Sidney Sam to Bayer Leverkusen

Bayer 04 Leverkusen had a great early season, but began to fall off toward the end. They are looking to change all of that as they announce the signing of Sidney Sam from Hamburger SV. Looking to strengthen their midfield, Sam has been signed to a 5 year contract. His contract will run until June, 2015.

The attacking midfielder found himself playing on loan to FC Kaiserslautern last season and proved to be a very big part in the team’s promotion to 1. Bundesliga.

Leverkusen Chairman Wolfgang Holzhäuser stated that “We have been following the player for a year, creating a transfer with perspective. We are excited for him to fulfil his potential as he develops into a leading Bundesliga player at our club.”

Head trainer, Jupp Heynckes also had something to say about the transfer: “Sidney Sam was a standout player in the 2. Bundesliga this season and had a big part to play in Kaiserslautern’s promotion. I believe he will integrate well into our squad.”

Eintracht Frankfurt Pick Up Theofanis Gekas

Frankfurt Coach Michael Skibbe originally tried to sign Theofanis Gekas last year, but the deal fell through hen it received no support from Frankfurt chairman Heribert Bruchhagen. That all changed this week when Bruchhagen threw his support behind the transfer and said “I am delighted to be able to fulfil the wish of our coach and sign Theofanis Gekas, a dangerous striker with lots of experience.”

The 29 year old Striker has been signed for a fee of 1 Million Euros and has signed a two year contract. Gekas spent last season playing with Frankfurt Rivals Bayer Leverkusen and is on the Greece National Team for the upcoming World Cup.

Borussia Dortmund Takes Two
At least so far, but it looks as if they may pick up a third very shortly. At this point, they have already picked up Forward Lukasz Piszczek on a free transfer from Hertha Berlin, and Goalkeeper Mitchell Langerack from Melbourne Victory of the Australian League.

They also seem close to signing 21 year old Striker Robert Lewandowski from Polish side Lech Poznan, and have apparently agreed to terms with him, but they are currently in negotiations with the Polish side over a transfer fee.

Jiri Stajner Terminates Contract with Hannover 96

Jiri Stajner has terminated his contract with immediate effect in order to end his career at home in the Czech Republic. Stajner played a big part in helping Hannover avoid relegation last season, but the 33-year-old Striker decided to terminate his contract early (he still had one year remaining) in order to finish his career in his homeland.

Stajner made a total of 229 appearances for the Hannover, and scored 42 goals including the equalizer in the 2-2 draw with Borussia M’gladbach which helped to ensure they remained in the top flight.

Transfer rumours are still flying, and more are sure to come quickly. We may see an entirely new Bundesliga next season!

FC Nürnberg 3 – 2 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Bayer has been battling for the top of the table all season, and this weekend’s match saw them put a season-long unbeaten run on the line as they traveled to EasyCredit-Stadion to take on FC Nürnberg.

The game promised to be full of excitement as Stefan Kiessling made his return to take on his former club, and sparks were sure to fly.

The first half an hour was very tight with both sides fighting for dominance, Stefan Kiessling trying in desperation to put a goal past his former teammates. The 33rd minute saw a nasty tackle from Leverkusen’s Stefan Reinartz force Brazilian defender Breno to be taken off. It is suspected the Breno suffered torn knee ligaments and may be out of action for a while. Domonik Maroh was brought in to replace him.

FC Nürnberg brought in Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, who continued to prove his worth. The first of his two goals came in the 42nd when he froze Leverkusen’s central defense as he knocked in the opening goal. It was just three minutes later when he took a pass from Dennis Diekmeier and beat the Leverkusen Goalkeeper, Rene Adler, for a shot into the top corner.

Bayer Leverkusen found themselves in unfamiliar territory as they headed into the locker room at the half, down 2-0. Just ten minutes into the second half, and their first loss of the season seemed to be looming in the air.

The 55th Minute saw Mikael Tavares open his account for the year when his shot found it’s way past Rene Adler to give Nürnberg a 3-0 lead, and Leverkusen an almost insurmountable task.

As we have seen more than once during the season, Leverkusen don’t know when to give up. The rest of this match would see the team fall into nice form and bring it back within 1.

