While the final goal is still far away, the gates of Berlin’s Olympic Stadium are slowly visible upon the horizon. The reigning German Cup champions Werder Bremen are once...
While the final goal is still far away, the gates of Berlin’s Olympic Stadium are slowly visible upon the horizon. The reigning German Cup champions Werder Bremen are once...
While the final goal is still far away, the gates of Berlin’s Olympic Stadium are slowly visible upon the horizon. The reigning German Cup champions Werder Bremen are once again in the quarterfinals and are hoping to make a return visit to the German capital. The Green-Whites have until now beaten three ambitious second division sides in the competition and for the first time will face off against a Bundesliga club on Tuesday, 9 February 2010 at 8:30 p.m. against Hoffenheim at Weser Stadium.
Bremen still burning to reach final
Despite having already reached eight German Cup finals (with five titles) as a player and coach, Werder head coach Thomas Schaaf has not lost his desire at all for making the meaning excursion to the German capital. "We have been there a couple times and know how special the cup final in Berlin is. And reaching the final would be something very special,” said the Werder coach. "It’s almost become a formality in Bremen to reach the cup final. But it is difficult because you cannot allow any mistakes. Otherwise you will be gone quickly," added manager Klaus Allofs.
A good omen for Werder will be the Bundesliga first half match against Hoffenheim, which Bremen won 2-0 with Claudio Pizarro and Per Mertesacker scoring the goals. And another victory over Ralf Rangnick’s Hoffenheim team will be needed to keep alive Werder’s hopes of defending the title. "We were underdogs at the draw and now we are serious underdogs," said the Hoffenheim coach before the match in light of the injury problems among his players. Still, it was clearly an understatement by the Hoffenheim boss, who will have his team ready for a battle. About Hoffenheim’s injury concerns, Werder coach Schaaf said: "Even if they are missing players, Hoffenheim still have a good team capable of special things. So it will definitely be a difficult task for us to solve."
