Braunschweig Down But Not Out

First Team
Thursday, 02.08.2007 / 19:14

And so it begins!!! When the whistle blows against Eintracht Braunschweig on Saturday, 04.08.2007 at 3:30pm, then the season will have truly begun for Werder Bremen.

And so it begins!!! When the whistle blows against Eintracht Braunschweig on Saturday, 04.08.2007 at 3:30pm, then the season will have truly begun for Werder Bremen. Following the Green-Whites DFB Cup appointment the, Bundesliga begins with an away trip to VfL Bochum, then it’s Champions League qualification time, before the visit of Bayern Munich. On the back of what has been a less than satisfactory pre-season preparation, Saturday’s game against the ‘Regionalliga’ (third division) team from Braunschweig will be a welcome opportunity for the Bundesliga side to file on their edges and tank up on confidence before the really hard part starts. With memories still fresh of last seasons unexpected exit against FK Pirmasens early on in the tournament, Thomas Schaaf was quick to remind his players of just how great an experience a cup final in Berlin can be. But Werder be wary! Their opponents are suffering sportingly and are in turn absolutely incalculable.

 

Benno Möhlmann and the Werder routine

 

Just like Pirmasens last season, Eintracht Braunschweig are a third division outfit. They were relegated from the second division at the end of last season with a mere 23 points to their name. The result was a complete clear out which saw 26 players depart the club this summer including Francis Banecki and Finn Holsing who have since joined up with the Werder U23 team. Since then 17 new faces have appeared at the club. The new start is taking place under the guidance of an old Werder acquaintance – Benno Möhlmann left Greuther Fürth for the Lower Saxon club. Between 1978 and 1988, Möhlmann played 230 Bundesliga games for Bremen and the Eintracht coach is anything but nervous about his visit from the Weser: “Although I live in Bremen and have played for Werder, the match itself is nothing special. You often come up against ex-clubs during your career.”

 

Werder and Eintracht Braunschweig are certainly no strangers and have met 40 times in the Bundesliga (Werder winning 20). This will be their third cup clash and history is in Werders favour. In 1969 the Green-Whites beat the Blue-Yellows 5:0 and again in 1990, Werder won against Eintracht 2:0 in the cup semi-final. Werder defender Per Mertesacker is taking no interest in statistics: “It’ll be a difficult game. I know from experience just how such a game can end. In 2003, whilst playing for Hanover 96, we were put out by Braunschweig in the second round. We can’t afford to allow that to happen.” On the day there wasn’t much ‘Merte’ could do about the score line, a very young professional, Per sat out the whole 90 minutes on the bench.

 

Bad run for Braunschweig, Werder be warned

 

That will probably not be the case on Saturday. Werder are under pressure. Not only in the clubs history but also due to their current situation, Eintracht would appear to be a thankful opponent. The team gunning to make a quick return to the second division has had a nightmare start to their campaign. A 0:1 home defeat by Kickers Emden last Saturday was followed by a 3:2 defeat by VfL Wolfsburg II on Tuesday evening. The fact is that, looking back at this and last season, the 1967 German champions have one just one game in their last eleven – 3:1 against Wacker Burghausen at the end of April. “Eintracht are not as bad as recent results may suggest”, warned Thomas Schaaf and continued: “Our goal is clearly to progress to the next round and it will be no easy task.” Tim Borowski is also familiar with Werder’s next opponent: “I saw them on television in a ‘Blitz’ tournament during the pre-season. They’ve had a poor start, losing the first two games but that doesn’t mean much. With an ex-Werder man as trainer, they’ll want to prove themselves.”

 

The Braunschweig public have been motivated by the visit of Werder Bremen and the Green-Whites will be faced by a sell-out crowd at the stadium on Hamburger Straße: “Anyone who has been in Braunschweig will know that they are an emotional and often critical crowd who drive their team forward. It’s something that can give that little extra to the players in such a game”, noted Schaaf. Tim Borowski certainly doesn’t consider the third division side a push-over either: “It’ll be hot stuff in front of a packed Eintracht stadium. We have been warned and we are up to the challenge.”

 

What did ‘Boro’ mean by “Wehave been warned”? Maybe the fact that in recent friendlies they have beaten Hanover 96 (1:0) and visiting Greek first division side PAOK Saloniki, who were just at the start of their preparations but were literally played off the park as Eintracht destroyed them with a 7:0 drubbing.

 

Johnnie Muldoon

 

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