In the 59th Minute Bayer pulled out all the stops and subbing on Tranquillo Barnetta for Stefan Reinartz, and Patrick Helmes for Eren Derdiyok.

Stefan Kiessling finally saw his aspirations realized when he was able to open the scoring for Leverkusen with a goal that was practically given to him in the 66th. Bayer’s Gonzalo Castro had already beaten the Nürnberg Goalkeeper, and passed it over to Kiessling to complete the simple finish.

Although he had just recently come on the pitch, Patrick Helmes upped the game’s intensity level in the 73rd Minute when he scored his first goal of the season after capitalizing on a poor clearance. The game was now 3-2, and Bayer were coming on full-force.

Bayer threw everything they had at Nürnberg in the final minutes of the game, but couldn’t find the net. The game ended with Bayer’s first loss in 25 league games. The loss saw them fall to third place in the table, but it also saw FC Nürnberg move up the table and out of the bottom three.

Attendance: 40,329

Borussia Dortmund 3 – 0 Borussia Monchengladbach
This was a match that would see the return of Sebastian Kehl for Borussia Dortmund. He did feature for a short amount of time in the Derby Match against FC Schalke last weekend, but after many injuries, he was finally able to return as captain.

Dortmund seemed pleased to have him at the helm once more as they played one of their better matches of the year. Mohamed Zidan, Dortmund’s Egyptian forward, continued his recent spat of good form by scoring two goals, and setting up a third.

The first came in the 13th minute when Kevin Grosskreutz passed it to Zidan who ran it into the area, and passed it back perfectly to Grosskreutz who found himself with space, and put it past Logan Bailly to open the scoring. Dortmund continued to dominate the game and it looked as if they would make it 2-0 in the 35th, but Gladbach’s goalkeeper Logan Bailly was able to push Marcel Schmelzer’s shot just wide of the far post.

Just before halftime, Logan Bailly was put on the spot again with a rocket of a shot from Dortmund’s Zidan, and he made a great save to keep the score at 1-0 going into the half.

The second half was all Dortmund and all Mohamed Zidan. He scored his first goal of the game in the 54th Minute when he made his way past out two Gladbach players and knocked in a 16 yard shot with his left foot to give Dortmund a 2-0 lead.

The 70th Minute saw Zidan claim the victory for Dortmund when he capitalized on poor defense from Gladbach by beating Goalkeeper Logan Bailly once again to give Dortmund the 3-0 Lead and victory.

Attendance: 79,800

All of the Week 25 Scores:
FC Köln 1 – 1 FC Bayern München
Werder Bremen 2 – 2 VfB Stuttgart
Hamburger SV 1 – 0 Hertha BSC
Eintracht Frankfurt 1 – 4 FC Schalke 04
SC Freiburg 1 – 2 Hannover 96
VfL Wolfsburg 4 – 1 VfL Bochum
Borussia Dortmund 3 – 0 Borussia M’gladbach
FC Nürnberg 3 – 2 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 0 – 1 FSV Mainz 05

In Other News:
*Jens Lehmann will end his career at the conclusion of the current season after confirming he will not be renewing his contract with VfB Stuttgart.

*Franck Ribery has claimed there are a few clubs interested in taking him away from Germany in the summer and that he has yet to make up his mind over where he will end up.

Updated table:
1. FC Bayern München – 53 points
2. FC Schalke 04 – 51 points
3. Bayer 04 Leverkusen – 50 points
4. Hamburger SV – 43 points
5. Borussia Dortmund – 42 points
6. Werder Bremen – 39 points
7. VfB Stuttgart – 35 points (+3 Goal Difference)
8. Eintracht Frankfurt – 35 points (-4 Goal Difference)
9. FSV Mainz 05 – 35 points (-4 Goal Difference)
10. VfL Wolfsburg – 34 points
11. TSG 1899 Hoffenheim – 32 points
12. Borussia M’gladbach – 30 points
13. FC Köln – 27 points (-10 Goal Difference)
14. VfL Bochum 1848 – 27 points (-16 Goal Difference)
15. FC Nürnberg – 21 points
16. Hannover 96 – 20 points (-20 Goal Difference)
17. SC Freiburg – 20 points (-24 Goal Difference)
18. Hertha BSC – 15 points

*Goal Difference has only been added to teams that are equal on League Points.

