On Tuesday, Sandhausen beat Premier League newcomers Huddersfield Town, managed by the German coach David Wagner, with a 3-2 win in a home friendly. The match against Bayer 04 is the final friendly for SVS before they take on newly promoted Holstein Kiel in the opening game in their sixth division two season – the reward for continual development at the club.
Between 1978 and 2007, the club from the small town near Heidelberg, played – with the exception of one season in the Regional League – in the Baden-Württemberg Oberliga and that 28 years represents the longest period any club has played at that level. During this period, SVS won the German Amateur Championship twice and reached the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup in 1986.
With promotion to the Regional League South in 2007, Sandhausen laid the foundations for making their name in German professional football. A year later they qualified for the newly found third division and were promoted to the second tier in 2012. In spite of comparatively limited financial means and the lowest number of members in the second division SVS were able to stay up year after year. In 2016 Kenan Kocak took over as head coach when Alois Schwartz departed for FC Nürnberg and, in his first season, he took Sandhausen to a tenth-place finish – the highest ever finish in the club's history. In the coming season the 36-year-old manager of the Black and Whites will be the youngest coach in the second division.
Reunion with ‘Richy’, Erik and Leart
Sandhausen and Bayer 04 have never met in a competitive match but there are a few points of contact between the two clubs. Homegrown Bayer 04 player Richard Sukuta-Pasu has been in the hunt for goals with SVS since 2016. 'Richy' was in the Leverkusen U19 Team that won the German Championship in 2007 and the Cup a year later and in 2008 he became a European Champion with the Germany U19 side. The central striker played five games for the Werkself first team in the 2008/2009 season. Midfielder Erik Zenga and left back Leart Paqarda are two other players brought through the ranks at Kurtekotten to play for Sandhausen.
Straight off after the final whistle
For two of the Bayer 04 management the trip to the Electoral Palatinate represents a visit to their roots. Sporting manager Jonas Boldt grew up a few kilometres away in Heidelberg and head coach Heiko Herrlich comes from the nearby city of Mannheim. After the final whistle at the BWT Stadium, the Werkself will head straight for the Salzburger Land for a week-long training camp in Zell am See/Kaprun. The next friendly of the pre-season will be played on Thursday 27 July at 18.30 CET against Antalyaspor.
This special event showed once again how strong Bayer 04 are as a team: As part of ‘BarmeniaGothaer gives joy’, the Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane supported the sale of individually designed T-shirts for a good cause at the Fanwelt on Thursday. Several hundred fans came to take part in the charity campaign. Leverkusen's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer donated the proceeds to the Fondation Edmond Tapsoba, which helps people in Tapsoba's home country of Burkina Faso in their challenging everyday lives.
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With three games to play before the end of the season, the Bayer 04 Women can break one record and equal another at SGS Essen. After three wins on the bounce, coach Roberto Pätzold's team are aiming to maintain the chance of third place in Sunday’s away game (14:00 CEST, Stadion an der Hafenstraße).
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From Ouagadougou to Leverkusen – and back: in March, Bayer 04 travelled with Edmond Tapsoba for a special project in his homeland Burkina Faso. The country where his roots and heart lie. The country where he’s more than a world-class defender: a symbol of hope and a role model for an entire generation. The result is a 45-minute documentary about Tapsoba’s long journey from Africa via Portugal to Leverkusen, which offers extraordinary, one-off and emotional insights.
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Edmond Tapsoba has signed an early extension to his contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. With two years left on his current deal, the 27-year-old Burkina Faso international has extended his contract until 30 June 2031. The centre-back joined as a young talent from Portuguese top-flight club Vitoria Guimaraes at the start of 2020.
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A special surprise: during the preview for the 'Fierté Burkinabè' documentary about Edmond Tapsoba, Bayer 04 directors Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes announced Tapsoba's contract extension until 2031 together with the centre-back. He then spoke to Werkself-TV about his time in Leverkusen so far and future ambitions...
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