“The first match is incredibly important. Will we get it right as we intend? If that happens it will give us a certain sense of security for the match. And if we pick up three points then we’ll have exactly what we want to progress in a tournament like this,” declared coach Horst Hrubesch.
Germany, with Lars Bender sharing a room with his twin brother Sven at the team hotel, have high hopes. “The first target is to win the group so we don’t have to move for the quarter-finals. And we want to be in the Olympic village for the semi-finals to share that experience. We’ve heard about that so often and find it absolutely fascinating. As a footballer you can usually only be there once in your life,” said Hrubesch, whose players follow up the opener against Mexico with games against South Korea (Sunday, 21.00 CET) and Fiji (Wednesday, 21.00 CET).
Renato Augusto and Son in Brazil too
Like Julian Brandt, Lars Bender is also really keen to face the challenge of the Olympic Games. “It’s great to be part of the Olympics but I don’t want to just look at photos in the future and say I was there. I would rather hold something in my hands. Every athlete wants to win to have something forever that you can enjoy remembering,” said Lars who was a Under-19 European Champion along with his brother in 2008. Renato Augusto (Brazil) plus Heung-Min Son and Seung-Woo Ryu (both South Korea) are former Bayer 04 players at the Olympic tournament.
Krahn plays in first win
While Bender, Brandt and the men’s team can hardly wait for their Olympic opener, Annike Krahn and the Germany women’s team have already played their first group match in Brazil. The team coached by Silvia Neid clocked up a 6-1 win against Zimbabwe in Sao Paulo. The Werkself central defender, who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, played the full 90 minutes. The other group opponents for Germany are Australia (Saturday 23.00 CET) and Canada (Tuesday, 21.00 CET).
Season tickets for the Werkself home matches in the new Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga season are now on general sale. The season ticket is valid for all 13 matches at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The first home match will be played between 28 and 31 August against the runners-up, VfL Wolfsburg, followed by the clash with the German champions, Bayern Munich, between 11 and 14 September.
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A new team, a new environment, a new challenge—and yet one thing remains the same for Afonso Moreira: his attitude. Total dedication, discipline, and the drive to improve every day have defined the Portuguese player since his early days at Sporting CP. “Even back then, I realized I had to work hard to achieve my goals,” said the 21-year-old. His parents also instilled those values in him from a young age. Values that have driven him ever since, accompanied him to France when he signed for Lyon, and now also form the foundation for his new chapter at Bayer 04. At a media session, the lightning-fast winger spoke about his values, as well as his new teammates, the new coach, and his targets at the club.
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Former Bundesliga and Germany keeper Manfred Manglitz, who was promoted to the Oberliga West with Bayer 04 in 1962, passed away on Monday at the age of 86.
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Justine Brandau and Lobke Loonen joined the Bayer 04 Women’s squad in quick succession this summer. The two Dutch players have been friends since their youth days, and are now playing for the same club for the first time. In an interview at the training camp in Rieden, Brandau and Loonen talk, amongst other things, about their experiences as opponents in the Vrouwen Eredivisie, the dynamic within their new team and their first few weeks in Leverkusen.
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