Werder Bremen have reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup and are, with that, Germany's final representative on the European stage. With a fantastic performance in front of a 35,000 strong crowd on Thursday evening at the Weser Stadium
Werder Bremen have reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup and are, with that, Germany's final representative on the European stage. With a fantastic performance in front of a 35,000 strong crowd on Thursday evening at the Weser Stadium
Werder Bremen have reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup and are, with that, Germany's final representative on the European stage. With a fantastic performance in front of a 35,000 strong crowd on Thursday evening at the Weser Stadium, the Green-Whites beat Dutch Ehrendivision side AZ Alkmaar 4:1 thanks to goals from Tim Borowski (16'), Diego (82') and a Miroslav Klose brace (36' and 63'). Moussa Dembélé drew AZ level for a short period during the first half. Werder join the final four teams in the competition and will face Spain's Espanyol Barcelona, who beat Benfica Lisbon 3:2 over two legs, in two weeks time with the first leg to be played in Bremen.
Schaaf improvises
Werder coach Thomas Schaaf was forced into making distinct changes in his starting eleven, with particular emphasis on his defensive line-up. Petri Pasanen filled in at centre half for Per Mertesacker who underwent meniscus surgery this week. The Finn had played wide on the left side of defence on Saturday against Nuremberg with both Pierre Womé and Christian Schulz unable to participate through injury. On this occasion, Patrick Owomoyela took over the roll of left full-back against Alkmaar. In the midfield, Tim Borowski returned to the starting eleven after a seven week break with a knee injury and having had groin operation. Aaron Hunt joined Miroslav Klose to spearhead the Werder attack. Dutch coach Louis van Gaal made only one change to the side which beat NAC Breda 4:1 at the weekend with Gijs Luirink replacing the suspended Gretar Steinsson at the heart of the defence.
The game got off to a pretty evenly balanced start, although a whaft of tension was clearly in the air. Clemens Fritz launched an attack on the Dutch goal after just 54 seconds but his shot proved off the mark. The first tense ten minutes produced little by the way of chances on either goal but that was soon to change. Twice in a minute, Miroslav Klose tried his luck. The first effort was charged down by an AZ defender but his second forced keeper Waterman into his first save of the night. The Green-Whites were in the driving seat and soon made use of their superiority. A long clearance from Tim Wiese was won in the centre by Tim Borowski who played a perfect one-two with Diego. The Brazilians weighted return was played to a tee into the run of the German international who powered into the Alkmaar box and buried past the advancing Waterman to give the home side a 1:0 lead (16').
In a pacy quarter final tie, Werder continued to press, unwilling to settle on their one goal lead. The hosts newly formed defence had no trouble dealing with Alkmaar's attempts to push forward and, in particular Patrick Owomoyela who was playing in unknown territory, gained in confidence as the number of cleared situations and won challenges increased. At the other end of the pitch, Werder's defensive boss Naldo was in search of a second goal for his side, unleashing a powerful free-kick which whipped centimeters past the left post. Alkmaar's best chance during this period fell to Arveladze whose deflected effort screwed high and wide (26').
Turbulant end to the first half
Alkmaar's equaliser just after the half hour mark came as something of a surprise for Schaaf's men and the goal was to spark a turbulent finish to the first 45 minute period. Moussa Dembélé suddenly found himself with acres of space on the edge of the Werder box, with Borowski and Naldo both too far away from their man. The 19 year old took on the ball and shot well into the bottom right corner to make it 1:1 (32'). At this stage, Alkmaar were through to the semi-finals and Werder needed a moment to absorb the shock and react – four minutes to be exact. In the 36th minute, Miroslav Klose was well placed to make it 2:1 and give Werder back the initiative, which they would not allow to slip from their grasp again. On this occasion it was Jurica Vranjes who won the ball in the middle and set Aaron Hunt on his way goal wards. The young striker advanced towards the keeper before squaring to Klose who slotted the ball over the line. The goal was more than just the lead for Werder but also the end of a 1,158 minute goal drought for the German international.
Werder's second goal was not to be the final talking point of the first half though. The home sides luck was in four minutes later as English referee Mike Riley spotted a foul on Tim Wiese and disallowed Alkmaar's second equaliser. The television footage showed the Werder keeper to have been infringed by Petri Pasanen and not the AZ man which ment the goal should probably have stood. From another angle though, non-goalscorer Jaliens appeared to use his hand to touch the ball over the line – all things being correct, the incidents balanced each other out. There were two more chances on goal before the break with Klose lashing over the bar as he met a Borowski cross on the volley (41'). Tim Wiese was also forced to react and get down low to turn away a shot from de-Zeeuw (44').
Werder raise the tempo – and the deficit
There was little let up in the pace of the game after the break either. Werder burst out of the blocks to maintain the pressure on their Dutch guests. Again Naldo tried his luck with a pile-driver of a free kick which proved too hot for Waterman to handle as it squeez through the goalkeepers gloves but luckily for the visitors the ball spun around the post for a corner and not into the net (47'). Werder were in total control but failed to really test the AZ keeper with combinations, as in the 63rd minute, through Klose and Hunt remaining unfruitful. On this occasion though the Alkmaar defence failed to decisively clear their lines with the ball only making it as far as Fritz, who fed Diego wide on the right. The Brazilian delivered an inch perfect cross into the penalty area, where Miro Klose flung himself through the air to head Werder's third. The fans were in ecstacy at the sight of the so sorely missed 'Miro Sommersault' celebration.
Alkmaar were all but dead and buried and despite a couple of half-hearted attempts to pressurise Werder, nothing more than a chaotic game of 'head tennis' insued (76'). Werder finally put the lid on the tie with a beautifully played out piece of football in the 82nd minute which lead to their fourth goal of the night. First Owomoyela and Almeida, then Klose and Diego combined to unhinge the Alkmaar defence and the Brazilian cooly slotted past Waterman to make the final score 4:1. The Green-Whites could have made the rout yet more emphatic with a header by Diego (84') and a shot from substitute Kevin Schindler (86') which knocked the AZ keeper off his feet. The game was won and the semi-final clash with Espanyol Barcelona secured. It was a deserved win at the end of a fantastic night under the floodlights of the Weser Stadium.
Johnnie Muldoon
Werder Bremen- AZ Alkmaar 4:1
Werder Bremen: Wiese - Fritz, Pasanen, Naldo, Owomoyela - Frings - Vranjes, Borowski (71. Baumann) - Diego - Klose (84. Schindler), Hunt (81. Almeida); auf der Bank: Reinke, Polenz, Bischoff
AZ Alkmaar: Waterman - de Zeeuw, Jaliens, Donk, de Cler - Luirink (46. Schaars/71. Cziommer) - Jenner, Martens - Dembélé - Koevermans, Arveladze (63. Boukhari)
Goals: 1:0 Borowski (16.), 1:1 Dembélé (32.), 2:1 Klose (36.), 3:1 Klose (63.), 4:1 Diego (82.)
referee: Riley (England)
Weser-Stadion: 35.000 spectators
Yello cards: Wiese - Donk, Schaars, Luirink