Of the Top 3 this weekend, two sides were held to draws, but FC Bayern Munchen had an impressive 3-1 victory over VfL Wolfsburg. Bayer 04 Leverkusen were held to a 1-1 draw with VfL Bochum, and FC Schalke 04 simply couldn’t score against SC Freiburg and had to settle for a 0-0 draw.

FC Koln 3 – 3 Hamburger SV
Draws weren’t confined to the Top 3 this weekend, as the Bundesliga pulled in a total of three draws out of 9 games. Of the games, perhaps the most anticipated was the match at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne as FC Koln took on Hamburger SV.

Ruud van Nistelrooy made his switch to HSV over the Winter Transfer Window, but coach Bruno Labaddia has been reluctant to give him a start as he hasn’t played a competitive game since last year when he picked up a calf injury. Nistelrooy was to remain in Hamburg to work on his fitness, but at the last minute, he did come with the team and even made a brief 90th minute appearance in place of Mladen Petric.

This game, however was about much more than the long-awaited debut of van Nistelrooy. Both teams wanted this win.

The visitors made their first strike in the 2nd minute when Mladen Petric had his shot saved by Koln Goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon, but he was unable to keep control of the ball. Marcell Jansen jumped on the loose ball and knocked it in to give HSV the early lead.

Just after the half hour mark, Koln equalized when Youssef Mohamed headed in a free kick from Armando Petit. It only took Hamburger only 5 minutes to regain the lead when Marcell Jansen crossed into Mladen Petric and Petric put it past Mondragon.

Hamburger looked to be taking all three points early in the Second Half as Pedro Geromel was penalized for a handball in the 50th Minute. Mladen Petric stepped up to the spot and scored HSV’s third goal, giving them a 3-1 lead in the 50th Minute.

Koln was not going down without a fight though, and it took them until the 75th to bring the game within 1. Milivoje Novakovic curled in an almost unbelievable free kick from 25 yards out. This would lead to an intense finish and it took all the way until the 88th minute for FC Koln to equalize.

Adil Chihi took a rather sloppy shot, but thankfully for FC Koln, it took a deflection off of David Rozenhal and slipped into the corner behind HSV Goalkeeper Frank Rost.

The teams split the points, but it saw FC Koln jump two places into 11th, while Hamburger SV leap-frogged Borussia Dortmund to move into 4th. Not a bad result for a draw!

Attendance: 50,000

Borussia Dortmund 2 – 3 Eintracht Frankfurt
Nearly 71,000 fans showed up at Dortmund to see both teams put on an impressive display, but it was 7th Place Eintracht Frankfurt that walked away with the full three points.

The visitors took the lead in the 8th minute when Benjamin Kohler took a cross in from Patrick Ochs, and took advantage of the open space he was gifted to head it in to the far left post. Borussia Dortmund came back in the 17th Minute to take advantage of a defensive misstep by Frankfurt. After Frankfurt failed to clear a corner kick, Dortmund’s Zidan passed it into Mats Hummels and he pushed it in from just 5 yards out.

Frankfurt looked embarrassed after that and pretty much dominated the remainder of the half. Halil Altintop was able to get a shot past the Dortmund Goalkeeper in the 28th Minute, but it was to no avail as Mats Hummels got back in time to clear the line. Altintop had an opportunity again just two minutes later when he was left virtually unmarked in the area, but headed it wide right. The two teams went into the half at 1-1.

In the 57th Minute, Eintracht Frankfurt again failed to clear the line, and the Home side took advantage. Patrick Owomoyela passed the ball out to Mohamed Zidan who sent in a beautiful pass to Marcos Barrios who knocked in a first-timer to claim his 11th Goal of the Season, and gave the Home side a 2-1 lead.

The 65th Minute saw Frankfurt equalize. Sebastian Jung took a long-shot, and Dortmund’s Nuri Sahin deflected it in. With just 16 minutes to play, Frankfurt again took the lead after Halil Altintop made a great pass to Alexander Meier who took it on a long run and got the ball just past the Dortmund Goalkeeper to give them the 3-2 lead, and eventually the victory.

