Millerntor Cauldron Awaits Werder

First Team
Monday, 23.01.2006 / 19:54

An atmospheric cauldron awaits Werder Bremen on Wednesday, 25.01.2006 for their ARD live game (8:15pm) when Thomas Schaaf's side take on FC St. Pauli in the quarter final of the DFB Cup.

An atmospheric cauldron awaits Werder Bremen on Wednesday, 25.01.2006 for their ARD live game (8:15pm) when Thomas Schaaf's side take on FC St. Pauli in the quarter final of the DFB Cup. The ability of the Millerntor faithful to carry their team to success was made clear by their qualification for the quarter final as the 'Kiez-Kickers' bowled first division Hertha BSC Berlin out of the cup 4:3 in added time thanks to a Robert Palikuca goal. Head coach Thomas Schaaf is all to aware of the one off atmosphere at the Pauli stadium: "Whether you're coach, player or fan, coming to Millerntor is always something special. The fans their create a fantastic atmosphere and all without violence", commented the Werder coach, praising the Pauli fans.

 

Anything is possible on Millerntor as was proven when Pauli beat Bayern Munich 2:1 on 06.06.2002, Munich were World Club champions at the time which is all the more reason why the third division side remain confident about the visit of the Bundesliga giants. Pauli are becoming something of a cup-killer team. In the first round, the Hamburg side knocked out second division Wacker Burghausen 3:2 after extra time. In round two they put, the until then unbeaten, VfL Bochum and then dumped first division Berlin out of the tournament.

 

St. Pauli's current cup run is mirrored by their league form. The Hamburg traditional club have returned to old success after hitting rock bottom following relegation from the Bundesliga in 2002. In the last two seasons Pauli have finished in eight and seventh place respectively but are this time gunning for promotion. The Brown-Whites have 40 points from twenty games and are lying in third place, three points adrift of league leaders Kiel.

 

Confidence on Millerntor is growing with the aid of a successful winter preparation. Friendly games prior to their clash with Werder have shown them on top form with wins including a 6:0 thrashing of Luneburg SK.

 

One of the friendly goals was scored by Luz , whose equaliser against Hertha BSC Berlin was voted second best goal of the year (20,19%) by the ARD viewers. Thomas Schaaf is wary of the ability of the striker and knows that Werder will have to keep a close eye: "With Luz, Scharping and Mazingu, Pauli have players in their ranks who can really make a difference to the team. With that crowd behind you, you have it easier to battle on when your legs are tired. One of Pauli's strenghts is their ability to roll up their sleeves and fight, which is how they turned around the match against Hertha. That deserves respect."

 

The two north clubs last met in 2002/2003 in the DFB cup, the Green-Whites winning 3:0 on Millerntor with goals from Ailton, Ludovic Magnin and Markus Daun. Three current Werder players were also in the side: Frank Baumann, Ivan Klasnic and Tim Borowski.

 

Werder will face two players from their own youth ranks when they play on Wednesday. Striker Sebastian Wojcik and midfielder Timo Schulz have both broken into the Pauli squad. Thomas Schaaf commented: "They both have good characters. Basti covers a lot of ground and is not afraid to get in where it hurts and Timo is a really fine footballer." Schulz has scored twice so far this season with striker Wojcik hitting the target four times, one of which in the DFB cup against Burghausen.

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