S - Shooting practice: Even after a long, likely sleepless night, Werder Bremen's bitter departure from the Europa League after the Round of 16 return leg in mid-March against top Spanish side FC Valencia was still...
S - Shooting practice: Even after a long, likely sleepless night, Werder Bremen's bitter departure from the Europa League after the Round of 16 return leg in mid-March against top Spanish side FC Valencia was still...
S - Shooting practice: Even after a long, likely sleepless night, Werder Bremen's bitter departure from the Europa League after the Round of 16 return leg in mid-March against top Spanish side FC Valencia was still ambivalent. "We saw things that we don't want to experience," said Werder head coach Thomas Schaaf. "We also made it an extraordinary match." It was a game that would go into the annuls of history. After a 1-1 draw at the hot-blooded Mestalla in Spain, what followed was seemingly uncontrollable shooting practice in a 4-4 draw which sent Valencia onto the next round. "It was a very crazy match against a very strong opponent. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. It's great to have scored three goals, but the whole team advanced," said Valencia's David Villa. The spectators at Weser Stadium experienced a breath-taking game with high tempo and a truly strong will to not give up by Werder, who fell behind 2-0, 3-1 and 4-3. Six minutes before the final whistle, Claudio Pizarro made it 4-4 and Bremen needed one more goal to advance. "We suffered so many set-backs in that game and still could have, no should have, advanced," said manager Klaus Allofs afterwards. T - Tug of War: On 4 February 1899, a group of mainly 16-year-old schoolchildren launched the football club "Werder von 1899". They had won a football in a game of tug of war, and then played nearly unendlessly with the new ball, sparking the club's name. It was the beginning of a unique history. On 4 February 2010, the ancestors from that original group gathered in the historic Bremen City Hall to celebrate a club "which has been bringing people together for 111 years, sparking emotions, experienced highs and lows, and goes about its challenges in a sympathetic, modest and successful manner," as WERDER.DE described. U - Universalist: Werder bosses had long been looking to bring in a certain, young Brazilian. But the management in Bremen needed months of persistence and patience for the acquisition of Wesley from FC Santos. "We were rewarded for the efforts," said an overjoyed manager Klaus Allofs after the transfer was finally finalized in late August. And the 23-year-old has already shown Green-Whites fans what kind of gem the Bremen bosses had found, even making his debut with the Brazilian national team in October. Wesley didn't have any problems integrating himself into the team. And he didn't struggle at all acclimating himself to the Bundesliga. He fit immediately into the category of all-arounder. Just about, actually. "Wesley is so versatile. If he didn't have such small hands we could even play him as goalkeeper," said Werder coach Thomas Schaaf.
