Friendly: Werder defeats Fortuna Koln with 3-1

Third pre-season friendly – third win. Werder Bremen had little trouble in securing a 3:1 win against one of Germany’s more historic clubs, Fortuna Köln. Despite the rain on the island of Norderney, 3,500 fans made their way to the ‘Sportplatz an der Mühle’ and saw Finnish international Petri Pasanen put the Green-Whites in front with a free-kick from 22 meters out after just eight minutes. Jurica Vranjes (25’) and an own goal by Köln defender Cedrick Mimbala (56’) concluded the scoring for the Bundesliga side. The NRW Liga (fifth division) side briefly came within a goal of their mighty opponents with a strike by Marco Stasiulewski in the 29th minute.

“I saw quite a decent game. We manoeuvred ourselves well,” analysed trainer Thomas Schaaf after the match, although “we could have scored a few more goals. We had the chances to do so but we either failed to take the chances we made or found the goal itself blocking our way,” remarked the trainer after the Green-Whites had struck the frame of the goal on two occasions. Sebastian Boenisch commented: “It went quite well over distinct periods, although we could have scored another goal or two. The main focus here though was to try out things which were practiced in training and offer the fans something to cheer about.”

Werder Bremen 1st half:
21 Mielitz – 42 Erdem, 3 Pasanen, 4 Naldo, 13 Tosic – 7 Vranjes, 25 Niemeyer, 20 Jensen, 10 Diego – 34 Harnik, 43 Testroet

Werder Bremen 2nd half:
40 Pellatz – 2 Boenisch, 15 Prödl, 27 Andersen, 36 Kruse – 6 Baumann, 44 Bargfrede, 14 Hunt, 11 Özil – 9 Rosenberg, 46 Heider

SC Fortuna Köln Starting eleven:
1 Möllering – 2 Maaßen, 5 Mimbala, 4 Jagusch, 3 Moog – 6 Schrodem, 8 Höffgen – 7 Glaser, 10 Blankenheim, 9 Podlas – 11 Stasiulewski

Goals: 1:0 Pasanen (08’), 2:0 Vranjes (25’), 1:2 Stasiulewski (29’), 3:1 Mimbala (o.g)(56’)

Attendance: 3,500

Referee: Kremer (Papenburg)

source: werder.de

Back with the squad but not in training

Hugo Almeida returned to Bremen’s training camp on Norderney on Wednesday. But for the next few days he’ll be on a rehabilitation programme.

Having left the east Frisian island on Tuesday for a thorough medical in Bremen, the 24-year-old Portuguese international had the diagnosis of a thigh muscle injury confirmed. With Boubacar Sanogo also absent due to illness, that leaves coach Thomas Schaaf two strikers short at the moment.

No panic

Not the best possible news, but the Hanseatics are keeping it low-key. Markus Rosenberg is at any rate back in the thick of training.

“Bouba is still unwell, and that’s a bit annoying. We’d made allowances as it was for him not being there right from the start on account of his involvement in the World Cup qualifiers. It’s just a pity it’s all dragging on a bit now. He’ll undergo further tests, but we hope he’ll be back on song soon. Then we’ll get him fit again as fast as we can”, Schaaf said.

source: bundesliga.de

Jensen Raises Diego Concerns

Werder Bremen midfielder Daniel Jensen fears the Diego saga could harm the team’s preparations for the new Bundesliga season.

Diego and the Bremen coaching staff are in dispute over his desire to play for Brazil at the Olympic Games in Beijing next month.

The playmaker was called up by Brazil’s Under-23 coach Dunga last week only for Bremen coach Klaus Allofs to block the move.

Diego’s participation in China would rule him out of the start of the Bundesliga campaign.

And Denmark international Jensen feels the ongoing row could have an impact on the rest of the team.

“Unhappy players are not good for a team,” he told the Bild newspaper. “If his frustration has a negative affect on his performance, we in the team will talk about it.”

The Brazilian Football Confederation have already urged Bremen to follow FIFA regulations and release the 23-year-old.

World football’s governing body release a statement last week confirming it would be “mandatory” for clubs to release players aged 23 and under for Olympic duty.

Jensen added: “I believe Diego still wants to go to the Olympics. I also believe that it will be spoken about again.”

Indeed, talks between Diego and Bremen officials are scheduled to take place soon, according to the player’s father and agent Djair da Cunha.

He said: “I will sit down together with the officials. The Olympics was always a goal of Diego’s. We have still not heard the last word.”

Allofs, though, insisted he had yet to hear from Cunha, adding: “We still have not heard anything from Diego’s father. But we are of course making ourselves available.”

source: sportinglife.com

The sleeping giants: Werder take on Fortuna Köln

“We want to play fine, attractive football with plenty of goals,” defined Matthias Mink, trainer of SC Fortuna Köln, on the course of action his club will be taking, and in doing so, he presented a philosophy which strongly calls to mind the very attack-minded direction of Werder Bremen – just one of the many similarities between the opposing sides who will clash in a friendly on Thursday, 17.07.2008 at 6:30pm on the ‘Sportplatz an der Mühle’, on the island of Norderney.

Bundesliga and Champions League participation reminiscent of their role model from Bremen are quite a way off for Fortuna. The historic club from Cologne, for whom goalkeeper Green-Whites keeper Tim Wiese and co-trainer Wolfgang Rolff have also played in the past, were represented in Germany’s second division for 26 consecutive seasons before their slip into third flight football in 2000. Since 2005/2006, the newly organised Red and Whites had been kicking around in the non-league ‘Verbandsliga-Mittelrhein’ but last season celebrated promotion to the ‘NRW-Liga’, albeit rather unconventionally. The champions, VfL Leverkusen, were denied promotion by the sporting tribunal because of delays in submitting documents necessary for the licensing process. SC profited from the decision and can kick-off this season in Germany’s fifth league division – the first promotion for Fortuna in some 35 years. It has been a confidence booster for the team from the south of the city of Cologne who will face Werder Bremen after what has been an energy sapping pre-season programme for the Green-Whites. For SC it is the chance to cause something of an upset.

Thomas Schaaf sees the sporting comparison with the Cologne side as a chance for his team to test their strength as part of their pre-season preparations: “We are paying little regard to the friendly against Fortuna Köln. This is an exercise in energy building as an element of our programme and the game is just a part of that. I hope that we are able to transfer that onto the pitch,” commented the Werder coach, who is hoping to see some fresh impulses being set: “It’s a chance for us to get back into playing mode. We now want to see the things we have spoken about in training being used practically. It’s also a part of our fitness programme, going 90 minutes against an opponent that we don’t know. In training you always find yourself seeing the same faces and you know then what to expect. That’s different in a friendly game like this and everyone has to be prepared for that.”

source: werder.de