9
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	8 	  2 	0 	6 	  	9:13 	 -4 	  	6
17  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	8 	  1 	3 	4 	  	9:13 	 -4 	  	6
18  Energie Cottbus 	  	8 	  0 	3 	5 	  	5:18 	 -13 	  	3

M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

2. Liga, Round 8

The rough-and-tumble 2.Liga promises to be a despertae dogfight at both ends of the table, and this weekend is probably representative of how things will be all season. Freiburg has climbed to the top, but staying there may prove difficult. Huge crowd as relegation partners Gladbach and Aachen faced off, and the hosts grab the points and continue their decent form in their attempt to ride the elevator. A couple of shockers as village clubs Wehen and Hoffenheim claim some big scalps.

Attendance: 151,423 (avg 16,825), 27 goals


Borussia M'gladbach 	 -  	Alemannia Aachen 	2:1 (2:0) 	50,178	(Ndjeng, Friend - Kolev) 	 	
SC Paderborn 07 	 -  	FC Augsburg 		1:1 (0:1) 	 4,607	(Schüßler - Diabang)		
VfL Osnabrück 		 -  	FC St. Pauli 		3:1 (1:0) 	17,000	(Cichon, Hennings, Manno - Sako)
SC Freiburg 		 -  	Erzgebirge Aue 		2:0 (0:0) 	13,400	(Mesic, Benok)
Greuther Fürth 		 -  	FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	2:2 (1:1) 	 8,900	(Reisinger, Lanig - Charalambidis, Torghelle)	
TSV 1860 München 	 -  	TuS Koblenz 		2:2 (1:1) 	27,800	(di Salvo 2 - Sukalo, Djokaj)
SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	 -  	1. FC Köln 		4:3 (3:2) 	12,158	(König 3, Diakite - Mohamad, Novakovic 2)
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 	 -  	1. FSV Mainz 05 	1:0 (1:0) 	 6,380	(Copado)
Kickers Offenbach 	 -  	1. FC Kaiserslautern 	0:0 (0:0)	11,000


 1  SC Freiburg 	  	8 	  5 	2 	1 	  13:7 	 +6 	  	17
 2  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	8 	  5 	2 	1 	  16:11  +5 	  	17
 3  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N) 	8 	  5 	1 	2 	  19:15  +4 	  	16
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  TSV 1860 München 	  	8 	  4 	3 	1 	  17:10  +7 	  	15
 5  SpvGG Greuther Fürth 	8 	  4 	3 	1 	  11:7 	 +4 	  	15
 6  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A) 	8 	  4 	1 	3 	  14:10  +4 	  	13
 7  Kickers Offenbach 	  	8 	  4 	1 	3 	  9:11 	 -2 	  	13
 8  Alemannia Aachen (A) 	8 	  3 	2 	3 	  11:10  +1 	  	11
 9  TuS Koblenz 	  	8 	  3 	2 	3 	  13:13   0 	  	11
10  1. FC Köln 	  		8 	  3 	2 	3 	  13:13   0 	  	11
11  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N)  	8 	  3 	2 	3 	  12:12   0 	  	11
12  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	8 	  3 	2 	3 	  10:11  -1 	  	11
13  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	8 	  3 	0 	5 	  8:13 	 -5 	  	9
14  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	8 	  2 	2 	4 	  12:13  -1 	  	8
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  FC Augsburg 	  	8 	  2 	2 	4 	  14:16  -2 	  	8
16  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	8 	  1 	2 	5 	  12:18  -6 	  	5
17  1. FC Kaiserslautern   	8 	  0 	4 	4 	  4:10 	 -6 	  	4
18  SC Paderborn 07 	  	8 	  0 	3 	5 	  2:10 	 -8 	  	3

N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)

...and now a peak at the Regionalliga. As mentioned before, this is the most interesting season in years, as everybody has something to play for. Aside from the usual promotion to the 2.Liga (top two from each division), everyone else is desperately struggling to finish in the top 10. The reason is that next season the Regionalliga disappears, and a new combined "3.Liga" starts up. So whereas clubs may not have ambitions to move up to the Zweite, nobody wants to drop down to local leagues. For starters, since the 3.Liga will undoubtedly have several feeder regional amateur leagues, getting promoted will be fairly difficult - not only will you have to be champion, but there may even be some sort of playoff.

For the reserve squads of the top clubs ("II"), there is a further constraint: a maximum of 4 "II" clubs are supposedly allowed, so eventually things will be a lot tougher for them as well.

 

