Yes, I'd like to see videos dispalyed.
While still a youth player at Karlsruhe, he tore the cruciate ligament in his left knee for the first time in 1991. In May 1992, Jens made his first Bundesliga appearance for KSC in a 1-0 away win at Hamburger SV. In four years, he made a total of 103 Bundesliga appearances and scored seven goals for the club.
In 1996, he arrived at Bayer 04 Leverkusen as a U21 international. Coach Christoph Daum lost no time in making the then 22-year-old 'libero' his captain. 'Jenne', as he was known to his teammates, developed into the driving force behind a team that caused a sensation in Germany in the following years. With Nowotny as captain, Bayer 04 finished runners-up in the German championship four times and also made it to the DFB Cup final and the Champions League final in 2002. Unfortunately, Jenne was unable to play in both of these high-profile matches because he tore his cruciate ligament for the second time in the semi-final second leg against Manchester United on 30 April 2002. He also missed the 2002 World Cup, where he would have been a first-choice pick in the Germany back line. When he finally returned to the pitch in January 2003 in the home game against Energie Cottbus in the difficult 2002/2003 season, in which Bayer 04 were battling against relegation, it happened again: the cruciate ligament, which had just healed, tore again without any involvement by any opposition player, and Jenne faced another difficult six months.
In October 2003, he made it back into the Bayer 04 starting XI and remained an integral part of the Werkself for the next year and a half. But on 19 February 2005, in another incredible stroke of bad luck, he suffered the next cruciate ligament rupture. During the following months, disputes arose between Nowotny and Bayer 04 concerning sick pay. Although Jens was fit, he wasn't used by the club. It wasn't until the second half of the 2005/2006 season, in the home game against VfL Wolfsburg on 8 February 2006, that he came off the bench in the 80th minute and earned himself a place in the starting XI for the rest of the season. He also earned a World Cup call-up and played the full 90 minutes as a centre-back in Germany's 3-1 win over Portugal in the third vs. fourth play-off. Following the World Cup in Germany, Nowotny moved to Dinamo Zagreb. After a few months in Croatia, he decided to retire due to persistent problems with his knees.
Jenne made a total of 233 Bundesliga appearances for Bayer 04, scoring four goals. He made his debut for the German national team on 30 April 1997 in Bremen in a 2-0 win against Ukraine, and went on to gain a total of 48 international caps.
Today, Jens Nowotny works as assistant coach of the Germany U19s and, when time permits, still turns out for the Bayer 04 veterans' team.
All the best for your 50th, Jenne!!! Have a great celebration!
Hans Sarpei was born on 28 June 1976 in Tema, Ghana, and came to Germany with his parents at the age of three, where he grew up in Cologne. Even before he was born, his mother and father worked in Hamburg in the import-export sector. There they met an older man who introduced them to German culture and supported them. Out of gratitude, Hans was later given his first name, although this man died before he was born. Hans comes from a sporting family; his older brother Edward and his nephews Hans Nunoo Sarpei and Kingsley Sarpei were or are also professional footballers.
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On 3 June 1953, Hans-Josef (‘Sepp’) Kretschmann became the fifth coach in the history of Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Born in Allenstein, East Prussia, on 21 March 1902, the football coach first studied to become a teacher before later switching to football. He took over the Werkself from Franz Strehle, under whom the team twice managed to stay in the 1st Oberliga West. However, Strehle did not extend his contract in Leverkusen after these two very successful years.
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After promotion to Bundesliga North 2 in the summer of 1975, Bayer 04 are fighting relegation just eight months later. The club expects full commitment from everyone in this precarious situation. Promotion coach Manfred Rummel is to give up his main job as a teacher at the Mülheim special school and become a full-time coach at Bayer 04. The coach, who is very popular with the team, does not see himself in a position to fulfil the club's request. Despite a 2-0 home win against SpVgg Erkenschwick, Manfred Rummel is put on gardening leave by "mutual agreement".
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Bayer 04, already been promoted to the 1st Oberliga West, played friendly after friendly in the second half of May 1951. And that continued throughout the following month.
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Jacek Krzynowek was born on 15 May 1976 in Kamiensk, Poland, and grew up as a typical country boy. He spent his childhood less in structured training sessions and more on simple pitches, where he spent hours playing football with older boys. He realised early on that he had exceptional shooting power and enormous stamina. But for a long time, he didn't appreciate just how much talent he had. While others dream of a great career, professional football initially seems like a distant world to him that he only knows from television.
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