The beginning of the 2011-12 season will bring Werder Bremen to the third division side Heidenheim as the two teams will square off in the first round of the German Cup. The opponents are not entirely an unknown on the Weser as they play against Werder at the U23 level.
And the memories of the past season are not the best with Werder's youngsters losing twice. They lost 1-0 on the Platz 11 grounds and then were beaten 3-1 in the second half in Heidenheim. There were five players on the Bremen side who hope to get playing time with the professionals this up-coming season: Christian Vander, Predrag Stevanovic, Leon Balogun, Kevin Schindler and Lennart Thy.
"This is an interesting task in which we will certainly be considered the favourites," said head coach Thomas Schaaf, who followed the draw on ARD from holidays in Portugal. "After we were eliminated so early in the cup last season we want to be around for a while again, hopefully making the trip to Berlin. But we need to remain concentrated on the task at hand in the first round."
The first round of the German Cup takes place between 29 July to 1 August 2011 with the exact dates still to be determined. The German Cup final will be played on 12 May 2012 at Berlin's Olympic Stadium.