Bundesliga Team Of The Week: Round 30

Goalkeeper:

1)  René Renno (Bochum)

The Bochum keeper was helpless to stop Niculescu’s free kick in the first half, but he then went on to produce a number of top saves to keep his side in the game before they grabbed a late equaliser through Sestak.  A second half save from Niculescu particularly stood out.

Defenders:

2)  Markus Bollmann (Arminia Bielefeld)

Bollmann has been impressive over the past few weeks for the Arminen and stood out again on Saturday against Nürnberg.  Although only on as an early second half substitute the defender made an instant impact heading in a Marx free kick just five minutes after coming on, to help rescue a vital point for Bielefeld in their fight for survival against a direct rival.

3)  Marcelo Bordon (Schalke)

Schalke captain Marcelo José Bordon seemed to drive Schalke forward from the back on Saturday with a supreme will to win showing why he is the team captain and the major influence on the team.  He was totally cool and composed at the back to snuff out the Hamburg attack once again and help secure a potentially vital in for the Königsblauen.

4)  Christian Wörns (Borussia Dortmund)

The 36 year old Dortmund defender rolled back the years to give a supreme display of defending against Frankfurt.  Wörns may have lost a bit of the old pace, but he certainly made up for it on Friday against Frankfurt through his positioning and reading of the play.  More often than not he came out on top against the younger and pacier Martin Fenin.

Midfielders:

5)  Mark van Bommel (Bayern Munich)

Despite playing with a broken nose, the Dutch midfielder was key for Bayern on Sunday as they beat Stuttgart to take a huge step towards clinching the Bundesliga title.  Van Bommel was unlucky to get his head to Antonio da Silva’s free kick, which led to the equaliser, but then his blasted free kick early in the second half restored Bayern’s lead.  His tackling was tough as usual but highly effective.

6)  Sebastian Freis (Karlsruhe)

The KSC midfielder took his season’s goal tally to eight with a double strike against Werder on Saturday.  The Green and Whites were the better side, but Karlsruhe took their few chances clinically and none more so than Freis.  Took a Hajnal pass well on 15 minutes for his first, before setting off on a fine solo run in the second half before firing in his second.

7)  Arnold Bruggink (Hannover)

Dutchman Bruggink was behind both of Hannover’s goals against Hertha and was also full of ideas going forward for Dieter Hecking’s side.  He was the creative hub for all their good work in the first half, its just a shame he like the rest of the Hannover side wilted a little in the second half.

8)  Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich)

Introduced as a second half substitute, Ribéry had a massive impact on the game.  With the score fine poised at 2-1, his appearance brought an instant injection of pace to the Bayern attack and he put the game beyond Stuttgart with a double strike.  The first was a majestic shot from xx and the second saw him turn two defenders inside out, before slotting clinically past Schäfer.  Simply fantastic.

Forwards:

9) Dimitar Rangelov (Energie Cottbus)

Dimitar Rangelov may only have been on the pitch for 21 minutes but the goal he scored for Energie in the 91st minute cannot be underestimated.  The relegation six-pointer against fellow Easterners Rostock was decided in injury time when the Bulgarian beat Orestes in the air to head in.

10) Kevin Kuranyi (Schalke)

Having scored four in his previous outing for Schalke under caretaker bosses Mike Büskens and Youri Mulder, Kuranyi carried on the scoring against Hamburg with what turned out to be the winning goal.  It came as  early as the second minute, but Kuranyi proved a handful all afternoon for the HSV defenders.  If the goal seals Schalke’s Champions League place next season, it could be worth €20 million at least.

11) Grafite (Wolfsburg)

The powerful striker didn’t get on the score sheet, but he did provide the assists for both Wolfsburg goals against Bayer Leverkusen.  His movement during the game was superb, he was quick and showed great technical ability against some accomplished Leverkusen defenders.  He made German international Friedrich look pedestrian on more than one occasion.

Honourable mentions:

As always there are only eleven slots in the team of the week, so some players who played well for their club haven’t made it.  They do however get an honourable mention.

Markus Pröll and Patrick Ochs both did well for Eintracht Frankfurt against Dortmund, while BVB keeper Marc Ziegler also did well in the same game.

Fabian Ernst (Schalke), Mesut Özil and Diego (Werder Bremen) all had fine games in midfield for their respective teams.

Marcell Jansen and Luca Toni both deserve mentions for their performances against Stuttgart, while Rene Adler (Leverkusen), Jan Simunek (Wolfsburg) and Timo Rost (Energie Cottbus) all deserve praise.

source: goal.com

Borowski’s trip down ‘Memory Lane’

It’s almost as if he’d never really been away. As he strolled through the ‘Wilhelm Scharnow Boarding School’ above the East-Stand of the Weser Stadium with WERDER.TV, Tim Borowski’s mind was quickly cast back to his time as a youth player with Werder Bremen. Here his old room, there the billiard table, the schedule posted on the wall…today the 27 year old has a tale to tell about all of those things.

At a window in the hallway he stopped for a brief moment: “I can remember exactly how I stood here back then excitedly watching the game against Schalke when Dabrowski scored that unbelievably important goal to save the club from relegation.”

Back then, in 1999, Tim Borowski was heading towards a German youth league title win with the Green-Whites. Five years later, the lad from Mecklenburg was on the pitch with the Werder team himself, celebrating winning the German championship. How time just seems to fly….

source: werder.de

Bundesliga – Klasnic to sue Bremen

Ivan Klasnic is planning legal action against Werden Bremen’s medical staff, claiming they could have prevented his kidney transplant operation.

The Croatia striker underwent surgery in May 2007, but is adamant his condition should have been diagnosed earlier by club doctor Gotz Dimanski and cardiologist Manju Guha.

“If the doctors had treated me correctly then things would have gone differently,” he said.

“The people who have created this mess will have to pay. Enough is enough now, the truth must come out.”

Newspaper reports in Germany suggest Klasnic is claiming 1.4 million euros in damages, following advice from medical professionals.

“I will never allow Dr Dimanski to treat me ever again,” he said.

Klasnic recovered from the kidney operation and was cleared to play again in September 2007. He made his return on Novemeber 27 against Energie Cottbuss in the Bundesliga.

He has scored six goals in 12 appearances, and fought his way back into contention for a place in Slaven Bilic’s Croatia squad for this summer’s Euro 2008 tournament.

source: eurosport.com