Twelve months have flown by – with highs and lows, celebrations and disappointments, departures and reunions. 2009 was like no other year. It’s not easy to keep...
Twelve months have flown by – with highs and lows, celebrations and disappointments, departures and reunions. 2009 was like no other year. It’s not easy to keep...
Twelve months have flown by – with highs and lows, celebrations and disappointments, departures and reunions. 2009 was like no other year. It’s not easy to keep everything straight. That’s why WERDER.DE has put together a Green-White flashback for the end of the year. Werder 2009 from A to Z – to remember and smile. Today: Part 2 – E to H:
E - Einstein, Albert: Werder went more than four months and 23 full games without losing a game. That is quite an impressive streak – coming in three competitions, Bundesliga, German Cup and Europa League. Teams needed advanced mathematics to calculate how to beat the Green-Whites. "Even Albert Einstein would have found out how to calculate the probability of a loss," said Schalke coach Felix Magath. The sad thing is that the Royal Blues found a practical solution on 12 December, beating Werder 3-2 at Weser Stadium and ending the great streak.
F – Female Team: Werder’s female team has developed tremendously quickly. After earning promotion to the second division, the team has secured a spot in the middle of the table by the winter break. And starting in 2010, Holger Stemmann will be added as the second full-time employee for the team. "That underlies our seriousness about wanting to go our own way," emphasised Klaus-Dieter Fischer. In the summer, Stemmann will take over the coaching reigns of the women’s top team from Birte Brüggemann, who will move into the departments for youth and conception.
G - Goslar: Many people have recalled in the last few weeks about the "escape" of the very young Aaron Hunt from the Werder boarding school back to his home in Goslar. Also the intense efforts – especially by the youth coach Bernd Pfeiffer – to bring Hunt back. That was in 2001 and four years later the 18-year-old celebrated his Bundesliga debut against Hannover. Hunt had the ability to dazzle on the pitch but it took the patience until the first half of 2009-10 before Hunt finally developed a consistency. "He has until now never been able to consistently show his potential," recalled Thomas Schaaf. "Now he is doing that." The current 23-year-old played a fantastic first half and became a key performer and was rewarded for his great showings with a nomination for the German national team for the test match against Ivory Coast. Keep going Aaron!
H - Helsingborg: The German Football Federation is one of the most successful federations in the world. But the Germans needed 31 years to win their first U21 European Championship. And three current Bremen players – playmaker Mesut Özil, defensive stud Sebastian Boenisch and tornado Marko Marin (three days later joined Werder) – helped Germany beat England 4-0 in the final in Helsingborg, Sweden, winning the U21 title. Congratulations!
The following letters of the 2009 WERDER almanac will continue in the coming days.
