Six teams compete at the Western German finals for two places in the national Over 40s tournament to be held in the capital next year. Bayer 04, as the Middle Rhine champions, are joined by runners-up FC Hennef plus Arminia Bielefeld, VfB Salzkotten, VfB Speldorf and SF Niederwenigern in Duisburg. "They may not be the biggest names in football but will definitely prove to be very tough opponents," said Bayer 04 manager Dirk Dreher. The games, lasting 20 minutes, are played on a small pitch with rolling substitutions with each team having five outfield players plus a goalkeeper from a 12-man squad.
"There are one or two question marks in our squad but we’ll definitely field a very strong team determined to get to Berlin," said Dreher. Mike Rietpietsch, Thorsten Judt, Markus Happe and Marcus Feinbier have already confirmed, as has goalkeeper Daniel Galic, plus Carsten Baumann, Marc Bach, Zülfi Simsek and Christoph Chylla who are also in the Bayer 04 squad.
The Veterans have warmed up for the U40 showdown in Duisburg with two games in the local area. There was a hard-fought 6-4 win against a younger team from Eschweiler with goals from Marcus Feinbier (3). Hans-Peter Lehnhoff (2) and Marcel Podszus. While the hosts had no player over the age of 33, the 36-year-old Bayer 04 honorary skipper Simon Rolfes was the youngest member of the Werkself team that also included Erik Meijer (see photo above). Bayer 04 then went on to lose 5-3 in Zülpich against a team from Düren and Euskirchen. Feinbier (2) and Marko Schröder scored for Leverkusen.
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