The honour had only been awarded to six individuals and on Sunday followed the seventh. Werder's long-time captain Frank Baumann was named last Sunday as the Green-Whites' seventh...
The honour had only been awarded to six individuals and on Sunday followed the seventh. Werder's long-time captain Frank Baumann was named last Sunday as the Green-Whites' seventh...
The honour had only been awarded to six individuals and on Sunday followed the seventh. Werder's long-time captain Frank Baumann was named last Sunday as the Green-Whites' seventh honorary team captain following Richard Ackerschott, Arnold „Pico“ Schütz, Horst-Dieter Höttges, Marco Bode, Dieter Eilts and Dieter Burdenski. The honouring was the highlight of Werder's Christmas celebrations. "It is really something very special to be named among those names. I know how much that means," said the 34-year-old Baumann, who ended his career last summer.
Baumann, who will continue his post-playing days with Werder as an assistant to the board of directors, came to Werder Bremen in 1999 from Nurnberg. He played 270 of his 290 Bundesliga matches in his 10 years along the Weser, scoring 15 of his 16 Bundesliga goals. He was named team captain by his teammates after just one season, which made him one of the youngest team captains in the Bundesliga at 24 years. Among his biggest successes include the Bundesliga title and German Cup in 2004 as well as the League Cup in 2006. He made his debut with the German national team in November 1999 as the 800th national team player in German Football Federation history. By 2005, Baumann earned 28 caps and finished runner-up at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea. He helped Bremen reach the 2009 UEFA Cup final in Istanbul. And in the final game of his career - the 2009 German Cup final in Berlin - he added a final title to his illustrious career.
