10 Things we learned from Matchday 20

By: Jan | February 19th, 2008

As a true football blogger I always think it to be appropriate to be kept away from blogging with nothing less than a calf strain, a torn ligament in my left knee or a thigh injury. At the end of the day though it was just a common cold. And now regular scheduled blogging resumes.

1. Even Angela Merkel can’t save Energie Cottbus.
She might do a good job juggling with the egos and interests of some of the most powerful men in world politics, but inspiring some of the worst footballers in the Bundesliga to avoid relegation is a whole different story. Energie can claim to have Angie as an honorary member, and they can brag with it in front of all the clubs in the second Bundesliga soon, as the team lost 2-0 against Dortmund.

2. Something new from the shirt pulling front.
It was a Mladen Petric brace which undid Cottbus and Petric must have been pretty sure that he would score. He wore an identical Dortmund shirt under his first one. He pulled the first one off, threw it to Dortmund’s travelling support and saved sensible souls from any male nudity or the unwanted absence of corporate logos. Quite clever, but not clever enough for the referee, who awarded him a yellow card nonetheless.

3. Klaus Allofs stays at Werder for another four years.
Like basically every single Werder employee he was courted by Bayern Munich, but has now pledged his allegiance to the fish-heads until 2012. That’s good news for the Bundesliga you could say. At least in the sense, that he indeed won’t join Bayern Munich. Though, as I’m getting more and more aware of the economic side of things, I can’t help but wonder, what someone like him could do with a club, which isn’t economically handicapped by the relative smallness of Bremen and it’s metropolitan area. Oh, and Bremen beat Nuremberg 2-0 to stay second in the table.

4. A new German word: Duselsieg
OK, I didn’t have to learn that one, but since this feature is all about things WE and not ME, I’ll play along. The easy part: Sieg translates to victory. Dusel is a word, which my dictionary would tell me to translate with fluke/luck. Though Uli Hesse-Lichtenberger (of ESPN columns fame) has a more in depth translation:

‘Dusel’ is of Dutch origin and stems from a term that denotes dumbness or some other mental defect. It thus refers to the kind of luck usually ascribed to fools or drunkards: unearned, unjustified, inexplicable luck.

A Duselsieg was achieved by Stuttgart against Duisburg (3-2) and Hertha against Bielefeld (1-0) this weekend. Both in extra time, both unjustified and both worth a full three points. This promotes Hertha to be a boring and mediocre mid-table team and Abby likes it.

Now, while at it, you should also learn the word Dusel-Bayern, because Duselsieg wouldn’t do them justice. You might guess why, but in any case Herr Lichtenberger fills you in with the details.

5. Karlsruhe are making a push for Europe.
So even Karlsruhe themselves have noticed, that they definitely won’t get relegated this season. In fact, they rather have a better chance making it to the UEFA Cup. Their 2-2 draw against Leverkusen, coming from 0-2 down, was just another reason why this could actually work out. But the thing is, I don’t want to see that happening. I do like to root for the underdog as much as everyone else, but then, what’s the point having a team in the UEFA Cup, which will inevitably be bought out completely in the summer? Though, then again you could say the same about Bremen and the Champions League.

6. Rene Adler, Frank Rost and Tim Wiese are making a push for Europe.
The other Europe that is. The Europe of the Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland. Hamburg’s Frank Rost recently threw his hat into the ring, stating he wouldn’t mind a call up. Tim Wiese proved, that he mastered the all important penalty-saving skill to perfection, while Rene Adler keeps reminding everybody week in week out, why he is considered one of the biggest talents in Germany. Jens Lehmann, Timo Hildebrand and Robert Enke are probably not amused.

7. Manuel Neuer has other things to worry about.
Manuel Neuer was the next big thing in modern goalkeeping not too long ago, but a never ending series of little blunders and mistakes have put the brakes on his career. Schalke lost 2-1 against Wolfsburg on Friday, with him causing the penalty, which gave Wolfsburg the victory. It definitely isn’t his season and Schalke run the risk of this not being their season either. They surrendered the freshly acquired Champions League spot, fell 8 points behind in the title race and are now supposed to beat Porto in the Champions League. Marcelo Bordon most definitely was not amused.

8. Check out Diana’s comment.

9. Check out Johnny’s comment.

10. Check out Diana’s other comment.

Coming back from ~~injury~~ a cold, I still don’t have full blog fitness, and thus substitute myself after seven things we learned and let you finish this post off.