The Weser Stadium is a complete sell out, the anticipation prior to the north Germany derby between Werder Bremen and Hanover 96 has reached boiling point and on Sunday, 28.01.2007 at 5pm the waiting will finally be over. The (Bundesliga) ball will get rolling again in Bremen.
The most important news of all reached the Werder fans on Thursday evening from striker Miroslav Klose. The German international, who had been suffering from a groin injury f late, was finally back in full team training. Whether or not the clubs top goal scorer will be fit to take part in Sunday’s game is still unclear. “We’ll have to see how his body deals with the demands. I hope we see a positive reaction. It would be important for us if he could play and it’s looking quite good”, explained trainer Thomas Schaaf.
Baumann is “Very close”
The situation for captain Frank Baumann is similar one. The midfielder returned to action two weeks ago against Mattersburg (1:1) after a two month long injury lay off and has been able to train consistently since then. “He was out for a long time and will need time to get back into the swing of things and find some real stability again but he is very close”, noted Schaaf.
The Werder coach is expecting “A lot” from his opponents from Hanover on Sunday. His opposite number Dieter Hecking has worked well since taking over the reigns in the Lower Saxony state capital and is expected to send a determined side into the fray. Werder’s nost recent meetings with 96 did end in clear wins for the Green-Whites (4:2 and 5:0 at the Weser Stadium) but the winning side were extremely flattered by the score lines in games that could have been very different, which Thomas Schaaf is only too aware of: “I’ve put the last home game to the back of my mind, we’re concentrated on the here and now. It’s possible they could play with a lone striker and a tightly packed midfield behind him which will not make things easy for us.”
Hanover without Brdaric
The ‘Roten’ (Reds) have had their ups and downs since the start of the season. Following a 4:2 defeat by Werder and two further defeats in the first three games which saw the very traditional German club plummet to the bottom of the league, 96 sacked trainer Peter Neururer and instated ex-Hanover player and then Alemannia Aachen coach Dieter Hecking.
The 42 year old trainer got 96 back on track and finished the first half of the season in eleventh place with 20 points – five points clear of the drop zone starting from 16th place. A position that Borussia Mönchengladbach find all too close for comfort.
To prepare his players for the Bundesliga re-start at the Weser Stadium, Dieter Hecking simulated ‘Bremen Conditions’ in training on Wednesday and allowed his players to train on the heated pitch at the AWD-Arena. The coach will have to make do without his striker Thomas Brdaric (retaining fluid) as well as having doubts over the fitness of Vahid Hashemian (flu) and Sören Halfar (knee ligament damage).
The clash between Werder and Hanover will also prove to be the clash of the ‘Swapped’ central defenders. It’s Per Mertesacker’s first meeting with his old team mates since leaving for Bremen, for Frank Fahrenhorst it’s the first visit to the Weser Stadium since he moved to Hanover.