Tag: germany

German giant Bayern Munich struggled to a 1-0 win over Portuguese club Belenenses at home in the first leg of theeir UEFA Cup first-round series. Italy striker Luca Toni scored the only goal for Bayern in a match watched by a crowd of 64,000 at the Allianz Arena.

[AMERICANS IN GERMANY] Defender Gregg Berhalter converted a late penalty kick for his third goal in four games this season to earn 1860 Munich a 1-1 tie with FC Koeln and keep his club undefeated and at the top of the German Second Division. Forward Josh Wolff played first 54 minutes for 1860. Only one American saw action in First Division play.

[AMERICANS IN GERMANY]. Defender Gregg Berhalter and attacker Josh Wolff helped 1860 München to a 3-0 win over 1899 Hoffenheim to keep their team on top of the German Second Division with a perfect record after three games. For fourth-place Mainz, 18-year-old defender Neven Subotic made his third start of the season in a 4-1 win over fellow 2006-07 relegation victim Borussia Moenchengladbach. In the First Division, both Americans who saw action came out on the losing end.

[AMERICANS IN GERMANY] Defender Gregg Berhalter scored with a 55th minute header and an 87th minute penalty kick to lead 1860 Munich to a 3-1 win over Kaiserslautern. His American teammate, Josh Wolff, assisted on Berkant Goektan’s goal. Two Americans saw action in the German First Division.

[GERMANY SCOREBOARD] After two weeks of action, only Bayern Munich and Hamburg SV boast perfect records in the Bundesliga. HSV won its second game of the young season 1-0 over Bayer Leverkusen on Rafael van der Vaart penalty kick. Bayern, which opened the season with a 3-0 win over Hansa Rostock, followed up with a 4-0 thumping of Werder Bremen.

[TRANSFER TALK] No team has been as aggressive on the transfer market as Bayern Munich, which was dethroned as German champion and failed to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Its signing of Germany striker Miroslav Klose from Bundesliga rival Werder Bremen took its spending on players during the offseason to more than $94 million. Here’s a look at the Bayern signees …

[OBITUARY] Jupp Derwall, who coached Germany to the 1980 European Championship title and 1982 World Cup final, died Tuesday at the age of 80 after a short illness. When Derwall was named West German national team coach in 1978, he was only its third full-time head coach, following the legendary Sepp Herberger, who led West Germany to the 1954 World Cup title, and Helmut Schoen, who led West Germany to the 1974 World Cup title and whom Derwall replaced.

[MAKING A LIST] Foreign nationals and foreign-born players dominated the German Bundesliga scoring charts. Of the players who ranked in the top 10 in First Division scoring, all but one was born abroad, including Germany national team strikers Kevin Kuranyi (born in Brazil) and Miroslav Klose (born in Poland). The only German-born player was 22-year-old Stuttgart sensation Mario Gomez, born in Riedlingen to a Spanish father and German mother.

[MAKING A LIST] Neven Subotic, an 18-year-old defender who represented the USA at the 2005 U-17 World Cup, became the youngest American to play in the German Bundesliga when he debuted for Mainz last weekend in a 5-2 loss to Bayern Munich. Subotic, a native of Bosnia, was discovered by the U.S. U-17 coaching staff playing pickup soccer in Bradenton, Fla. The youngest previous Bundesliga debut by an American came from Jovan Kirovski (age 20 in 1996 for Borussia Dortmund). Subotic’s appearance against Bayern came with Mainz already doomed to relegation to the Second Division for the 2007-08 season. He was one of six Americans to see German First Division action this season.

VfB Stuttgart completed a late-season surge with a 2-1 victory over Energie Cottbus on Saturday that extended its winning streak to eight games and secured the young team the 2007 German Bundesliga title. The title was the fifth for Stuttgart, which moved ahead of long-suffering Schalke 04 on the second-to-last week of the season. For a few brief moments, it looked like Schalke might get the miracle it needed to capture its first Bundesliga title. Stuttgart trailed Cottbus after Sergiu Radu‘s deflected shot beat Timo Hildebrand in the 19th minute, but goals from Thomas Hitzlsperger on a brilliant long-range shot in the 28th minute and Sami Khedira‘s goal in the second half took Stuttgart its first Bundesliga title in 15 years.

In Germany, Hannover 96 (Steve Cherundolo, 90 min.) missed a chance to clinch a spot in the Intertoto Cup, a path to the UEFA Cup, when it lost, 3-0, to FC Nuremberg. Kamani Hill was a 75th sub for Wolfsburg in its 2-0 loss to Werder Bremen. Wolfsburg finished three points above the releagtion zone. In the Second Division, Munich 1860 finished the season with a 2-2 tie with Erzgebirge Aue and in eighth place. Munich’s Gregg Berhlater went the full 90 while Josh Wolff was out injured. Wolff joined the team in midseason and played 10 games, scoring twice and assisting twice.