Borussia Dortmund have now lost two consecutive matches after an impressive 6 game winning streak, and failed to take advantage and jump past HSV into 4th.

Attendance: 70,400

All of the Week 21 Scores:
Werder Bremen 2 – 1 Hertha BSC
VfL Wolfsburg 1 – 3 FC Bayern Munchen
FC Koln 3 – 3 Hamburger SV
SC Freiburg 0 – 0 FC Schalke 04
VfL Bochum 1 – 1 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 2 – 1 Hannover 96
FC Nurnberg 1 – VfB Stuttgart
FSV Mainz 05 1 – 0 Borussia M’gladbach
Borussia Dortmund 2 – 3 Eintracht Frankfurt

In Other News:
*Wolfsburg general director Dieter Hoeness(left) has confirmed that caretaker manager Lorenz-Gunther Kostner will remain in charge until the end of the season.

*Lukas Podolski has resumed training after three weeks on the sidelines and could feature in the starting squad for next weekend’s Bundesliga match against FC Schalke 04.

Updated Table:

FC Bayern Munchen 2 – 1 Borussia Monchengladbach

Matchday 15 kicked off with a battle between Bayern and Borussia M’gladbach, proving that even in a week as slow as this one, there is still a lot of excitement in German Football.

Bayern’s Mario Gomez got the game moving with a screaming shot from the edge of the area in the 19th minute. This brings his season to 6 goals in 15 appearances. It didn’t take long for Borussia to equalize though, as the 28th minute brought a very rare goal from Defender Roel Brouwers. Bayer were caught off-guard, and he slipped past their defenders into the box. There was talk of Off-sides as Bayern and their fans alike were shocked by the goal.

The 31st minute looked to be a chance for Bayern to go back on top when Bastian Schweinsteiger was given a free kick, but he knocked it directly into the wall.

Just six minutes from the half, and Gladbach looked to go ahead with a 30-yard shot from Rob Friend that tested Bayern Keeper Jorg Butt. He passed the test.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the game came just moments later in the 41st minute when it was left to Bayern’s Schweinsteiger once again, to prove the only person preventing an impressive breakaway from Gladbach that found the Bayern keeper poorly placed. Schweinsteiger swooped in and kicked the ball away to go into the half level.

The second half began without the same excitement as the first half, until everything changed when Gladbach’s American Midfielder Michael Bradley was given a Yellow in the 52nd. The 59th minute saw the return of Bayern Muchen’s Arjen Robben when he was substituted on in place of Ivica Olic.

The 63rd minute brought the excitement back as Borussia’s Thorben Marx was penalized for a handball, and it set up Schweinsteiger with a free kick chance to go ahead once again. It was a terrible kick, and the teams remained level. Just moments later, Bayern’s Daniel van Buyten had an impressive header into the netting that should have been through.

Unfortunately, van Buyten picked up a serious knock on the header and was substituted out in the 72nd. Two minutes after Breno came on for van Buyten, Arjen Robben picked up a foul on the edge of the box setting up another free kick. 20 year old Holger Badstuber found his very first Bundesliga goal with a hell of a free kick to put Bayern on top 2-1, and that’s how the game finished.

A very impressive display from both teams saw Gladbach fall just short.

Attendance: 69,000

Borussia Dortmund 4 – 0 FC Nurnberg

Borussia came into the match on Saturday determined to extend their unbeaten streak to eight games, and there was no doubt throughout the game that this would be accomplished.

Kevin Grosskreutz opened the scoring after just eight minutes on the counter attack as Sven Bender fed him a nice diagonal pass that he easily put past Nurnberg Keeper Alexander Stephan.

Their lead was doubled after 13 minutes when Lucas Barrios chested down a cross from Owomoyela and got it past the keeper. Nurnberg began showing a bit of desperation trying to pull one back, but the desperation instead saw them down by 3-0 with another counter-attacking effort. A long ball from Dortmund’s half once again found Lucas Barrios, whose shot was blocked by Stephan, but Mohamed Zidan was there to volley home the rebound from four yards out.

