Looking dashing in their Santa Claus jackets, the Werder Bremen players presented gifts to their loyal fans at the Weser Stadium after the final match of 2006.
Looking dashing in their Santa Claus jackets, the Werder Bremen players presented gifts to their loyal fans at the Weser Stadium after the final match of 2006.
Looking dashing in their Santa Claus jackets, the Werder Bremen players presented gifts to their loyal fans at the Weser Stadium after the final match of 2006. A wonderful gesture but maybe even an unnecessary one for the Green-Whites fans who will feel as if their club have done enough to lift the spirits of every Werder heart over the last twelve months.
In a short review we shall look back on the greatest wins of the last year and also have a look at some of the inspiring pictures that captured those moments.
The most important win was without a doubt the northern derby win against Hamburg SV in May 2006. The 2:1 away win saw Werder steal into second place and guarantee themselves a place in the Champions League, at the same time ruining their rivals party plans in one foul swoop. After the game the atmosphere in the Werder dressing room was electric. Wiese, Owomoyela, Borowski & Co. took to the pitch in dancing mood at the AOL-Arena – a revenge for the dance the Hamburg players enjoyed at the Weser Stadium after their 1:1 five months later. The decisive factor on the day was the form of Miroslav Klose and Ivan Klasnic whose two goals on the day were enough to seal all three points.
www.werder.de – the pictures from that fantastic win in Hamburg
The coolest win of the season took place at the Weser Stadium – and that against FC Bayern Munich. The title holders were left rubbing their eyes in disbelief as the Green-Whites gave them a lesson in how football should be played. Werder played the waiting game and then struck when it really hurt. Schweinsteiger got the ball rolling with an own goal and Tim Borowski and Daniel Jensen finished the job. Even football magazine ‘Kicker’ noted: “Bremen just like Bayern normally are – ice cold and clever. Munich dominant but to no effect.”
The most prestigious win came for Bremen in the Champions League. The misery of the 3:2 defeat by Juventus Turin could be stilled by the joy of the 1:0 win against FC Chelsea. Werder put it up to the jamboree of the World 11 with a display of self confident, offensive and successful football. Werder had returned from London in autumn after a defeat, a passionate display against Juve saw the Green-Whites turn a 1:2 deficit into a 3:2 win. On both occasions the Werser Stadium was left rocking.
www.werder.de – Werders wonderful win against Chelsea in photos…
The most curious win for Werder came in March 2006 against Hanover 96. Surely the strangest 5:0 win in the clubs history. Werder coach Thomas Schaaf remembers: “We were 2:0 up at half-time but no-one knew why. 96 dominated the first period and had enough chances to score three or four goals and could only be denied by an in form Tim Wiese. From the 43rd minute the game then swung in the opposite direction. The Green-Whites launched attack after attack on the Hanover goal and by the 53rd minute were 4:0 win front with goals from Micoud, Klose and a Valdez brace. The Paraguayan strikers third of the day in the 81st minute finished the visitors off for good.
The feel-good win of the season came on the penultimate match of the last season as Werder steam-rolled the already relegated FC Cologne with a 6:0 drubbing. It was a fabulously exciting game for the fans who could sit back and enjoy the show but at the same time were hoping for a favour from Hertha Berlin against HSV which could set up the much hoped for season ‘Final’. The side from the capital came out as 4:2 winners to create a ‘Final’ on the last match day of the season. Werder’s Klose, Klasnic and Borowski tanked up on confidence with a brace a piece before setting their sights on Hamburg. A week later Klose and Klasnic were on the score sheet again whilst Borowski unluckily missed from the penalty spot.
The record win of the season was a proverbial ‘Triplet’ of amazing wins in Bochum, Mainz and Frankfurt. All three were members of the ‘six away goal’ family. The games appeared all the more amazing by coming in such quick succession. Inside of two months, no other team had ever managed to score six goals in three away games. All three were very different matches too with Mainz opting for a brave attacking approach. Frankfurt had hoped to learn from that and chose a much more defensive eleven. That didn’t seem to matter to Klose, Hunt , Naldo and Co.
www.werder.de – The 6:2 win in Frankfurt was Werder’s third such high scoring away win of 2006…
