FC Köln: Werder host the league’s second best defence

The 1. FC Köln players joyously celebrated last Friday evening’s 2-1 win over Hannover 96 with their ecstatic fans.
First Team
Saturday, 15.11.2008 / 22:21

No Champions League games, no DFB-Cup matches, no international responsibilities – Werder Bremen were able to use this complete week to concentrate fully on the Bundesliga clash with 1. FC Köln...

No Champions League games, no DFB-Cup matches, no international responsibilities – Werder Bremen were able to use this complete week to concentrate fully on the Bundesliga clash with 1. FC Köln on Sunday, 16.11.2008 (kick-off 5pm), at the Weser Stadium in Bremen. Werder coach Thomas Schaaf considers the week long break from competitive games to have been a very welcome change, and possibly even an advantage in the battle to win three very important points: “You come to appreciate just how important it is to get in a week’s training with the full team. I just hope it works in our favour on Sunday.”

 

A quick glance at the league table tells its very own tale – FC Köln are in good form. Five wins from the last seven games is an impressive haul for the side who won promotion to the top flight last season, and they are currently sitting in a very comfortable eighth position: “Our defensive performances have been the basis, it is the exceptional side of our game,” admitted FC coach Christoph Daum on his sides success. The fact that the side from Cologne have thus far conceded a mere 14 goals, second only to Schalke 04, is the reward for their diligence. It could be a tough task for Pizarro & Co. to break down the tightly drilled FC defence.

 

On Sunday, the Green-Whites will have to make do without the services of wiry winger Mesut Özil, who has been handed a three match suspension by the German Football Federation (DFB) for his kick on VfL Bochum captain Thomas Zdebel last weekend. “Of course we will miss Mesut’s creativity but we have a strong squad with which to compensate the loss,” noted Schaaf, who is wary of the class that the visitors possess: “Köln have had a remarkable season and they have been particularly impressive away from home. They work really hard, cover a lot of ground and play quick, attacking football. They have made life difficult for all of their opponents this season and so, we are eagerly anticipating how they will approach the game on Sunday.”

 

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