Dortmund remained continued to dominate after the break. Borussia’s Mats Hummels scored after 62 minutes. Nurnberg Keeper Stephan blocked Owomoyela’s effort, but Hummels was perfectly placed to head in the rebound from 10 yards to seal the deal.

Attendance: 72,100

In Other News:

Bundesliga strugglers VfB Stuttgart have sacked coach Markus Babbel, a day after a 1-1 draw against VfL Bochum left them in 16th place, the club said on Sunday.

Skipper Thomas Hitzlsperger hinted at troubles in the dressing room saying, “I’m not going to say that things can’t get any worse. I said that four or six weeks ago, and then things got worse,” the captain said.

All the Scores from Week 15:
FC Bayern Munchen 2 – 1 Borussia M’gladbach
VfL Wolfsburg 2 – 2 SC Freiburg
VfB Stuttgart 1 – 1 VfL Bochum 1848
Hamburger SV 0 – 0 1899 Hoffenheim
Borussia Dortmund 4 – 0 FC Nurnberg
Hannover 96 0 – 0 Bayer Leverkusen
Eintracht Frankfurt 2 – 0 FSV Mainz 05
FC Koln 0 – 0 Werder Bremen
FC Schalke 04 2 – 0 Hertha BSC

Updated Table:
1. Bayer Leverkusen – 31 points (+21 Goal Difference)
2. Werder Bremen – 28 points (+19 Goal Difference)
3. FC Schalke 04 – 28 points (+10 Goal Difference)
4. FC Bayern Munchen – 27 points (+12 Goal Difference)
5. Hamburger SV – 25 points (+10 Goal Difference)
6. 1899 Hoffenheim – 24 points (+12 Goal Difference)
7. Borussia Dortmund – 24 points (+3 Goal Difference)
8. VfL Wolfsburg – 23 points (+2 Goal Difference)
9. FSV Mainz 05 – 23 points (0 Goal Difference)
10. Eintracht Frankfurt – 22 points (-2 Goal Difference)
11. Borussia M’gladbach – 18 points (-6 Goal Difference)
12. Hannover 96 – 17 points (-3 Goal Difference)
13. SC Freiburg – 17 points (-13 Goal Difference)
14. FC Koln – 14 points (-8 Goal Difference)
15. VfL Bochum 1848 – 13 points (-12 Goal Difference)
16. VfB Stuttgart – 12 points (-9 Goal Difference)
17. FC Nurnberg – 12 points (-13 Goal Difference)
18. Hertha BSC – 5 points (-23 Goal Difference)

Other promising weekend match-ups saw Wolfsburg travel to Hoffenheim, Hamburger take on Hannover, and VfB Stuttgart facing Borussia Monchengladbach.

Bayer Leverkusen 4 – 0 Eintracht Frankfurt

This Friday game saw goal after goal after goal, three of them coming early in the first half with Bayer basically putting the game away before many fans even settled down into their seats. Stefan Kiessling continued his incredible form when he opened up the scoring in just the 2nd Minute! Eintracht Frankfurt misplayed a cross in from Eren Derdiyok, and Kiessling buried it for an early lead.

While still recovering from such an early score, 20-year old Stefan Reinartz took a nice header in the 6th Minute extending Bayer’s lead to 2-0. Toni Kroos added to Frankfurt’s misery a few moments later when the 19-year old nailed a shot into the top right corner. Just 16 minutes into the match and Bayer held a commanding 3-0 lead. Frankfurt limped into the half trying desperately to hold on to some dignity. With the game already well out of reach, they were at least trying to ruin Bayer’s clean sheet.

Nothing came together for them in the second half. The 83rd Minute saw 20-year old Lars Bender come in off the bench for Bayer, and 3 minutes later, they watched him put the game away.

The result keeps Bayer Leverkusen undefeated in the league, and with this result, they opened up a 4 point gap at the top of the table over 2nd Place Werder Bremen. Werder would be taking on Borussia Dortmund on Sunday with Bayer Leverkusen watching intently to see how many points they would take out of the weekend.