Regionalliga Nord

 1  Wuppertaler SV Bor.	  	12 	  8 	1 	3 	  31:18  +13 	  	25
 2  Kickers Emden 	  	11 	  7 	2 	2 	  11:7 	 +4 	  	23
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Rot-Weiß Erfurt 	  	11 	  6 	3 	2 	  27:13  +14 	  	21
 4  Fortuna Düsseldorf 	  	11 	  6 	3 	2 	  11:4 	 +7 	  	21
 5  Rot-Weiss Ahlen 	  	12 	  5 	3 	4 	  21:21   0 	  	18
 6  Borussia Dortmund II  	11 	  4 	5 	2 	  13:9 	 +4 	  	17
 7  Rot-Weiss Oberhausen (N)  	11 	  4 	4 	3 	  15:11  +4 	  	16
 8  Rot-Weiss Essen (A)   	11 	  4 	4 	3 	  13:12  +1 	  	16
 9  Dynamo Dresden 	  	11 	  4 	3 	4 	  11:9 	 +2 	  	15
10  Hamburger SV II 	  	12 	  3 	6 	3 	  13:12  +1 	  	15
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11  1. FC Union Berlin 	  	11 	  4 	2 	5 	  20:18  +2 	  	14
12  Werder Bremen II 	  	11 	  4 	2 	5 	  14:15  -1 	  	14
13  1. FC Magdeburg 	  	11 	  4 	2 	5 	  9:12 	 -3 	  	14
14  VfB Lübeck 	  		10 	  3 	3 	4 	  9:12 	 -3 	  	12
15  SV Babelsberg 03 (N) 	11 	  3 	3 	5 	  13:20  -7 	  	12
16  SC Verl (N) 	  	11 	  3 	2 	6 	  10:13  -3 	  	11
17  Eintr. Braunschweig (A) 	11 	  2 	4 	5 	  19:22  -3 	  	10
18  VfL Wolfsburg II (N) 	11 	  2 	2 	7 	  10:30  -20 	  	8
19  Energie Cottbus II (N) 	12 	  1 	4 	7 	  3:15 	 -12 	  	7



Regionalliga Süd

 1  Jahn Regensburg (N)   	10 	  7 	1 	2 	  17:14  +3 	  	22
 2  VfR Aalen 	  		10 	  6 	1 	3 	  23:13  +10 	  	19
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  SV Sandhausen (N) 	  	10 	  6 	1 	3 	  14:7 	 +7 	  	19
 4  VfB Stuttgart II 	  	9 	  5 	2 	2 	  14:7 	 +7 	  	17
 5  Wacker Burghausen (A)  	10 	  4 	5 	1 	  11:8 	 +3 	  	17
 6  FC Ingolstadt 04 	  	10 	  4 	4 	2 	  18:9 	 +9 	  	16
 7  Hessen Kassel 	  	10 	  4 	3 	3 	  18:13  +5 	  	15
 8  Stuttgarter Kickers   	10 	  4 	3 	3 	  12:13  -1 	  	15
 9  TSV 1860 München II   	9 	  4 	1 	4 	  12:11  +1 	  	13
10  Sportfr. Siegen 	  	10 	  2 	7 	1 	  12:11  +1 	  	13
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11  SpVgg Unterhaching (A)  	10 	  3 	3 	4 	  15:13  +2 	  	12
12  SV Elversberg 	  	10 	  3 	2 	5 	  11:16  -5 	  	11
13  FSV Frankfurt (N) 	  	10 	  2 	4 	4 	  11:13  -2 	  	10
14  SC Pfullendorf 	  	10 	  3 	1 	6 	  11:14  -3 	  	10
15  FC Bayern II 	  	10 	  2 	4 	4 	  8:13 	 -5 	  	10
16  Karlsruher SC II 	  	10 	  2 	3 	5 	  9:15 	 -6 	  	9
17  SSV Reutlingen 05 	  	10 	  1 	6 	3 	  11:18  -7 	  	9
18  FSV LU-Oggersheim (N)   	10 	  1 	1 	8 	  6:25 	 -19 	  	4


Sep 26, 2007

Bundesliga, Round 7

A couple of surprises from promoted clubs, and ho-hum victories for contenders Bayern and Schalke. The "english" week showed good attendance and a few eyebrow raising results...

Leaders Bayern hosted tail-end Cottbus, and is there any surprise at the result? The guests attempted to catenaccio their way to a point, and held out for about an hour. Then a mistake by GK Piplica, and Klose pounced on the rebound. The dam broke and Bayern proceeded to rip feeble Energie to shreds.

Hardly a stroll in the park, but Schalke was in complete control at Duisburg. After an early lead, the Blues dallied and let the Zebras have a few chances, but then finished them off at the end. What's up with Rostock? They get their first points on the weekend, albeit in a crap performance. Then they show up in an eastern clash at in form Hertha - and stun the Berliners. The only explanation is that Pantelic scored after about 90 seconds, and Hertha must have thought they could just waltz to the points. Not so, as Hansa fought them down and kicked their ass.

After trumpeting how the Neons were back, they got bitch-slapped at home to Hamburg. Dortmund have nobody to blame but themselves, as lackadaisical, sloppy defending cost them 2 goals and Florian Kringe got his ass red carded to boot. Now Neon boss, but ex-HSV, coach Thomas Doll was undoubtedly thrilled with his squad's lame performance. For HSV, they really didn't have to play well, but merely sat back and waited for Dortmund to hand them the victory.

Stuttgart didn't look like a defending champion, and struggled against a crap Bochum squad. But they managed to scrounge a goal and get the points. Wolfsburg and Bremen played to a draw in a hard fought, if technically crap, northern derby. VW remains without a home win, and for Werder, this is probably a game they win last year - probably an inidcation they're going nowhere. Nürnberg remains in crisis. If they don't start straightening things out, the flagship club of Franken may be replaced by crap Greuther Fürth. Bayer Luserkusen brought plenty of Alka-seltzer, which they graciously provided their hosts after stealing all the points. The Aspirins relied on a tight defense and counterattack, and der Club was unable to convert their advantages into enough goals. Everyone knew Bielefeld would start sliding down the table, but even their fans figured they could get the points in this one. Instead, they ran around like chickens with their heads cut off, and Hannover was ice-cold in their finishing - and got their first cleansheet to boot. Frankfurt dominated the match with Karlsruhe, especially the last half hour, after KSC took the lead. But their wild attacks accomplished nothing, and the clever newcomer stole all the points.

