
"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.

Bayer 04 Women missed out on victory in the Google Pixel Bundesliga as they were held to a draw at home to Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday. Estrella Merino Gonzalez had put the Werkself ahead directly from a corner at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion, before Laura Freigang levelled for the visitors as it finished all square between fourth and third on Matchday 7.
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Freiburg have made an impressive start to the season, unbeaten in nine games across all competitions, with eight of them wins. Now the Bundesliga leaders come to the BayArena on Sunday to take on the Werkself, but Julian Schuster’s team will be missing their top scorer. Here’s the lowdown on our next opponent.
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Bayer 04 will have to manage without attacking midfielder Martin Terrier for the time being. The Frenchman sustained a muscle injury to his left hamstring yesterday, Thursday 15 October, during the Europa League game against Polish champions Lech Poznan (4–0). Terrier is not expected to be available until late December.
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Following the international break, the Bayer 04 women’s team face their next head-to-head clash in the race for a top spot in the Bundesliga. In Saturday’s home match (14:00 CEST), the fourth-placed side host third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. Head coach Roberto Pätzold is well aware of the great opportunity this presents for his team.
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