Attendance: 30,000

Werder Bremen 1 – 1 Borussia Dortmund

Sunday brought us a match that found Werder Bremen extending their unbeaten run to 19 games, with a hard fought draw against Borussia Dortmund. By the end of 90 minutes, Werder closed the gap to just 3 points behind league leaders Bayer Leverkusen.

Although this was not the most impressive performance from 2nd Place Werder Bremen, they managed to claim a 1-1 Draw at home, in a match that could have gone either way.

The game had a slow start, not providing much excitement from either side. It took Werder until the 36th Minute before they saw their first real chance. Being the professionals they are, this also turned into a spectacular display for the games opening goal. Aaron Hunt provided a very nice cross to Mesut Ozil on the left edge of the area, and he gave us a left-footed smash from 13 yards out.

The home side came close to making it 2-0 just before half, but Mohamed Zidan was able to clear a weak shot off the line, keeping Dortmund down by 1. Two minutes into first half stoppage time, the visitors almost equalized, but a free kick saw Bremen Goalkeeper Tim Wiese tip the ball over the bar.

Borussia’s Lucas Barrios had a goal called back 8 minutes after the restart for being offside, but equalized anyway, just a minute later, scoring his 5th goal in the last 5 league games. Borussia almost took the 3 points from Werder Bremen with 9 minutes left, but Tim Wiese came to the rescue once again, and the game ended a hard-fought draw.

Attendance: 34,906

More Injury News:
Injuries seem to be plaguing the Bundesliga this season, and this week brought us more information about an ongoing injury at Borussia Dortmund.

Borussia confirmed this week that Captain Sebastian Kehl has had to undergo more surgery on his injured groin. The Midfielder had his first operation back in May, and it saw him miss the entire pre-season. The problem has not gone away, and the German International has failed to make a single appearance in the first 12 weeks of the season. Rumours have been floating around that this second surgery could keep the 29-year old out for the remainder of the season, but the team’s doctor, Markus Braun, insisted it was necessary. He did go on to raise hopes though, that there may be a return for Kehl sometime around February, 2010.

With all of the injuries this season, one could only imagine what the table would look like if all of the players were healthy. Let’s hope that the players start returning to their teams over the next couple of weeks, and we can see how much of an impact that will have on the league.

All of the Results from Week 12:
Bayer Leverkusen 4 – 0 Eintracht Frankfurt
Bayern Munchen 1 – 1 FC Schalke 04
TSG Hoffenheim 1 – 2 VfL Wolfsburg
VfL Bochum 1 – 2 SC Freiburg
Borussia M’gladbach 0 – 0 VfB Stuttgart
Mainz 1 – 0 Nurnberg
Hannover 96 2 – 2 Hamburger SV
Hertha Berlin 0 – 1 FC Koln
Werder Bremen 1 – 1 Borussia Dortmund

Changes to the Table
1. Bayer Leverkusen – opened up their lead – 26 points
2. Werder Bremen – maintained their place – 23 points
3. Hamburger SV – maintained their place – 23 points
4. FC Schalke 04 – maintained their place – 22 points
5. VfL Wolfsburg – up from 7th Place – 21 points
6. FSV Mainz 05 – up from 8th Place – 21 points
7. TSG Hoffenheim – dropped from 5th Place – 20 points
8. FC Bayern Munchen – dropped form 6th Place – 20 points
9. Borussia Dortmund – up from 10th Place – 17 points
10. Hannover 96 – up from 11th Place – 16 points
11. Eintracht Frankfurt – dropped from 9th Place – 16 points
12. SC Freiburg – up from 13th Place – 13 points
13. FC Koln – up from 15th Place – 12 points
14. Borussia M’gladbach – dropped from 12th Place – 12 points
15. VfB Stuttgart – dropped from 14th Place – 10 points
16. FC Nurnberg – maintained their place – 9 points
17. VfL Bochum – maintained their place – 8 points
18. Hertha BSC – maintained their place – 4 points

Bayer Leverkusen 1 – 1 Borussia Dortmund:

The match took place on Friday to help kick off week 10 of the German Bundesliga, and hopefully help to give us a 1st place Team on points, rather than just goal difference.

