With good memories of Asia

Yasuhiko Okudera was the first Japanese to play in the Bundesliga and also played four years with SV Werder (Photo: Getty).
First Team
Monday, 30.06.2014 / 08:19

When the Green-Whites make their way towards Asia on Monday 30 June 2014 for the WERDER BREMEN CHINA TOUR 2014, it will not be the first trip to the Far East for the club...

When the Green-Whites make their way towards Asia on Monday 30 June 2014 for the WERDER BREMEN CHINA TOUR 2014, it will not be the first trip to the Far East for the club. Werder took a trip around Asia after the 1985-86 season, including to China. And that tour with Ordenewitz, Wolter and Co. was a great success - full of many oddities.

The conditions were anything but optimal. Michael Kutzop's missed penalty a few days earlier was still on the team's mind. On the 33rd match day, the defender struck his spot kick against the right post in a championship battle against direct challengers Bayern Munich. SV Werder missed the chance to decide the title ahead of time and a short time later had to settle for the runners up position.

Via Hong Kong and Shanghai, Bremen arrived in their partner city Dalian, where Werder played a test match against the local first division team. The match ended in a draw. Thomas Wolter, former Werder player and current sports boss of WERDER academy centre, can still remember precisely one situation during the match. "The match had a lot of spectators with a good 40,000. Once it started to rain, the stands emptied very quickly. And the fans didn't come back until after it was dry again."

Another highlight of the China trip was a harbour tour in Dalian, but not as usual with a ship but with a bus. "We drove up to the habour with the bus and thought that we would get on a ship. But the bus drove through the harbour for like three minutes. That was the whole tour," Wolters laughed as he looked back.

Before the Asia trip ended with an unforgettable 10-day holiday with players' wives on Bali, SV Werder took part in the Kirin Cup in Japan. Otto Rehhagel's team quickly got over their opening 4-0 loss to the Brazilian side Palmeiras Sao Paulo and then beat the Japanese national team 2-0 to qualify for the final, which was a re-match against Palmeiras. Frank Ordenewitz scored two goals and both Frank Neubarth and Benno Möhlmann added scores as Werder won 4-2 in extra time to win the tournament.

Of course the ball kept rolling during the holidays thereafter - albeit in a special formation. In a friendly against Hyatt Bali, defender Michael Kutzop stood between the posts, while keepers Dieter Budenski and Oliver Reck were the strikers. Otto Rehhagel served as "referee" and Werder won 8-2. Werder's first Asia tour in the summer of 1986 ended with a title, a great bit of experience and loads of fun.

 

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