There are not many who would wish to swap places with Thomas Schaaf as a trainer right now. With European qualification games for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa about to begin...
There are not many who would wish to swap places with Thomas Schaaf as a trainer right now. With European qualification games for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa about to begin...
There are not many who would wish to swap places with Thomas Schaaf as a trainer right now. With European qualification games for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa about to begin and the competition for finals places in South America and Africa already underway, the Werder coach has seen 15 of his players head off to join up with their respective national teams, a group which also includes the German U21 players who are in the midst of their European Championship qualifiers.
Had Torsten Frings not suffered a broken nose at the weekend, there would have been 16 Werder players on duty with eleven assorted national teams. Without Frings, but with Tim Wiese and Clemens Fritz, the German national team have gathered to prepare for their Group 4 qualifiers on Saturday, 06.09.2008 in Vaduz against Lichtenstein (8:45pm kick-off) and on Wednesday, 10.09.2008 against Finland in Helsinki (kick-off 7:35pm). The Finnish squad includes Werder defender Petri Pasanen. Before the qualifiers begin though, the German national team will be involved in a special farewell game for long time national keeper Oliver Kahn on Tuesday, 02.09.2008 at the Allianz-Arena in Munich (kick-off 8pm).
Both Diego and Boubacar Sanogo have much longer distances to travel. On Sunday, 07.09.2008, Brazil will take on Chile in Santiago de Chile before facing Bolivia in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, 10.09.2008. Sanogo will be on duty at the weekend with the Ivory Coast, who will play Mozambique in Maputo on Sunday, 07.09.2008.
Hugo Almeida has been nominated for the Portuguese squad ahead of their World Cup qualifiers on Saturday, 06.09.2008 in Malta and on Wednesday, 10.09.2008 at home in Lisbon where they will face Denmark and Almeida’s club colleague Daniel Jensen. The Danes will be in action on Saturday too, when they travel to Hungary for their campaign opener. Group 1, which includes more Werder players than any other group, will also see striker Markus Rosenberg in action with Sweden on Saturday, 06.09.2008 in Tirana against Albania and on Wednesday, 10.09.2008, at home to Hungary in Solna.