Bayer looked to get on the board quickly when in the second minute, Lars Bender was set up with a pass at the edge of the penalty area but shot it just wide off the side of his foot.  Fans didn’t have to wait long for a goal though.  Lucas Barrios opened the scoring just 6 minutes later with a header past Rene Adler to put Dortmund up 1-0.

It took until the 65th minute for Bayer to equalize, with a header from Manuel Friedrich, bringing the two teams level.  Sami Hyppia missed headers on two different occasions, and Stefan Kiessling had another chance in the 79th minute.  Nothing could get through, and Bayer had to settle for a draw, giving them a 1 point lead over Hamburger SV at the top of the table.

Attendance: 30,000

FC Shalke 04  3 – 3 Hamburger SV:

Hamburger SV started the game on Sunday hoping to capitalize on Bayer Leverkusen’s 1-1 draw with Borussia Dortmund, in order to finally lay claim to the first place throne.  All they needed was a win against 3rd Place FC Schalke 04.

Marcus Berg looked to be Hamburg’s hero twice in one week as he opened the scoring in the 26th minute, dropping his shot into the bottom corner of the net. You may remember, Berg was elevated to Hero status just 4 days earlier when he scored the winner versus Celtic in the Europa League.

Piotr Trochowski was thwarted by a brilliant save from Schalke’s Manuel Neuer, but got his revenge with a free kick from 25 yards out to score on the last kick of the first half. Hamburg looked well on their way to claiming First Place away from Bayer, as they went into the half leading 2-0.

The Second Half was a different story  seeing Schalke 04 come roaring to life when Kevin Kuranyi headed a fine shot from post to post in the 50th minute.  Hamburg were reduced to 10 men in the 61st when David Rozehnal was Red Carded for a rough tackle just outside the penalty box.  The 62nd minute brought a powerful Free Kick form Marcelo Bordon.  Hamburg’s Frank Rost pushed the ball into the crossbar and directly into the cross-hairs of Lukas Schmitz, who headed it in to bring the game level.

Hamburg’s Hero Marcus Berg put them out in front once again with just 10 minutes remaining, with a perfectly placed ball between the legs of Manuel Neuer.  As we have come to learn this season, it’s truly never over until it’s over.  Schalke’s Kevin Kuranyi brought the point home when he knocked in a last minute equalizer.

Attendance: 61,673

Week 10 ended seeing Hamburger SV still in 2nd place behind Bayer Leverkusen, trailing not by points, but in Goal Difference.  One Goal separates these teams, and maybe by next week, we will have a definitive first place team.

All of the Results from Week 10:

• Bayer Leverkusen 1 – 1 Borussia Dortmund
• FC Bayern Munchen 2 – 1 Eintracht Frankfurt
• 1899 Hoffenheim 3 – 0 FC Nurnberg
• Hannover 96 1 – 0 VfB Stuttgart
• Borussia M’gladbach 0 – 0 FC Koln
• FSV Mainz 05 3 – 0 SC Freiburg
• Hertha BSC 0 – 0 VfL Wolfsburg
• FC Schalke 04  3 – 3 Hamburger SV
• VfL Bochum 1848  1 – 4 Werder Bremen

Changes to the Table:

1. Bayer Leverkusen – Still in 1st by Goal Difference – 22 pts.
2. Hamburger SV – Still in 2nd by Goal Difference – 22 pts.
3. Werder Bremen – up from 4th Place – 21 pts.
4. FC Schalke 04 – down from 3rd Place – 20 pts.
5. Bayern Munchen – up from 6th Place – 18 pts.
6. Hoffenheim – up from 7th Place – 17 pts.
7. VfL Wolfsburg – down from 5th Place – 17 pts.
8. FSV Mainz 05 – no movement from last week – 17 pts.
9. Eintracht Frankfurt – no movement from last week – 13 pts.
10. Borussia Dortmund – no movement from last week – 13 pts.
11. Hannover 96 – up from 12th Place – 12 pts.
12. SC Freiburg – down from 11th Place – 10 pts.
13. FC Koln – up from 14th Place – 9 pts.
14. VfB Stuttgart – down from 13th Place – 8 pts.
15. Borussia M’gladbach – up from 17th Place – 8 pts.
16. FC Nurnberg – down from 15th Place – 8 pts.
17. VfL Bochum – down from 16th Place – 8 pts.
18. Hertha BSC – no movement from last week – 4 pts.

