The cheerful left back shows no sign of sadness now. Quite the opposite: Wendell quickly came to terms with his situation and is now working hard to make a comeback as soon as possible.
And that might happen soon. The talented Brazilian missed out on the previous friendlies but has been busy on the training ground in every session at the Werkself training camp in Austria. “I’m incredibly happy to be back,” he said with his eyes lighting up like a young child at Christmas: “I feel really good again. Simply muito bem!”
It was a different story straight after the injury. Understandable given Wendell missed the Bundesliga run-in. “I needed a couple of days, ” he admitted. But the Brazilian was able to count on the support of his family. Not just his wife and child living with him in the Rhineland but also on his parents who flew over straight away from Brazil to look after their youngest. Wendell had intended to visit them before the Olympic Games but his focus was on rehab so he stayed in Leverkusen.
No holiday but all the sacrifice has paid off. Wendell wants to be back to his best for the start of the season. “So we can have as much fun and success as a team just like last season,” he said. Until then he will watch the matches at the Olympic Games on the television and Wendell is already looking forward to a Final between Germany, with Lars Bender and Julian Brandt, and Brazil with his Brazilian friends including Neymar. And who does he want to win? “A difficult question but perhaps a win for us Brazilians would be a bit more important.”
With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
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A successful fourth preseason friendly ahead of the start of the training camp: The Werkself secured a 3-0 victory over Rot-Weiss Essen at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The goals in what was a commanding and dominant performance by Leverkusen from the outset were scored by Ibrahim Maza (8'), Patrik Schick from the penalty spot (23’) and, in the second half, Montrell Culbreath with a header (79’). The team set off for their training camp in Blankenhain in the Weimarer Land region after the game.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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You have voted – your ‘Team of the Quarter-Century’ has been decided! This historic selection, covering the period from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2024, features honorary captains, Bundesliga champions, double winners and Champions League finalists. Edmond Tapsoba is the only player from the current Bayer 04 squad to make it into the starting XI, while his team-mate Patrik Schick is on the bench. Simon Rolfes, the current managing director sport, is also in the lie-up. A truly special team that brings together a quarter of a century of Bayer 04 history – and has left a decisive mark on the club.
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Following Patrik Schick, Mark Flekken, Ibrahim Maza and Kerim Alajbegovic earlier this week, the next World Cup participant is back on the training ground in Leverkusen: On Thursday 30 July, Malik Tillman rejoined the squad, completing his first training session under head coach Carles Martínez.
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