SpVgg Unterhaching vs SC Freiburg
August 8, 2008 20:30 CET
Generali Sportpark, Unterhaching

SpVgg Unterhaching
Last Cup apperance: 2007-08
Last Cup title: Still waiting..
Last year: Lost in 1st round to Hertha Berlin
What their supporters will be drinking: Löwenbräu
Did you know…Tobias Schweinsteiger, older brother of Bastian, is on the roster. Photo evidence appears to exonerate him of any poor role modelling re: the younger Schweini’s hairstyle choices.

Unterhaching finds itself an inaugural member of the Dritte Liga. They have a win and a draw under their belt so far this season. Former Czech national player Roman Týce scored last time out against Paderborn, and is one of the few recognizable names.

SC Freiburg
Last Cup Appearance :2007-2008
Last Cup Title: Not once
Last year: Lost in 2nd round to Hamburger SV
What their supporters will be drinking: Ganter
Did you know…Freiburg were 2. Bundesliga Champions in both 92-93 and 02-03

Having his 1st season promotion dreams dashed, coach Robin Dutt looks to this season to carve out his own niche and step out of the sizeable shadow of former headman Volker Finke. Freiburg was a sensation in the 90’s and in the early 00’s, due in large part to Finke’s singular tactics and philosophy. Mohammadou Idrissou (Duisburg) and Tommy Bechmann (Bochum) are a couple new arrivals whose exploits you may remember from the Bundesliga last season.

The pick: ‘Haching 1-2 Freiburg (AET)

 
Preussen Münster vs VfL Bochum
August 8, 2008 20:30 CET
Preussenstadion, Münster

Preussen Münster
Last Cup Apperance: 1997-98
Last Cup Title: Maybe this year?
Last year: Westfalen Cup champions
What their supporters will be drinking: Perhaps Herforder or Pinkus, though Warsteiner is a sponsor
Did you know…Preussen Münster was an original member of the Bundesliga. They were relegated that first season..and have never been back. Sort of a bizarro Hamburg.

I guess the most interesting thing I can tell you about this team is that they have that rare type of player for a German team: an Italian! They were the Oberliga Westfalen champions and now find themselves in the new Regionalliga West.

VfL Bochum
Last Cup Appearance: 2007-08
Last Cup Title: Twice in the final, but never hoisted the cup.
Last year: Lost in the 2nd Round to Alemannia Aachen:
What their fans will be drinking: Fiege, unless they are sellouts and drink Dortmund-brewed products.
Did you know…“4630 Bochum” by Herbert Gronemeyer is still one of the most popular German recordings of all time. I’ll still take the German version of “I Want to Hold You Hand”, thank you very much.

You’ve got to figure this is the year the elevator goes down for Bochum, despite being buyers this offseason…but for now, Shinji Ono and Christian Fuchs gets their first tastes of the Pokal. Bochum was quietly a very strong home side in the Bundesliga last season, so if they get the right draws, they may have some staying power here.

The pick: Preussen 1:3 Bochum

 
Erzgebirge Aue vs St. Pauli
August 8, 2008 20:30 CET
Erzgebirgestadion, Aue

Erzgebirge Aue
Last Cup Apperance: 2007-2008
Last Cup Title: An East German Cup in 1955 is all they can boast.
Last year: Lost in the 1st round to Wuppertaler SV
What their supporters will be drinking: The club would have you think Hasseröder, but more likely Freiberger
Did you know…The club won four East German Oberliga (top flight) titles under the alias “SC Wismut Karl Marx Stadt”?

I hate trying to say “Erzgebirge Aue”. I hope it’s more pleasing to German tongues. They took the drop into the Dritte Liga, and have started the season off badly, losing twice. Even when they were a midtable squad in the 2nd division in recent years, this was the kind of team that would put you to sleep. All the style points will be going to their opponents.

St. Pauli
Last Cup Apperance 2007-2008
Last Cup Title: None, I’m afraid
Last year: Lost in 2nd round to Werder Bremen (amateurs)
What their supporters will be drinking: Astra
Did you know…The clubs met twice in the 2. Bundesliga last season, St. Pauli taking the first match 4-2, the second ending 0-0.

Well, what can I add to the legend that is St. Pauli? Every neighborhood needs a football team, and this is the Reeperbahn’s. Although St. Pauli may be better known for what happens in the stands than on the field, this is a squad with the edge in experience and offense in this matchup, and it’s always a good thing to see them go far. For their sake, let’s hope they don’t run into Bayern this time around.

