A reunion to delight in: Following a positive coronavirus test, midfield dynamo Nadiem Amiri has been in self-isolation since the end of January. The Germany international has now completed his quarantine and returned to full training after negative coronavirus tests on Monday.
In freezing temperatures on Tuesday morning, the Werkself had an extremely intensive session involving ‘Football Fitness Training (FKT)’, which not only involved Amiri but also U19 striker Kingsley Sarpei. Leon Bailey, Moussa Diaby and Timothy Fosu-Mensah did not take part. The coaching staff, led by Peter Bosz, decided the three players should train on their own after recently starting every game.
His goal to make it 4-1 in last Saturday’s home game against VfB Stuttgart (final score: 5:2) conferred the next record on Florian Wirtz: The 17-year-old offensive player is now the only U18 to score five Bundesliga goals. Hats off to you, Flo…
The winner of the gold Fritz-Walter-Medal in 2020 was already the youngest goalscorer ever in the Bundesliga at the age of 17 years and 34 days. BVB rising star Youssoufa Moukoko took that record from the Werkself player just before Christmas. The Dortmund centre-forward was just 16 years and 28 days old when his scored his first goal in the league.
And now to an important subject away from the pitch: As one of the first professional clubs, Bayer 04 joined the European Football for Development Network (EFDN) in the summer of 2015. This continuously growing international network aims to use the strengths of European football to benefit community projects in all areas. As EFDN recently announced, the magic number of 100 clubs from across Europe taking part has now been broken.
Through the Sportförderung gGmbH, Bayer 04 have supported a range of projects in the region for many years, including events organised for the day of action ‘WIR (04) helfen’. A large number of Werkself staff and players eagerly take part every year in community action in and around Leverkusen.
One person who has still left their mark on Leverkusen today: Rinus Michels took over as the Werkself coach in the summer of 1988. His time in the Rhineland came to end after just nine months with 31 games in the dugout. Eighteen months later, the former Ajax player took the helm of the Netherlands national team for the fourth time – and, in December 1991, he gave a certain Peter Bosz his debut in a Holland shirt.
The now 57-year-old went on to win another seven caps under Michels. According to Bosz, it was a time that has shaped him right up to now. “Whenever Michels had a meeting with us, I went straight to my room afterwards and immediately wrote down everything in my notebook that he’d said because I didn’t want to forget it,” said Bosz in edition 19 of the Werks11 Magazine in memory of his former mentor who passed away in February 2005. Michels would have been 93 today (Tuesday)…
Andreas Neuendorf, better known in the world of German football as ‘Zecke’ Neuendorf, celebrates his 46th birthday on this Tuesday. The midfielder joined Leverkusen in 1994 from the Foxes from Berlin. He stayed for three and a half years before returning to his birthplace Berlin to play for Hertha. Neuendorf was not completely finished with the Werkself: In 2000 he returned to the Rhineland for a season. Today, ‘Zecke’, who was given his nickname by Bayer 04 legend Ulf Kirsten, is the assistant coach to Pal Dardai at Hertha. Happy birthday.
Also a year older is Angelos Charisteas. The Greek centre-forward played for the Werkself from February to June 2009 on loan from FC Nürnberg (16 games, 2 goals). In the 2019/20 season, Charisteas was working as the sporting director at the Greek club Aris Saloniki. We also wish you a successful and healthy new year, Angelos!
This special event showed once again how strong Bayer 04 are as a team: As part of ‘BarmeniaGothaer gives joy’, the Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane supported the sale of individually designed T-shirts for a good cause at the Fanwelt on Thursday. Several hundred fans came to take part in the charity campaign. Leverkusen's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer donated the proceeds to the Fondation Edmond Tapsoba, which helps people in Tapsoba's home country of Burkina Faso in their challenging everyday lives.
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With three games to play before the end of the season, the Bayer 04 Women can break one record and equal another at SGS Essen. After three wins on the bounce, coach Roberto Pätzold's team are aiming to maintain the chance of third place in Sunday’s away game (14:00 CEST, Stadion an der Hafenstraße).
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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From Ouagadougou to Leverkusen – and back: in March, Bayer 04 travelled with Edmond Tapsoba for a special project in his homeland Burkina Faso. The country where his roots and heart lie. The country where he’s more than a world-class defender: a symbol of hope and a role model for an entire generation. The result is a 45-minute documentary about Tapsoba’s long journey from Africa via Portugal to Leverkusen, which offers extraordinary, one-off and emotional insights.
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Edmond Tapsoba has signed an early extension to his contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. With two years left on his current deal, the 27-year-old Burkina Faso international has extended his contract until 30 June 2031. The centre-back joined as a young talent from Portuguese top-flight club Vitoria Guimaraes at the start of 2020.
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