Team of the Week: Rostock, Karlsruhe
Turd of the Weak: Hertha

Attendance: 391,761 (avg: 43,529), 23 goals


Borussia Dortmund 	-  	Hamburger SV 		0:3 (0:2) 	72,300	(Guerrero, van der Vaart, Olic)
Hertha BSC Berlin 	-  	Hansa Rostock 		1:3 (1:1) 	48,670	(Pantelic - Rahn, Hähnge, Dorn)
VfL Wolfsburg 	 	-  	Werder Bremen 		1:1 (0:0) 	25,533	(Josue - Diego) 		
MSV Duisburg 	 	-  	FC Schalke 04 		0:2 (0:1) 	31,500	(Altintop, Kuranyi)
VfB Stuttgart 	 	-  	VfL Bochum 		1:0 (0:0) 	34,000	(Hilbert) 		
Bayern München 	 	-  	Energie Cottbus 	5:0 (0:0) 	69,000	(Klose 3, Demichelis, Toni)
1. FC Nürnberg 	 	-  	Bayer Leverkusen 	1:2 (0:1) 	40,458	(Mintal - Kiessling, Barnetta)
Arminia Bielefeld 	-  	Hannover 96 		0:2 (0:0) 	21,800	(Huszti, Pinto)
Eintracht Frankfurt 	-  	Karlsruher SC 		0:1 (0:0) 	48,500	(Franz)


 1  FC Bayern München 	  	7 	  5 	2 	0 	  21:3 	 +18 	  	17
 2  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	7 	  4 	2 	1 	  11:3 	 +8 	  	14
 3  FC Schalke 04 	  	7 	  3 	4 	0 	  14:6 	 +8 	  	13
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Hamburger SV 	  	7 	  4 	1 	2 	  9:5 	 +4 	  	13
 5  Hertha BSC Berlin	  	7 	  4 	0 	3 	  11:11   0 	  	12
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	7 	  4 	0 	3 	  8:10 	 -2 	  	12
 7  Eintracht Frankfurt	  	7 	  3 	2 	2 	  7:6 	 +1 	  	11
 8  Werder Bremen 	  	7 	  3 	2 	2 	  10:12  -2 	  	11
 9  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	7 	  3 	1 	3 	  9:10 	 -1 	  	10
10  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	7 	  3 	1 	3 	  11:13  -2 	  	10
11  Hannover 96 	  	7 	  3 	1 	3 	  9:12 	 -3 	  	10
12  Borussia Dortmund 	  	7 	  3 	0 	4 	  11:13  -2 	  	9
13  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	7 	  2 	2 	3 	  10:11  -1 	  	8
14  VfL Bochum	 	  	7 	  2 	2 	3 	  8:10 	 -2 	  	8
15  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	7 	  2 	0 	5 	  8:11 	 -3 	  	6
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	7 	  2 	0 	5 	  8:12 	 -4 	  	6
17  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	7 	  1 	2 	4 	  6:10 	 -4 	  	5
18  Energie Cottbus 	  	7 	  0 	2 	5 	  3:16 	 -13 	  	2

M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

2. Liga, Round 7

The goose-egg streaks ended as 1860 suffered their first lost, and Paderborn scored their first goal. A big victory for Freiburg in Köln.

Attendance: 148,750 (avg 16,528), 27 goals


Alemannia Aachen 	 -  	SC Paderborn 07 	3:1 (2:1) 	18,437	(Kolev, Nemeth, Pecka - Kläsener)
FC Augsburg	 	 -  	VfL Osnabrück 		2:0 (1:0) 	10,850	(Benschneider, Möhrle)
Erzgebirge Aue 		 -  	1899 Hoffenheim 	2:2 (1:1) 	 8,000	(Nemec, Heller - Edu, Ibisevic)	
FC St. Pauli 		 -  	Borussia M'gladbach 	0:3 (0:1) 	15,300	(Friend, Rafael, Rösler)
1. FC Kaiserslautern 	 -  	SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	0:2 (0:0) 	17,102	(Nicu, König)
1. FC Köln 		 -  	SC Freiburg 		1:3 (1:1) 	45,000	(Scherz - Uzoma, Jäger, Matmour)
TuS Koblenz 		 -  	Greuther Fürth	 	3:0 (2:0) 	 8,194	(Vata, Dzaka, Bogavac)
FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	 -  	Kickers Offenbach 	2:0 (1:0) 	 5,867	(Simak, Werner)
1. FSV Mainz 05 	 -  	TSV 1860 München 	3:0 (1:0)	20,000	(Gunkel, Borja, Karhan)