The pick: Aue 0:2 St. Pauli

 
Kickers Offenbach vs Greuther Fürth
August 8, 2008 20:30 CET
Bieberer Berg, Offenbach

Kickers Offenbach
Last Cup Apperance: 2007-2008
Last Cup Title: 1969-1970
Last year: Lost in the 2nd round to Hansa Rostock
What their supporters will be drinking: Henninger is a sponsor
Did you know…The DWD (German equivalent to the National Weather Service) is headquartered in Offenbach.

I can’t say I’m particularly impressed with Offenbach’s roster, but Steffen Haas, a young midfielder on loan from Hoffenheim, might be one to watch. This is a team that has been in a slow decline over the last couple years, and finally finds itself out of the 2. Liga. They won their first home match of the year against Wacker Burghausen last weekend.

Greuther Fürth
Last Cup Apperance 2007-08
Last Cup Title: None, but surely some fair weather supporters celebrated with Der Club.
Last year: Lost in 2nd round to Hoffenheim
What their supporters will be drinking: I’m going to say Tucher predominately
Did you know…One of the clubs that merged to form the current side (TSV Vestenbergsgreuth) defeated Bayern Munich in 1st round of the 1994-95 Pokal in a tremendous upset.

This is a team that has not done a lot to improve itself, after flirting with promotion for a good stretch last season. Success will not come as easily this year, and maybe home field is enough for Kickers to pull the upset. Then the club’s fans can focus on the Nuremburg grudge matches in the 2. Liga this season.

The pick: Offenbach 6:5 Fürth on penalites

 
FSV Frankfurt vs VfL Osnabrück
August 8, 2008 20:30 CET
Commerzbank Arena, Frankfurt

FSV Frankfurt
Last Cup Apperance: 1995-96
Last Cup Title: Made the final once (more on that below)
Last year: Regionalliga Süd Champions
What their supporters will be drinking: Henninger
Did you know…FSV Frankfurt are one of only two teams to lose the Pokal final to..an Austrian team! Austrian sides were permitted to play in the tournament after the Anschluss, and Rapid Vienna took the title in 1938.

This is an old team by 2nd division standards, which gives one the sense that it’s cobbled together from 1st division castoffs and other assorted spare parts rather than young superstars in the making. They have really put together some cool t-shirts to commemorate the match though..that’s got to count for something.

VfL Osnabrück
Last Cup Apperance: 2007-08
Last Cup Title: Zilch
Last year: Lost in 1st round to ‘Gladbach
What their supporters will be drinking: Well, Herforder is their jersey sponsor..
Did you know…King George I was born in Osnabrück. King George I of England that is. Ah, the House of Hannover, always good for a little trivia…

Remember what I said about FSV Frankfurt being old by 2. Liga standards? That also applies is Osnabrück, but with a few exceptions…First, Bayer Leverkusen seems to have loaned about half their youth system to Osnabrück..Secondly, they have former Bayern Munich and Cologne keeper Stefan Wessels in goal.

The pick: FSV Frankfurt 1:2 VfL Osnabrück

• Lothar Matthäus in a Knight Rider episode. (Bundesliga Offside)
• The German national team in the alps of the past. (Bundesliga Offside)
• Flair football in Berlin – even though it were the guests delivering it. (Hertha Offside)
• A 4-4-2 formation auf Schalke. (Bundesliga Offside)
• Christian Lell in/at/under ??? (Bayern Offside)
• Condoms in a football club fanshop. (Bundesliga Offside)
• Michael Ballack in a stadium with low ticket prices, lots of standing areas and no VIP box for oil billionaires. (Bundesliga Offside)

The Millerntor stadium is the home ground of FC St. Pauli and is worth a separate follow-up post to yesterday’s story. It’s a cosy slightly rotten 16000 capacity ground, which soon won’t be as rotten and small anymore, but hopefully just as cosy. The place is currently being renovated and expanded to hold 27000 fans. Most of which will still be standing/jumping/dancing.

This stadium, as winterly calm and unassuming as it may seem in this panorama photo, has seen a wealth of famous matches. In recent years St. Pauli became serial giant killers in the DFB-Pokal. But even when they failed to scrape through, they at least didn’t go down without a good cup fight. Like in 2006, where they welcomed Bayern Munich and squeezed every possible bit of atmosphere out of the stadium. And as is tradition as well, AC/DC’s Hells Bells serves to set the stage.

If you ask yourself what type of club attracts and accepts these kind of sponsorship deals, ask no more, and watch the following report about the club instead.

Famous cup giant-killers St. Pauli had to learn what it feels like to be knocked out by a minnow. St. Pauli have recently been promoted to the second division and as such were clear favourites to beat the Werder Bremen reserves, who get their work out in the third division. Yet, Werder Bremen II held St. Pauli to a 2-2 draw for 120 minutes and with only 9 men on the pitch after two red cards. And as the unwritten laws of the cup wanted it that night, the minnow made it to the next round on penalties. The match was also remarkable because Ivan Klasnic celebrated his comeback after 10 months and two kidney transplants. And it couldn’t have been a better occasion. He started his career at Pauli before moving to Bremen.

