Inside Germany: International Friendly Preview; Bundesliga Matchday 19

Surprising Results:

Borussia Moenchengladbach 1 :1 Hoffenheim:

Gladbach took a surprise lead against the Hoff through Alex Baumjohann who will be heading to Bayern (i.e. destroying his career) soon. Borussia hearts were shattered when Hoffenheim stole a point in the 89^th minute through a header from Wellington.

Bayer Leverkusen2: 4VfB Stuttgart:

Honestly, this result made my respect for Markus Babel rise a step higher. I was extremely surprised at this result, which means that Stuttgart are yet to lose in the league under Babel. Two goals from Mario Gomez, one by Hitzlsperger and an own goal by Lukas Sinkiewicz won Stuttgart the match. A comeback wasn’t on the cards for Leverkusendespite a goal apiece from Kiessling and Charisteas. The red card probably finished of Leverkusen’s challenge but they were behind in the game even before the red card to Arturo Vidal.

Karlsruher SC 3: 2 Hamburger SV

Hamburg this week showed how overconfidence can sink your ship. They were 2-0 up in the game against Karlsruhe after goals from Paulo Guerrero and Colin Benjamin. The lead was blown away by Karlsruhe. After 60 seconds following the goal, Freis found the back of the net. Frederico scored the equalizer andright at the death Freissnatched all three points by scoring his second of the match. The match saw two players sent off: Mladen Petric and Engelhardt (for whom Petric had been sent off). All in all it was an exciting game.

Match of the Week:

Stuttgart and Karlsruheplayed exciting matches but the game getting the most attention was the Schalke vs Bremen fixture.

Schalke 04:1:0 Bremen

After the match, Schalke trainer Fred Rutten said that this was the first time he saw his side fight for a win. It was German U-21 international Benedikt Howedes who scored the winner, coincidentally he had also scored the goal which led to Germany’s win over France in the Euro play-offs.

Klinsi’s instincts pays off; Bayern 3-1 Dortmund.

Dortmundwere 1-0 up in the opening seconds thanks to a slip-up by Martin Demichellis which allowed Nelson Valdez to score. Bayern leveled in the 34^thminute through the ever-green Ze Roberto. The match seemed to be heading for a draw but Miro Klose had other ideas. A tricky finish from the striker after a poor clearance allowed Bayern to win the match. Dortmundwere caught in the break by Ribery and Ze Roberto and the move was finished of by Klose into injury time. Subsequently, Klinsmann was undecided on who to sub: Miro or Toni. At the end he went for the big Italian and got his rewards. Afterwards, Klose said that he was relieved to see the sub board did not show “18”.

Other matches:

Wolfsburg 2-0 Bochum

 Bochumslid further down the table after two goals by Edin Dzeko ended their challenge.

Frankfurt2: 2 Köln

 PrnzPoldi’s club drew with Eintracht. A goal apiece from Marko Russ and Martin Fenin were cancelled out by two from Novakovic.

Hertha’s missed opportunity

Hertha Berlin 1: 1 Bielefeld

Hertha had the chance to go top on Friday but a disappointing result saw them miss out on it. Andriy Voronin had given Hertha the lead but once again, King Artur was on hand to deny Berlin with a header.

Relief for Energie:

Energie Cottbus 3-1 Hanover

Energie Cottbus finally saw light at the end of the tunnel as they ousted Hanover 3-1.

Bundesliga Standings:

Hoffenheim: 39

Bayern: 38

Hertha Berlin: 37

Hamburg: 36

Leverkusen: 33

Interesting News:

First of all let’s start with Luca Toni. All week he has been getting nothing but stick from everyone. Both his league performances were poor. When he was subbed in the 72^nd minute against Dortmund, he apparently refused to shake hands with hero of the night, Klose. Neven Subotic called him a diver and the Kaiser labeled him as selfish. Klinsmann said that strikers should be selfish but come on, at times, watching Toni is like watching Nicklas Bendtner, that too when Bendtner plays poorly! Even Klose took the ball off Toni’s feet in the 66^th minute to prevent another wasted opportunity.

Klose is not flying off to Boroas “the News of the World” had suggested….(I personally find the rumour funny)

Andreas Beck and Turkish-born Mesut Ozil are on hand to win their first caps for Germany against Norway. Marvin Compper and Tobias Weis have not been selected.

Germany vs. Norway Preview:

The venue for the match will be the LTU Düsseldorf Arena. Frings and Ballack are back in the squad and Ballack still isn’t sorry for his actions against Low and rightly so. Germany are trying to put off-the-pitch matters andthe Englanddefeat behind while Norway will try to get coach Egil Olsen’s reign to a winning start. Under Olsen, Norway made both the 94 and 98 World Cups. They are currently bottom of their qualifying group while Germany are top of theirs’. Hanoverkeeper Robert Enke doesn’t make the squad this time while Rene Adler will be handling matters in between the sticks. Andreas Hinkel of Celtic is expected to start.

Up front, Mario Gomez will be partnering in-form Klose. They both scored twice in the league. Mario Gomez was the man of the match against Bayer whereas Miro Klose was the hero for Bayern against Dortmund.

Prediction: Hopefully Germany will get off to a winning start in 2009;

Germany 3:1 Norway.