It was another turbulent year for Werder Bremen with plenty of incident both on and off the pitch. We at werder.de have put together a live-ticker of the curious and notable moments from 2007 as another exciting year looms large for the Green-Whites.
0 minutes: “I feel really at home here and it’s getting better all the time”, remarked Diego as he signed a contract extension until 2011. As stadium announcer Arnd Zeigler declared the good news before the kick-off against Stuttgart, the Weser Stadium rocked in anticipation of a further year of Diego’s genius.
4th minute: In the second friendly game for the newly introduced Werder Bremen ladies team, Katharina Hamann scored the first goal of hopefully many as the Green-White Ladies beat MTV Soltau 4:2.
4th minute: Hugo Almeida put Werder in front in the semi-final return leg of the UEFA Cup but there was to be sadly no repeat of the ‘Wonder from the Weser’.
15th minute: That man Ailton!!! As much as he enjoyed tormenting defences when he wore the Green-White, the feisty Brazilian has made a habit of frustrating his ex-club since his departure, scoring almost every time he faces his former colleagues. That was also the case as Thomas Schaaf’s men drew 1:1 with MSV Duisburg – it was to be Ailton’s only goal in the first half of the season.
19th minute: When the ball lands at the feet of Boubacar Sanogo, he generally tends to stick it in the back of the net – as was the case in his first game for Werder, a friendly against SC Paderborn. The trend was to continue against FC Everton, Eintracht Braunschweig, Esbjerg, Bochum....When the Ivory Coast international was signed, many raised a doubtful eyebrow and critics were rubbing their hands in anticipation of a disaster but twelve goals and five assists in twenty-one games tells a very different tale.
20th minute: Miroslav Klose saw a harsh second yellow card in the return leg against Espanyol Barcelona and 2007 also saw Per Mertesacker and Diego receiving their marching orders for the first time both on the strength of a second yellow. Tim Weise, Hugo Almeida and Leon Andreasen saw direct red cards this year.
30th minute: He’s back!! Achieving goal after goal has been difficult for Ivan Klasnic off the pitch in the last year but his poachers goal to make it 1:1 against Bayer 04 Leverkusen marked his return to Bundesliga football – and what a comeback!!! No all that’s left is a renewed call up to the Croatian national team.
33rd minute: Goal for Dortmund – the third in eleven shocking minutes. Mladen Petric and Diego Klimowicz sent Werder reeling on match day five in the 2007/2008 season at the Signal-Iduna-Park in a very forgettable game for Thomas Schaaf’s side. It was to prove a rude awakening for the team who lost just one of the next twelve outings and winning nine.
34th minute: Aaron Hunt equalised for the Green-Whites against Eintracht Frankfurt on the penultimate match day of the 2006/2007 season but the game was to have a bitter end for both Werder and the young front man. Hunt would not appear again for a further six months, plagued with groin and knee injuries. He returned with a goal though, against no less an opponent than Real Madrid.
35th minute: “What are you doing here?”, must have been the question Christian Schulz asked Josip Simunic’s boot as it met him six feet up in the air. Boots have no business that high in football and the Croatian duly saw red for his troubles. Schulz picked up a bloody gash but Werder punished Hertha with a 4:1 hammering on the day.
40th minute: The German national side went into a 2:1 lead against England in a friendly at the new Wembley Stadium thanks to a stunning strike from Schalke’s Christian Pander. Per Mertesacker was involved on that joyous night and in all made ten appearances for his country this year. Werder had plenty of representation in the German side with Clemens Fritz (eight games, two goals), Torsten Frings (six games, two goals), Tim Borowski (three games) and Miroslav Klose (two games) all playing an important role. Joachim Loew’s men had plenty to celebrate in 2007 including a very impressive EURO 2008 qualification.
43rd minute: Almost half time as ‘Per Mertesacker & Friends’ take on ‘Oliver Pocher’s Allstars’ in a charity game for the ‘Per-Mertesacker-Foundation’. Neither the score nor the game as such were all too important as stars from sport, music and t.v. turned out for a good cause along with 10,000 or so supporters.
John Muldoon