Preparations for the Rückrunde also involve a training camp in Tenerife. However, the first two weeks start with indoor football, which is really popular in the 80s and 90s. The shindig involves 18 tournaments when the teams were able to qualify for the finals that saw the first DFB Indoor Cup (also called the Hall Masters). The big finals tournament is held in Frankfurt. Every club has to have played in at least two tournaments. A complicated system saw eight teams qualify for the DFB Indoor Cup.
So-called assessment points determine qualification with final places and points from the last three seasons plus the first half of the current campaign are taken into account. The individual tournaments are given a values rating, which in turn depends on the assessment of the participants and individual tournaments. Winners and finishers were awarded place points. The total of all the numbers produce the final points tally, which is reflected in the table. From those, five other teams qualify alongside the hosts Eintracht Frankfurt. Ten Bundesliga teams have already ruled out participation in the DFB Indoor Cup as they prefer training camps in preparation for the Rückrunde.
Bayer 04 take part in three tournaments – in Hanover, Dortmund and Herne. Although the tournament in Hanover was not recognised as a qualifying tournament the Hall Masters.
The team set off for Hannover and Herne on Friday 15 January 1988. The team fail completely in Herne on that Friday losing all three group matches against DSC Wanne-Eickel (1-2), Westfalia Herne (1-2) and Hamburg SV (2-3). The other but the team in Hanover do not do much better – 2-2 against TSV Havelse, 0-0 against Hannover 96 (Reserves) and a 4-1 win against ASC Nienburg. Saturday sees the two 'indoor specialists' Knut Reinhardt and the second team player Dieter Regh arrive in Herne from Hanover to give the team support in the important tournament. That is the play-offs, the quarter-finals for us against the top team from the other group, in this case Rot-Weiss Essen. We inflict a 5-1 defeat on Essen. The semi-final brings revenge against Hamburg SV with a 3-2 victory but then we lost 6-3 to Wattenscheid 09 in the final. The team in Hanover finishes in a disappointing fourth place.
The tournament in Dortmund follows a week later. Again we reach the final but suffer a heavy 5-2 defeat to VfL Bochum. At the end of the day, the two second places are not enough to qualify for the DFB Indoor Cup. Preparations for the Rückrunde, and obviously the UEFA Cup quarter-final against Barcelona, begin with a flight to Tenerife on 25 January.
Claus-Dieter, known as ‘Pele’, Wollitz was born in Brakel on 19 July 1965 in Brakel. He earned the nickname of the Brazilian global super star at the age of six because he was able to the juggle the ball for a long time as a child. What was originally meant as a stunt would follow him all his life. Every football fan associates the name Wollwitz with his nickname: Pele.
Show moreJosé Roberto da Silva Junior, Zé Roberto for short, was born in the Brazilian city of São Paulo on 6 July 1974. He started playing football at the Pequeninos de Joquey soccer school at the age of seven. Via the club Palestra Sao Bernardo, the left footer moved on to the professional club Portuguesa de Desportos where he made his debut in 1994.
Show more25 years ago, the Bayer 04 U19 team under their two coaches Thomas Hörster and Dirk Dreher were Regional League West champions and thereby participants in the finals of the German championship.
Show moreAfter promotion to Bundesliga 2, the football boss Hermann Bacall had his hands full putting together a powerful team. For the first training session at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on 14 July 1975 there were nine new signings including five players who became regular starters in the team that won promotion to the Bundesliga in 1979.
Show moreAfter the success of the previous year, the gymnastics and sports club Leverkusen hold the ‘Wiesdorfer Sportwoche’ week of sports for a second time (the city of Leverkusen is only founded in 1930). The week of sport started on Sunday, 12 July 1925. In the years before World War I there were municipal gymnastics and games festivals. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the club in 1924 the board and many helping hands started the week of sports. An internal municipal games festival developed into a national event which made a name for itself after a year particularly due to the relay element.
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