 1  TSV 1860 München 	  	7 	  4 	2 	1 	  15:8 	 +7 	  	14
 2  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	7 	  4 	2 	1 	  14:10  +4 	  	14
 3  SC Freiburg 	  	7 	  4 	2 	1 	  11:7 	 +4 	  	14
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Greuther Fürth 	  	7 	  4 	2 	1 	  9:5 	 +4 	  	14
 5  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A)   	7 	  4 	1 	2 	  14:9 	 +5 	  	13
 6  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N) 	7 	  4 	1 	2 	  15:12  +3 	  	13
 7  Kickers Offenbach 	  	7 	  4 	0 	3 	  9:11 	 -2 	  	12
 8  Alemannia Aachen (A) 	7 	  3 	2 	2 	  10:8 	 +2 	  	11
 9  1. FC Köln 	  		7 	  3 	2 	2 	  10:9 	 +1 	  	11
10  TuS Koblenz 	  	7 	  3 	1 	3 	  11:11   0 	  	10
11  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	7 	  3 	0 	4 	  7:10 	 -3 	  	9
12  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	7 	  2 	2 	3 	  12:11  +1 	  	8
13  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N)  	7 	  2 	2 	3 	  11:12  -1 	  	8
14  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	7 	  2 	2 	3 	  7:10 	 -3 	  	8
15  FC Augsburg 	  	7 	  2 	1 	4 	  13:15  -2 	  	7
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	7 	  1 	1 	5 	  10:16  -6 	  	4
17  1. FC Kaiserslautern   	7 	  0 	3 	4 	  4:10 	 -6 	  	3
18  SC Paderborn 07 	  	7 	  0 	2 	5 	  1:9 	 -8 	  	2


N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


Sep 23, 2007

Bundesliga, Round 6

No real suprises in this round. It was back to normal for leaders Bayern. After a couple of draws, they easily dispatched newcomer Karlsruhe in clinical fashion. KSC tried hard, but were inferior across the board, and essentially knocked out after 20 minutes. For Bayern, basically a walk in the park. For KSC, they surely expected to lose this one, so they shouldn't be put out too much.

Schalke seems to have recovered their scoring touch as they easily slapped Bielefeld silly. The guests were amazingly crap, and should have been beaten even worse. However, Schalke was probably in shock that Gerald Asamoah actually scored a goal, so they had mercy on Arminia. The Blues needed a decent performance to be considered a serious contender, so they should be happy with this result.

A club that has been sucking wind recently just got an huge oxygen injection. Werder Bremen bitch-slapped champions Stuttgart at home, in a match that Werder absolutely needed to reverse their decline. Both teams came out firing, but the difference was that Stuttgart's defense was like swiss cheese - full of holes - and Bremen used their chances to finish off the match early. It's increasingly evident that Stuttgart should stop worrying about defending their title and just figure out a way to sneak back in Europe for next season.

What's happening in Berlin?! Boring Hertha has transformed themselves into quite an interesting team, and won an entertaining match against Dortmund. The match probably could have gone either way, but Hertha grabs the points on a nice solo by Okoronkwo. For Dortmund, they will need to improve their road form if they expect to be taken seriously.

Hamburg won a tough struggle against Nürnberg, and once again it was Rafael van der Vaart providing the goal. The Dutchman may have caused a lot of contraversy by trying to leave earlier, but HSV would definitely be struggling without him. For der Club, they drop into the relegation zone, probably an indication of a long, bitter, struggle to come.

Bochum stopped their slide with a scoreless draw against Frankfurt. The match was somewhat interesting in the 1st half, but dropped off to a snoozer when both sides realized they wouldn't score.

The first coaching casualty occurred after a crap Cottbus squad lost at home against Wolfsburg - Energie coach Perik Sander was fired. If you lose at home against Volkswagen, you probably should get canned. Apparently management also wanted to fine the players, but realized that since they were all illegal aliens, they were getting paid less than minimum wage anyway. Visits to the grim east will certainly get a bit darker, as Energie struggles to avoid the looming drop and the fans get more restless.

It may have seemed like another 2.Liga encounter at the Ostseestadion as Hansa hosted the Zebras. Hardly anyone bothered to show up, and those that did were treated to a crap match. However, at least hosts Rostock did enough to get their first win of the season - and Duisburg showed nothing.

Bayer Aspirin showed some cool finishing against Hannover, and come away with a nice road victory. They've quietly snuck up the table, based on solid defense. Hannover looked lame, and their fans have got to be disappointed.

Attendance: 322,035 (avg 35,782), 27 goals

Team of the Week: Hertha, Bremen
Turd of the Weak: Bielefeld, Stuttgart


VfL Bochum 	 	-  	Eintracht Frankfurt 	0:0 (0:0)	25,536
FC Schalke 04 	 	-  	Arminia Bielefeld 	3:0 (1:0) 	61,482	(Kuranyi, Asamoah, Rafinha) 		
Werder Bremen 	 	-  	VfB Stuttgart 		4:1 (3:1) 	39,282	(Almeida 2, Sanogo, Diego - Gomez)
Hamburger SV 	 	-  	1. FC Nürnberg 		1:0 (0:0) 	52,365	(van der Vaart)
Hertha BSC Berlin	-  	Borussia Dortmund 	3:2 (1:1) 	52,237	(Pantelic, Lucio, Okoronkwo - Petric 2)
Energie Cottbus 	-  	VfL Wolfsburg 		1:2 (1:1) 	15,269	(Sörensen - Dzeko, Krzynowek)
Hansa Rostock 	 	-  	MSV Duisburg 		2:0 (1:0) 	13,000	(Hähnge, Kern) 		
Hannover 96 	 	-  	Bayer Leverkusen 	0:3 (0:0) 	32,162	(Kiessling, Vidal, Gekas) 		
Karlsruher SC 	 	-  	Bayern München	 	1:4 (0:2)	30,702	(Porcello - Toni, Klose, Altintop, Ze Roberto)


