Bayer 04 coach Dettmar Cramer took a few risks in the 1983/84 season when he went into the new campaign with a 20-year-old, yours truly, and the 18-year-old Andreas Nagel. Neither of us had played in the Bundesliga before. Over the next five years, Andreas mostly sat on the bench. He only made one appearance for the Werkself in the Bundesliga. On 12 October 1985, I had to be substituted after a collision with the Dortmund centre forward Horst Hrubesch on 80 minutes. After carrying on for a few minutes the impaired vision was too much. An eye specialist later diagnosed a bruised eyeball. Andi came on for the last ten minutes to help us secure a 1-1 draw. A week later he made his one and only appearance in goal for a full match in a DFB Pokal tie at SpVgg Plattling and he kept a clean sheet. We went through to the next round after 2-0 win.
Unfortunately, Andi's time at Leverkusen was associated with two nasty injuries. He suffered two broken hands within a short space of time: First in the summer of 1986 and then again immediately after recovering from the first fracture. He was on the bench once or twice in the Bundesliga in the UEFA Cup winning season of 1987/88. At the end of the season he signed for Hannover 96 but only played for the second team there. His last club was FC Gütersloh where he played 87 games in six years.
During his time in Leverkusen, he trained to be an industrial management assistant at the Bayer Works. After retiring he studied business administration and has worked for the DFL for many years, now as the director for sport and youth. He also volunteers on the board of the Robert Enke foundation.
Dear Andi, many happy returns on turning 60. Stay healthy and have a good one.
Francoaldo Sena de Souza, known as Franca, was born on 2 March 1976 in Codó in north-eastern Brazil and is one of the best-known Brazilian football players of the late 1990s and early 2000s. His exceptional talent became apparent early on. He began his career at smaller Brazilian clubs before moving to the tradition-steeped São Paulo FC in 1996. There, Franca quickly developed into one of the most dangerous strikers in the league. His technique, goal-scoring instinct and agility delighted fans and pundits alike, and he scored numerous goals for the club over the years.
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Lars Bender was born on 27 April 1989 in Rosenheim and grew up with his twin brother Sven in a football-loving family. They began playing football in Brannenburg, a small community near Rosenheim. The twins joined Unterhaching to play for the U11 side, followed by a move to the U14s at 1860 Munich. There, Lars and Sven became German champions with the U17s, skipped the Lion's U19s and were directly part of the 1860 Munich first and second team squads.
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In this video you can see impressive and important goals in Bayer 04 history from the month of March . It's not always about the beauty of the goals, but also a reminder of special games and players.
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Bayer 04 had their backs to the wall after a 3-1 defeat in a rearranged match at FC Kaiserslautern on 17 March 1981. After a throw-in, which the linesman clearly indicated in favour of the Werkself, but which the Lauter team quickly took and the weak referee did not intervene, a dubious penalty was awarded. Lauter took advantage of this to make it 2-1 in the 84th minute. Finally, a shot by the home side, which did not cross the line, made it 3-1 and Bayer 04 had to go home from Betzenberg without any points.
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It was 4 March 1951 and Bayer 04 were five points ahead going into the decisive home game against second-placed SSV Wuppertal, who would merge with TSG Vohwinkel 80 to form Wuppertaler SV three years later. Bayer 04 press officer Heinz Nelles predicted a big matchday at the sports ground at the Stadtpark and recommends Bayer 04 fans to buy their tickets in advance from the usual ticket outlets, especially from Peter Haas at the Trinkhalle Rathaus. After a four-week injury lay-off, centre-forward Emil ‘Bubi’ Becks will be back for the first time. And when the gates to the Stadtpark are opened on Sunday, the spectators stream into the stadium. The windows of the houses on the neighbouring Walter-Nernst-Straße are also packed.
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