Whether it’s an aging line-up, a lack of cohesiveness among the players, or absence of a dominant scoring threat, every fan has their one scapegoat which they deem responsible for the lack of better results. With the U.S. Men’s national team, it seems to be the starting left back position and a more consistent scoring threat.

Most of the U.S. supporters would be outraged to know that these missing pieces could have easily been solved with something as simple as a single phone call.Is the U.S. doing everything it can do to continue to develop the kind of talent worthy of challenging the world?

The debate about the success of the U-17 residency program continues on, but what about the few who got away? What if that missing defender was once a member of the development program? What if that consistent scoring threat was once enrolled in one of this country’s universities and was merely waiting for a simple phone call?

In the situation of possible impact players choosing to play elsewhere than the U.S., many people will point to the situation of Giuseppe Rossi. The New Jersey-born forward, who now plays for Villarreal in Spain, chose to play for the Italian national team instead of the U.S. That situation looked helpless from the start as Rossi declined an invitation to the pre-World Cup training camp from then coach Bruce Arena. Rossi stated from the beginning his desire to play for Italy, as he had played for them from the U-16 level through the U-21 level already.

Then consider the story of Neven Subotic, a Serbian born defender who was once enrolled in the residency program in Bradenton, Florida. Subotic moved to America with his family as a young child and would eventually make 12 appearances for the U.S. between the U-17 and U-20 national teams. Subotic now plays for Borussia Dortmund in Germany and appears ready for stardom in Europe. At the young age of 20, Subotic is already a very talented defender and presents himself as a legitimate scoring threat from the backline with six goals on the season for Dortmund.

Subotic’s Interview with US Soccer in November 2006(Click to listen)

In December of 2008, Subotic informed the U.S. Soccer Federation that he would be playing in International soccer with his native country of Serbia. There was much debate leading up to his decision which he called an “entirely professional decision” in an interview with Sports Illustrated.

After making only two appearances with the U.S. U-20 team, Subotic was left off of the U-20 World Cup roster back in 2007 by coach Thomas Rongen. Supporters can only wonder how much that affected Subotic’s decision. In the end the allure of playing on the big stage that is Europe and the proximity to which he grew up in Germany appear to be the deciding factor in Subotic’s decision.

Then Vedad Ibisevic, born in Bosnia, eventually ended up in the Saint Louis area. He played his high school soccer in the U.S. and starred at Saint Louis University for one year before returning to Europe to play professionally. Ibisevic earned NCAA Freshman of the Year honors while at Saint Louis University as well was a first team All-American player that year.

Here are two of the more extreme examples of players with dual citizenship capabilities that chose not to play for the U.S. Is the U.S. still viewed as second-rate on the international stage that players want to play for a traditionally more talented country? First thought is no because countries like Serbia and Bosnia are not on the level of an Italy or Germany squad.

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During an ESPN interview with Janusz Michallik(shown above), Ibisevic said, “…looking back I really had fun playing at SLU (Saint Louis University) and I would imagine if the contact came at the time, when I was still living here and playing here, it would be an option for me, definitely.”

In the same interview Ibisevic said that the only contact from the U.S. Soccer Federation came after he had already debuted for the Bosnian national team. A single phone call could have made the difference in one of the Bundesliga’s newest rising stars choosing the U.S. over Bosnia. Ibisevic scored 18 goals and recorded six assists during the first 17 games of the season for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim before a knee injury ended his season.

Questions about this remain unanswered so far, but there are still situations in which these decisions have gone in favor of the U.S. In October of 2008, Jose Francisco Torres chose to don the colors of the U.S. over Mexico, where he has been playing his club soccer with Pachuca since 2006.

So the situation has not always gone against the Americans, but supporters must be left to wonder what their team would look like had some young men made a different decision. How strong would the U.S. line-up look with Subotic in the backline and Ibisevic up top?