It's an absolute rarity given the indoor success in the past: The Bayer 04 Veterans team have had to settle for the Olympic motto of taking part is everything in the last two tournaments. Both at the recent AOK Veterans Masters in Berlin as well as the 'Bananenflanke Jamboree' at the weekend in Regensburg, the Black and Red Veterans went out at the group stage.
"Unfortunately, it didn't go so well. We ended up missing out on the semi-finals by one goal," was the assessment of the Bayer 04 Manager Dirk Dreher. In front of 1,900 spectators at the Donau Arena, the Leverkusen 'old boys' started the Regensburg tournament with a convincing 3-0 win against FC Nürnberg. Philipp Wollscheid (two) and Marcus Feinbier scored the goals. In the second group match, there was a 3-2 defeat against the star-studded Bananenflanke team including the outstanding Thomas Hitzlsperger, Dariusz Wosz, Peter Peschel, Zwetschge Misimovic and Jens Lehmann as outfield players. While Wollscheid and Feinbier again scored for Bayer 04, the player of the tournament Hitzlsperger scored three for the eventual tournament winners.
Leverkusen could have afforded a one-goal defeat in the final group match against Borussia Dortmund to progress to the next round. However, after going 3-0 down, only Markus Feinbier was able to beat the Dortmund keeper. "We pressed like the devil but didn't manage to get the ball into the back of the net again. It was like being jinxed," complained Dreher after Bayer 04 missed a number of clear-cut chances and also ran out of luck as when Wollscheid hit the inside of the post. It finished with a 3-1 defeat and an exit at the group stage.
Kids hailed like pop stars
The fact football is clearly much more than just winning and losing, the spectators and participants in Regensburg were able to see what a match between mentally and physically disabled children meant to them before the final was played. The crowd in the stands gave a standing ovation and the kids were hailed like pop stars. After the game, all the legends came onto the pitch, shook hands with the youngsters and embraced them – many of the seasoned former players were clearly moved and they had tears in their eyes. "Those moments were very emotional, goose bumps without compare," Dirk Dreher said. The results on the pitch took second place.
The Bayer 04 line-up at the Bananenflanker Jamboree in Regensburg, in goal: Tomasz Bobel, Daniel Galic; outfield: Zoltan Sebescen, Carsten Baumann, Philipp Wollscheid, Mike Rietpietsch, Pepe Spitali, Marcel Podszus, Marcus Feinbier, Ioannis Masmanidis, Hanno Balitsch.
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