"Kai Havertz voted into second place is in my opinion deserved and no surprise. He has a lot of potential, enjoyment playing the game and ambition," praised Germany coach Jogi Löw. "We want to see him succeed in the national team. It gives me great pleasure to work with the two players (Reus and Havertz, ed.) in continuing our rebuilding and development of the team."
Michael Ballack was the only Werkself player to date to win the title of Footballer of the Year in 2002. Back then, Ballack was in the Bayer 04 team that reached the Champions League final and he also led Germany to the World Cup final.
The vote for the Footballer of the Year has been organised by the sports magazine Kicker since 1960 amongst members of the German Sports Journalists Association (VDS). 550 valid votes were cast in the 2019 ballot.
Carolin Simon is the new captain of the Bayer 04 women’s team. The full-back, who joined from Bayern Munich in the summer, will take over the captain’s armband for the 2026/27 season. Simon returned to Leverkusen in the summer after ten years away. The 33-year-old succeeds goalkeeper Friederike Repohl, who retired at the end of last season.
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SV Wehen Wiesbaden undoubtedly envisaged a different start to the new season. After two matchdays, the Hessen side currently sit bottom of the Liga 3 table. On Saturday 22 August (kick-off: 13:00 CEST), SVWW host the Werkself in the first round of the DFB Pokal at their home ground, the BRITA Arena. It was there, in this very competition a year ago, that the club almost pulled off a massive upset. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Farid Alfa-Ruprecht is going out on loan from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Bundesliga 2 side Hertha Berlin. The pacy winger will be at the Berlin club for one year.
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Heading towards the competitive start of the 2026/27 season together: the Werkself kicked off preparations for the DFB Pokal clash at third-tier SV Wehen Wiesbaden with an open session in front of their fans on Tuesday morning. Before the first-round tie on Saturday 22 August at 13:00 CEST - for which the away section is already sold out - there'll be one more open session on Thursday from 11:00 CEST, when fans have another chance to watch head coach Carles Martínez's men at work.
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