 1  Bayern München 	  	6 	  4 	2 	0 	  16:3 	+13 	  	14
 2  Hertha BSC Berlin	  	6 	  4 	0 	2 	  10:8 	+2 	  	12
 3  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	6 	  3 	2 	1 	  9:2 	+7 	  	11
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Eintracht Frankfurt	  	6 	  3 	2 	1 	  7:5 	+2 	  	11
 5  FC Schalke 04 	  	6 	  2 	4 	0 	  12:6 	+6 	  	10
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  Hamburger SV 	  	6 	  3 	1 	2 	  6:5 	+1 	  	10
 7  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	6 	  3 	1 	2 	  11:11  0 	  	10
 8  Werder Bremen 	  	6 	  3 	1 	2 	  9:11 	-2 	  	10
 9  Borussia Dortmund 	  	6 	  3 	0 	3 	  11:10 +1 	  	9
10  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	6 	  3 	0 	3 	  7:10 	-3 	  	9
11  VfL Bochum	 	  	6 	  2 	2 	2 	  8:9 	-1 	  	8
12  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	6 	  2 	1 	3 	  9:10 	-1 	  	7
13  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	6 	  2 	1 	3 	  8:10 	-2 	  	7
14  Hannover 96 	  	6 	  2 	1 	3 	  7:12 	-5 	  	7
15  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	6 	  2 	0 	4 	  8:9 	-1 	  	6
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	6 	  1 	2 	3 	  5:8 	-3 	  	5
17  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	6 	  1 	0 	5 	  5:11 	-6 	  	3
18  Energie Cottbus 	  	6 	  0 	2 	4 	  3:11 	-8 	  	2


M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)

2. Liga, Round 6

1860 and Fürth continue their good start, and Köln seems to be sneaking back up the table. Shockingly lame run by Kaiserslautern. How long before their rabid fans start rioting in the streets? Paderborn still hasn't scored a goal! But they're not even last! Just goes to show what a desperate struggle is the everyday life in the Zweite Liga...

Attendance: 155,279 (avg 17,253), 28 goals



Borussia M'gladbach 	-  	FC Augsburg	 	4:2 (1:0) 	26,100	(Neuville 2, Friend, Rafael - Dressler, Diabang) 	
Greuther Fürth 	 	-  	Alemannia Aachen 	2:0 (1:0) 	 8,500	(Nehrig, Lanig)
TSV 1860 München 	-  	FC St. Pauli 		2:1 (2:1) 	46,500	(di Salvo, Göktan - Braun)	
SC Paderborn 07 	-  	1899 Hoffenheim 	0:2 (0:2) 	 6,699	(Jaissle, Copado)	
VfL Osnabrück 	 	-  	Erzgebirge Aue 		2:1 (1:0) 	11,000	(Heidrich, Reichenberger - Nemec)
SC Freiburg 	 	-  	1. FC Kaiserslautern 	1:0 (0:0) 	17,700	(Krmas)
TuS Koblenz 	 	-  	1. FC Köln 		1:2 (1:1) 	15,000	(Dzaka - Novakovic 2)		
Kickers Offenbach 	-  	1. FSV Mainz 05 	2:0 (1:0) 	18,154	(Türker, Judt)
SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	-  	FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	5:1 (4:0) 	 5,626	(Diakité 2, Siegert, Nicu 2 - Simak)


 1  TSV 1860 München 	  	6 	  4 	2 	0 	  15:5 	+10 	  	14
 2  SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	6 	  4 	2 	0 	  9:2 	+7 	  	14
 3  Kickers Offenbach 	  	6 	  4 	0 	2 	  9:9 	 0 	  	12
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FC Köln 	  		6 	  3 	2 	1 	  9:6 	+3 	  	11
 5  SC Freiburg 	  	6 	  3 	2 	1 	  8:6 	+2 	  	11
 6  Borussia M'gladbach (A)   	6 	  3 	2 	1 	  11:10 +1 	  	11
 7  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A)  	6 	  3 	1 	2 	  11:9 	+2 	  	10
 8  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N)  	6 	  3 	1 	2 	  13:12 +1 	  	10
 9  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	6 	  3 	0 	3 	  7:7 	 0 	  	9
10  Alemannia Aachen (A)   	6 	  2 	2 	2 	  7:7 	 0 	  	8
11  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	6 	  2 	2 	2 	  7:8 	-1 	  	8
12  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	6 	  2 	1 	3 	  10:9 	+1 	  	7
13  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N)   	6 	  2 	1 	3 	  9:10 	-1 	  	7
14  TuS Koblenz 	  	6 	  2 	1 	3 	  8:11 	-3 	  	7
15  FC Augsburg 	  	6 	  1 	1 	4 	  11:15 -4 	  	4
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Kaiserslautern   	6 	  0 	3 	3 	  4:8 	-4 	  	3
17  SC Paderborn 07 	  	6 	  0 	2 	4 	  0:6 	-6 	  	2
18  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	6 	  0 	1 	5 	  8:16 	-8 	  	1

N = Neuling/Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)


Sep 16, 2007

Bundesliga, Round 5

After a nice extended vacation, we're back with our wirthless commentary on German football :) Early on, it seemed like "what's the point?", as Bayern was rampaging through the league. but now things are more interesting...

