2006 In Review: The Other Side Of The Coin

First Team
Wednesday, 27.12.2006 / 19:14

It was the moment when thousands of Werder fans at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadium, and many more in front of their t.v. sets gasped for breath.

It was the moment when thousands of Werder fans at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadium, and many more in front of their t.v. sets gasped for breath. Following an unfortunate clash with VfB Stuttgart’s Martin Stranzl, Werder keeper Andreas Reinke was left motionless in the penalty area, covered in blood. With little success, the paramedics and team doctors attempted to stop the flow of blood and Reinke’s yellow shirt and the stretcher were left stained a deep shade of red. With several breaks to the nose area, a shattered skull and severe bone splittering , the 37 year old keeper was raced to a local hospital sporting injuries more often connected with a car crash as doctors explained: “It wasn’t clear if I would wake up or not from the operation. I asked one of the nurses for a pen and some paper to make some notes for my family and friends and to clear up some issues”, were the moving words of Reinke who considered the accident to be “One of the worst experiences of my life.”

 

www.werder.de – Andreas Reinkes press conference after the incident

 

Champions League quarter final slips through Wiese’s fingers

 

The shocking pictures from Stuttgart were thankfully a one off in Werder’s season. A few weeks later though the tragedy of the second leg of the last sixteen of the Champions League left further scars for the Green-White faithful to handle. With 88 minute played at the ‘Stadio delle Alpi’ and the score delicately poised at 1:1, which would have been enough to see Werder qualify for the quarter final of the tournament, disaster struck. To blame was keeper Tim Wiese whose mistake he later admitted himself “Happens once in a lifetime.” The 25 year old gathered a cross from Pavel Nedved with ease but then, with an unnecessary artistic roll allowed the ball to slip through his arms where Emerson pounced to put the ball past the until then fantastic Wiese to make it 2:1 for the home side. Werder learned just how bitter football can be as they bowed out of the Champions League in horrific fashion.

 

www.werder.de – pictures from the Juventus tie…

 

Owomoyela’s invalid ticket

 

Patrick Owomoyela had to endure a crushing sporting blow himself personally in 2006. Following two and a half years which saw him rocket into the Bundesliga spot light, the 27 year old was, surprisingly for many, left out of the German national squad for the 2006 World Cup. “Unfortunately this is not just a bad dream, it’s reality. I’m just on the waiting list now which is like having an invalid ticket”, explained Owo after the announcement of a decision which also shocked many at Werder: “All along we’d expected to be sending a quartet to the World Cup”, commented Thomas Schaaf as he heard the news.

 

www.owomoyela.de – further information on Patrick Owomoyela…

 

Frings misses World Cup semi final through suspension after Argentina thriller

 

From the expected quartet was now a trio. Miroslav Klose, Torsten Frings and Tim Borowski left the whole German national dreaming the ultimate success during four weeks that have probably changed Germany forever. It was a mid-summers dream that was to become something of a nightmare for Frings. Following the quarter final success from the penalty spot against Argentina, during which the Werder midfielder put on one of the displays of his career, the south Americans emotions began to boil over. The 30 year old found himself in the midst of the action and after several provocative incidents allowed himself to lash out. The German internationals action were captured by television camera’s and the result was his suspension from FIFA for the semi-final against Italy, despite the referee, Lubos Michel, taking no action at the time. Torsten Frings was mesmerised after the judgement: “FIFA have destroyed my dream. You are top fit, have given everything for six whole weeks only then to be abruptly stopped – that hurts – I had tears in my eyes when I heard the decision.”

 

www.werder.de – Torsten Frings interview following the verdict….

 

Cup dreams collapse in tatters

 

On the occasion of Werder’s first round tie in the DFB Cup at non-league FK Pirmasens, Torsten Fings again had to watch from the sidelines, this time through injury though. What he then saw was enough to leave most people rubbing their eyes in disbelief. Despite a clear upper hand, the lowly regional league side dumped Werder out of the competition in a penalty shoot-out (0:0, 1:1, 3:5). It was Werder’s only first round exit in the last ten years.

 

www.werder.de – reactions to Werder’s early cup exit…

 

Johnnie Muldoon

 

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