The other major upset happened in the east of Germany, were second division relegation candidate Jena knocked out cup holders Nuremberg on penalties as well. A minor upset was produced by third division outfit Rot-Weiss Essen who knocked out second division side Kaiserslautern.

Plenty of DFB-Pokal video highlights can surely be found somewhere on the internets.

To spice it up, there’s the cult club FC St. Pauli, who celebrate their return to professional football, and the billionaire backed village people of Hoffenheim, who invested a record €18m into their squad.

All of this also had an impact on the league’s average attendance figures so far. They don’t challenge the overall Ligue 1 and Serie A numbers, but hold up pretty well nonetheless. Just last weekend, 60.000 came to Munich to watch the derby against Fürth, and the classic between Mönchengladbach and Cologne was seen by 54.000.

2. Bundesliga Top Four
1. 1860 Munich 44.940
2. FC Cologne 41.780
3. Bor. Mönchengladbach 40.911
4. FC Kaiserslautern 25.606
League Average: 18453

Ligue 1 Top Four
1. Olympique Marseille 53.705
2. Paris St. Germain 36.204
3. Olympique Lyon 36.058
4. RC Lens 34.979
League Average: 21.574

Serie A Top Four
1 AC Milan 51.353
2 AS Roma 46.185
3 Inter 43.267
4 Fiorentina 32.821
League Average: 22.947

Numbers according to www.weltfussball.de

Here is a quick check to see how the first round of this years competition delivered on its promise.

45th to 50th minute
After the break Hamburg’s Vincent Kompany entered the pitch disguised as his teammate Kosi Saka. Five minutes later he realised that he had mixed up jerseys and reclaimed his original identity. His team won the match against 4th division team Holstein Kiel 5-0.

61 minutes
Third division team Wacker Burghausen managed to hold on to a scoreless draw against Bayern Munich for 61 minutes. Quite an achievement, only topped by the fact that it was them who scored the lead in that 61st minute. Miroslav Klose managed to equalise 18 minutes later but couldn’t net a winner and Bayern were forced into extra-time and a subsequent penalty shootout. Burghausen even had the golden opportunity to cause a huge upset but Oliver Kahn kept Bayern in the match and eventually won it for them.

It was one of the most one sided competitive matches that I have seen in a while. More importantly it was a really fun to watch one sided match, because Munich failed to capitalise on their numerous chances, thus keeping the game open and the suspense intact. The abundance of one-twos and back heel passes in Munich’s game made the Kaiser a bit angry though, who thought that this performance had more to do with a circus number than with football. For Burghausen’s 18 year old goalkeeper Manuel Riemann this match meant it was time for his 15 minutes of fame. He kept his team in the game, saved the odd penalty and confidently put one behind Oliver Kahn himself. Under normal circumstances that should be enough to win it, but his teammates cringed in front of Kahn a bit too often.

87th minute
Newly promoted second Bundesliga side FC St. Pauli deservedly overcame Bayer Leverkusen when Fabian Boll scored the only and decisive goal. St. Pauli continue writing their recent impressive DFB-Pokal history, which included tight matches against Bayern Munich and victories over Berlin or Bremen. Apropos.

90 minutes and one red card
“That was one piece of shit of a match we played”, concluded Klaus Allofs. At least Bremen managed to improve on last years performance and actually advanced to the next round thanks to a cruel late goal by Boubacar Sanogo in the 90th minute against third division newbies Eintracht Braunschweig. Per Mertesacker received a red card for a second bookable offense. Today, Bremen only managed a draw against Danish first division team Esbjerg FB in their final pre-season friendly, that concludes their abysmal summer performances. Bremen’s goal was once again scored by Sanogo, who has now scored four goals in four matches for Bremen. Judging him on his performances for Hamburg, that would mean it was also his last.

92 minutes and two red cards
Probably it comes as some form of consolation for Bremen, that Stuttgart went through a similarly unconvincing preparation for the new season. Stuttgart advanced to the next round of the DFB-Pokal by beating second division newcomers SV Wehen-Wiesbaden 2-1. It was quite a bit of work for them, two of their players were send off with straight red cards and only a penalty in the 92nd minute saved the German champion from going to extra-time.

1:32768
Those are the odds to be drawn together three times in a row in the first round of the DFB-Pokal. A feat achieved by Energie Cottbus and and third division club Rot-Weiss Essen. The game ended 2-2 after extra-time and Essen won the following penalty shootout. The second biggest upset of the first round. Essen has now won two out of the three encounters, but I’m sure Cottbus will seek revenge when the two clubs are drawn together again next year.