The big clash in München didn't disappoint, as Schalke fought off the Bayern attacks to grab a point. A nince blast by Rakitic gave the visitors the stunning lead, and they held off Bayern's pressure. Schalke's defense looked solid, and GK Neuer was outstanding. For Bayern, a clear indication that they just can't waltz through the league. For Schalke, a good effort, but they still seem to be somewhat dubious in the attack department. Kuranyi is hot or cold, and you can't rely on a Sonntagsschuss from midfield all the time.

Dortmund ripped Bremen in surprisingly easy fashion, wrapping the game up midway through the first half. Werder looked completely clueless, although they have a lame excuse that they were missing some key players. Still, coach Thomas Schaff has a lot of work if he hopes to get them into contention. For Dortmund, two strikes by newcomer Mladen Petric and a cool finish by Argie Diego Klimowicz were enough to send the huge crowd into rapture. Dortmund looks like they could have decent squad this season, at least playing at home.

Stuttgart laid siege to the Cottbus goal throughout the match, and finally the visitors ran out of "enegie". The defending champs got back on track after about an hour, and finished off the eastern bargain-basement-squad. Bochum had been one of the early season surprises, and looked in decent shape, with an even match in Luserkusen. However, then Frenchie defender Marc Pfertzel got his ass tossed for a second yellow and the Aspirins broke through shortly after. Nürnberg's season looks to be in trouble, as forward Robert Vittek went down with a season ending injury last week. And a revived Mike Hanke put in a double strike as Hannover seemingly had the points all wrapped up. But der Club launched a desperate comeback, that was rewarded by a late strike by long injured hero Marek Mintal - helped by Hannover's Schulz getting his ass tossed a few minutes earlier.

Bielefeld continued their good start, grabbing the points that they'll undoubtedly need down the stretch once they start their inevitable slide down. After a lame 1st half, they put away crap Rostock early in the 2nd half. For Hansa, they might as well start booking their 2.Liga hotel reservations, so they can save money. With 5 straight losses, it doesn't look like they will be able to turn things around.

Frankfurt continues their good start, and they upended a strong Hamburg squad. Two goals by Alex Meier serve notice that Eintracht will be a force at home. They, like Bielfeld, shouldn't be anywhere near the top by the end of the season, but points count just as much now, so you should grab them when you can. Once again, HSV shows that they will have trouble scoring, which is somehwat surprising, since they've spent zillions on forwards over the past few years.

Newly promoted Karlsruhe continues to amaze. They seem like a squad ready to go straight back down, but they fought back to stun hosts Toyota, err, VW. Hosts Wolfsburg had the lead, but seem to run out of gas early, and KSC kept on fighting and were rewarded with a nice road win. Meanwhile, another promoted squad, Duisburg, suffered a tough home loss to Hertha. The Berliners benefitted from a double strike by killer Marko Pantelic - but both goals were bounced off defender Michael Lamey. The Zebras probably deserved a point, and it's losses like this that can mean relegation at the end.

Attendance: 370,280 (avg 41,142)

 

Borussia Dortmund 	 -  	Werder Bremen 		3:0 (3:0)	79,030	(Petric 2, Klimowicz)
VfB Stuttgart	 	 -  	Energie Cottbus 	3:0 (0:0) 	41,000	(Cacau, Ewerthon, Gomez)
Bayern München 		 -  	FC Schalke 04 		1:1 (0:1) 	69,000	(Klose - Rakitic)
Bayer Leverkusen 	 -  	VfL Bochum 		2:0 (0:0) 	22,500	(Haggui, Friedrich)
1. FC Nürnberg 		 -  	Hannover 96 		2:2 (0:2) 	39,710	(Misimovic, Mintal - Hanke 2) 		
Arminia Bielefeld 	 -  	Hansa Rostock 		4:2 (1:0) 	20,800	(Böhme, Eigler 2, Wichniarek - Kern, Bülow)
Eintracht Frankfurt 	 -  	Hamburger SV 		2:1 (1:0) 	51,500	(Meier 2 - van der Vaart) 		
VfL Wolfsburg 		 -  	Karlsruher SC	 	1:2 (1:0) 	21,673	(Krzynowek - Eggimann, Eichner)
MSV Duisburg 	 	 -  	Hertha BSC Berlin	1:2 (0:0)	25,070	(Lavric - Pantelic 2)


