Around 90 members of the media took up the invitation to the press conference at the team hotel. Accompanied by a dozen camera teams, the Toluca coach Ignacio Ambriz immediately expressed his happiness at the Werkself visit to Mexico. The 57-year-old: “We wish you a warm welcome. It means a lot to us that you are our guests here.” Talking about the match, Nacho, the nickname for Ambriz, added: “It’s something special for us to be able to play against a team of this class, we will enjoy it.”
The press conference in the Diamond Room at the team hotel lasted half an hour. Gerardo Seoane thanked his Mexican colleague for his warm words and then spoke about the match against Toluca: “We’re expecting a great match for the fans and we are happy to see so many people following Bayer 04 here in Mexico.” Speaking about targets for the game, the 43-year-old coach said: “We want to represent our club and the Bundesliga to the best of our ability and also get to know new cultures. A different type of football is played here.”
At the end, Ambriz presented his Swiss fellow coach with a club pennant in a flurry of camera flashes from the numerous photographers present.
Following the press conference, the head coach had some time off – and he used it to find out more about the city of 20 million inhabitants. On a tour with his fellow coaches Patrick Schnarwiler and Alberto Encinas plus CEO Fernando Carro, there was a highlight from a great height: Seoane and Co. had a stunning view over the whole city from the 181-metre high viewing platform in the 44-storey skyscraper Torre Latinoamericana.
HERE is a report on the pre-match training session for the Werkself at the attractive academy of top-flight Mexican side UNAM Pumas.
With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
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A successful fourth preseason friendly ahead of the start of the training camp: The Werkself secured a 3-0 victory over Rot-Weiss Essen at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The goals in what was a commanding and dominant performance by Leverkusen from the outset were scored by Ibrahim Maza (8'), Patrik Schick from the penalty spot (23’) and, in the second half, Montrell Culbreath with a header (79’). The team set off for their training camp in Blankenhain in the Weimarer Land region after the game.
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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 personal 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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You have voted – your ‘Team of the Quarter-Century’ has been decided! This historic selection, covering the period from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2024, features honorary captains, Bundesliga champions, double winners and Champions League finalists. Edmond Tapsoba is the only player from the current Bayer 04 squad to make it into the starting XI, while his team-mate Patrik Schick is on the bench. Simon Rolfes, the current managing director sport, is also in the lie-up. A truly special team that brings together a quarter of a century of Bayer 04 history – and has left a decisive mark on the club.
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Following Patrik Schick, Mark Flekken, Ibrahim Maza and Kerim Alajbegovic earlier this week, the next World Cup participant is back on the training ground in Leverkusen: On Thursday 30 July, Malik Tillman rejoined the squad, completing his first training session under head coach Carles Martínez.
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