 1  Bayern München 	  	5 	  3 	2 	0 	  12:2 	+10 	  	11
 2  Arminia Bielefeld 	  	5 	  3 	1 	1 	  11:8 	+3 	  	10
 3  Eintracht Frankfurt	  	5 	  3 	1 	1 	  7:5 	+2 	  	10
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Borussia Dortmund 	  	5 	  3 	0 	2 	  9:7 	+2 	  	9
 5  Hertha BSC Berlin 	  	5 	  3 	0 	2 	  7:6 	+1 	  	9
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  Karlsruher SC (N) 	  	5 	  3 	0 	2 	  6:6 	 0 	  	9
 7  Bayer Leverkusen 	  	5 	  2 	2 	1 	  6:2 	+4 	  	8
 8  FC Schalke 04 	  	5 	  1 	4 	0 	  9:6 	+3 	  	7
 9  VfB Stuttgart (M) 	  	5 	  2 	1 	2 	  7:6 	+1 	  	7
10  Hamburger SV 	  	5 	  2 	1 	2 	  5:5 	 0 	  	7
11  VfL Bochum 	  		5 	  2 	1 	2 	  8:9 	-1 	  	7
12  Hannover 96 	  	5 	  2 	1 	2 	  7:9 	-2 	  	7
13  Werder Bremen 	  	5 	  2 	1 	2 	  5:10 	-5 	  	7
14  MSV Duisburg (N) 	  	5 	  2 	0 	3 	  8:7 	1 	  	6
15  1. FC Nürnberg (P) 	  	5 	  1 	2 	2 	  5:7 	-2 	  	5
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	5 	  1 	1 	3 	  7:9 	-2 	  	4
17  Energie Cottbus 	  	5 	  0 	2 	3 	  2:9 	-7 	  	2
18  Hansa Rostock (N) 	  	5 	  0 	0 	5 	  3:11 	-8 	  	0

M = Meister (Champion)
P = Pokal (Cup)
N = Aufsteiger (promoted)


2. Liga, Round 5

Some decent crowds at the top matches, but all end in draws, mostly with no goals.


1. FC Kaiserslautern 	 -  	SC Paderborn 07 	0:0 (0:0) 	20,100
FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	 -  	TuS Koblenz 		1:2 (1:2) 	 9,000	(Omodiagbe - Daham 2)
FC St. Pauli 		 -  	Kickers Offenbach 	3:1 (2:1) 	15,300	(Ludwig, Braun, Eger - Sieger)
1. FSV Mainz 05 	 -  	SC Freiburg 		1:1 (0:0) 	19,700	(Gunkel - Bencik)
Alemannia Aachen 	 -  	1860 München 		0:0 (0:0) 	20,671
FC Augsburg 		 -  	SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	5:1 (3:0) 	21,100	(Hdiouad 2, Vorbeck, Szabics, Ledezma - Nicu) 		
1. FC Köln 		 -  	Greuther Fürth 		0:0 (0:0) 	45,000
1899 Hoffenheim 	 -  	VfL Osnabrück 		3:1 (0:1) 	 5,100	(Ba, Carlos Eduardo, Copado - Thomik)
Erzgebirge Aue	 	 -  	Borussia M'gladbach 	2:3 (0:2)	13,500	(Kaufmann, Gessler - Rösler, Friend, Brouwers)


 1  TSV 1860 München 	  	5 	  3 	2 	0 	  13:4 	+9 	  	11
 2  SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	5 	  3 	2 	0 	  7:2 	+5 	  	11
 3  1. FSV Mainz 05 (A) 	5 	  3 	1 	1 	  11:7 	+4 	  	10
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  FC St. Pauli (N) 	  	5 	  3 	0 	2 	  6:5 	+1 	  	9
 5  Kickers Offenbach 	  	5 	  3 	0 	2 	  7:9 	-2 	  	9
 6  Alemannia Aachen (A) 	5 	  2 	2 	1 	  7:5 	+2 	  	8
 7  1. FC Köln 	  		5 	  2 	2 	1 	  7:5 	+2 	  	8
 8  SC Freiburg 	  	5 	  2 	2 	1 	  7:6 	+1 	  	8
 9  Borussia M'gladbach (A) 	5 	  2 	2 	1 	  7:8 	-1 	  	8
10  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	5 	  2 	1 	2 	  9:7 	+2 	  	7
11  TuS Koblenz 	  	5 	  2 	1 	2 	  7:9 	-2 	  	7
12  SV Wehen Wiesbaden (N) 	5 	  2 	1 	2 	  8:11 	-3 	  	7
13  VfL Osnabrück (N) 	  	5 	  1 	2 	2 	  5:7 	-2 	  	5
14  FC Augsburg 	  	5 	  1 	1 	3 	  9:11 	-2 	  	4
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15  TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 	5 	  1 	1 	3 	  7:10 	-3 	  	4
16  1. FC Kaiserslautern 	5 	  0 	3 	2 	  4:7 	-3 	  	3
17  SC Paderborn 07 	  	5 	  0 	2 	3 	  0:4 	-4 	  	2
18  FC Carl Zeiss Jena 	  	5 	  0 	1 	4 	  7:11 	-4 	  	1

N = Aufsteiger (promoted)
A = Absteiger (relegated)   

July 30, 2007

Bayern takes Liga-Pokal

In a rather ho-hum performance, Bayern won the Liga-Pokal, defeating a listless Schalke 1-0 on a goal by Miroslav Klose. Crap defense and a clue-less lapse GK Neuer allowed Klose to lift the ball over the GK into the net.

The semi-finals were much more entertaining. Bayern dominated and defeated champions VfB Stuttgart 2-0, although the latter could at least claim that they were missing some starters. In a very entertaining shootout, Schalke upended Cup winner 1.FC Nürnberg 4-2.

Regionalliga kicks off

The critical year of the Regionalliga got started this weekend. This is the last season of the Regionalliga in it's current format. Teams must jockey for position to make the new "3.Liga", which will be a national division. In general, there is probably more interest in the North, as the Southern division has lots of "village" teams that have little support.


Regionalliga Nord

Hamburger SV II 	 -  	Dynamo Dresden 		2:0 (1:0) 	 2,400
Wuppertaler SV Bor. 	 -  	VfB Lübeck 		2:1 (1:0) 	 3,957 		
Rot-Weiss Essen 	 -  	RW Oberhausen 		1:4 (0:1) 	15,500	
1. FC Union Berlin 	 -  	Fortuna Düsseldorf 	0:1 (0:0)	 6,334 		
Rot-Weiß Erfurt 	 -  	Rot-Weiss Ahlen 	6:3 (3:2) 	 4,601 		
SV Babelsberg 03 	 -  	Bor. Dortmund II 	0:0 (0:0) 	 2,175 		
Eintr. Braunschweig 	 -  	Kickers Emden 		0:1 (0:1) 	14,700 		
Energie Cottbus II 	 -  	SC Verl 		0:1 (0:0) 	 1,608 		
Werder Bremen II 	 -  	1. FC Magdeburg 	-:- (-:-) 	 


Regionalliga Süd

Karlsruher SC II 	 -  	Wacker Burghausen 	0:1 (0:0)	 1,003 	
Sportfr. Siegen 	 -  	1860 München II 	1:0 (1:0) 	 7,071
FC Ingolstadt 04 	 -  	Stuttgarter Kickers 	2:3 (0:2) 	 3,560 		
VfB Stuttgart II 	 -  	SV Elversberg 		2:0 (1:0) 	   800 		
Hessen Kassel		 -  	VfR Aalen 		1:3 (1:0) 	 4,487 		
FC Bayern München II 	 -  	SSV Reutlingen 05 	0:0 (0:0) 	   800 		
SC Pfullendorf 	 	 -  	FSV Frankfurt	 	2:0 (1:0) 	 1,270 		
Jahn Regensburg 	 -  	SpVgg Unterhaching 	2:1 (2:1) 	 4,700 		
SV Sandhausen 		 -  	FSV LU-Oggersheim 	3:0 (1:0)	 3,200

July 21, 2007

Liga-Pokal Quarterfinals

The double header for the Liga-Pokal (played in Düsseldorf's LTU-Arena) consisted of one snoozer and one statement. First, Schalke went through the motions as they defeated the 2.Liga champion, Karlsruher SC, by the score of 1-0. Schalke looked without ideas, so you wonder if the transfer out of playmaker Lincoln may not come back to haunt them. On the other hand, it's pretty hard to get excited about KSC, so perhaps they were holding back.

However all interest was really on the 2nd match, and by then the stadium was packed. Werder Bremen, arguably the best (if too inconsistent) club last season, went up against the perennial Croesus of the Bundesliga, Bayern München. After last year's crap performance, Bayern opened the treasure chest and broke the bank. And the results are hardly going to inspire confidence for the other Bundesliga clubs, as Bayern kicked Werder's lame ass 4-1. In particular, many of the new signings on display, especially 25 million man Franck Ribery (2 goals) and free transfer Halil Altintop (1 score) looked outstanding. Even over-rated Miro Klose looked good at times, although he apparently still is having trouble hitting the side of a barn. Bayern dominated most of the match, and Werder had only a few lame efforts in attack. In fact their whole game plan consisted of Borowski and Frings commiting fouls. But when Diego gets back from the Copa America, perhaps they'll be ready.

July 1st, 2007

Maneuvering is already under full swing for the new season. Hopefully I'll have some time to do a pre-season preview...

Obviously Bayern München has already gone nuts in the transfer market, buying everything in sight. After their crap performance last season, they've decided to once again raid their fellow clubs, stripping them of all avaliable over-priced talent.

Forward Jens Schlaudraff comes over from Alemannia Aachen. This could be a mistake, as with Podolski already on the squad and the other signings, the young German international is likely to see lots of bench time. Hamit Altintop from Schalke, where he apparently decided he didn't like playing with his twin brother afterall. Perhaps because his brother got more girls. In any case, after scoring a ton foe Kaiserslautern, he looks to renew his career at Bayern, which doesn't seem like a wise move - Bayern is now very top-heavy with forwards. Defender Marcel Jansen comes over from relegated Gladbach, and many think he might be the best buy. Obviously he was going to leave the sinking ship, and figures to do well. The big name is Werder forward Miroslav Klose, who had a poor year after the excellent World Cup. Klose was under contract through the 2007/08 season, and despite several denials, it was clear he was angling a move. Werder apparently decided to cash in while there was still some money to be left on the table. The fan consensus is split whether this is a good signing. Obviously as the reigning German "name" forward, he figures to be a regular, but he will need to notch his form from a year ago to keep the boo birds away. Two major international moves, with Italian forward Luca Toni and French world Cup sensation Franck Ribery round out the major signings. The Toni move makes little sense, as Italians don't have a decent track record in the Bundesliga. On the other hand, he's pretty big and powerful, perhaps a counter to wimpy Klose. Ribery may be able to bring the playmaking capability that has been sorely lacking in Bayern's game for some time.


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