retired_lydiadiebolt

I did notice there was a certain style to your posts, Pred! Still an excellent story, and I'm really enjoying it. KUTGW!

retired_jdupont

Great story! :thup:

Who won the Brazilian First Division and the South American competitions in your game in the 2003 season?

retired_britty

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>You know what happens when Web Access goes down for nearly a week on your campus! A huge update like this one.

Dixie, Nygreen, thank you. A lot. It does mean a lot. PMLF, Santos won the Copa Libertadores and the Brazilian First Division. Any other questions, feel free to ask! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

February 20th, 2004

Practice throughout the week hasn’t been the most jovial of places, and I’ve been entirely compliant in making it that way. I was not pleased with the standard of play in our last match, obviously, and, after singling out Kresic especially (the fans really ripped into him on the message board) I’m venting towards other players on the squad who I felt were, at best, sub-par. I personally refuse to preside over a team that goes 18 games of pure bliss before completely folding and giving away any prospects of success. If this squad would like to do that, they’ll go through hell in the process, of that I’ll make sure.

Either way, I’m putting a great deal of focus on tomorrow’s match up with Münster, and doing my best to make sure every single player understands that giving away three more points is absolutely not an option. Yes, earlier in the year we were a fringe team, but now we’re championship-caliber, and we’re going to do our damndest to make a run at the title.

February 21st, 2004

German Regional Division North – Game 21: Dynamo Dresden v. Münster

3rd-placed Münster is going to, ostensibly, bring their A-Game to today’s fixture, but the very spectre of taking this team on at home must surely be a bit of a hit to their morale. I’m expecting a win, a win. Not a draw, not a loss, a win. Three points will be the only way to make up for our previous failure, and preferably three convincing points while we’re at it. Moreover, to be perfectly honest, I wish we were taking on Münster on the road. This team needs to put together a good road game to really bolster its morale.

Dresden (4-4-2): Kresic; Langen, Dickhoff, Oppitz, Shuaibu; Brenes, Heidrich, Wagefeld, Scholze; Neubert, Okereke

Münster (3-5-2): Gößling; Nischkowsky, Schyrba, Matarazzo; Bäumer, Hayer, Woidtke, Harf, Schäper; Milde, Gockel

With Däbritz dropped from the lineup for being spectacularly unspectacular, I’m hoping Scholze will give us some new verve down the right flank. So when he draws an early corner, I’m already happy with his performance. Said corner, taken by Neubert is headed out of the box back to the striker by Brenes. Neubert, showing a vision I honestly didn’t know if he had, flights a perfectly weighted chip to the edge of the penalty arc that is met on the volley by, of all people, Dion Dickhoff in spectacular style, arrowing the ball right into the back of the net for the lead on two minutes.

Dickhoff, who came on for the never-quite-impressive Breinburg, is all over the defense, and his tackle begins another move on 10 minutes that ends with Brenes nicely sliding a cross through the box that Neubert, showing an amount of class that you’d expect out of a striker much older than him expertly side-foots into the right side of the net to put us 2-0 up after 10 minutes.

Perhaps it’s something about Münster’s tactics, but we’re all over them for the next 35 minutes, shot after shot flying in on Gößling’s net, as our attacking form seems to be just too much for their defense, and their midfield is not doing its job in defense. But we can’t convert all of those chances into a goal, sadly, and, as time begins to tick away in the 2nd half, I’m left wondering if a simple change in form from Münster could yield a sudden turn of fortune. Relentlessly, I’m still urging the boys forward, to go for the killing strike to put our opponents away for good and give the game to us.

It’s a shame that the one-two that Scholze and Shuaibu play on 72 minutes manages to fool two Münster defenders, but it does, and Scholze, who’s been making a real case for the permanent job on the right flank, darts into the box and crosses quickly to the penalty spot. Okereke’s attempt at a header, while well-intentioned, isn’t well-timed, and the ball glances just off his head and falls flat. First to it, however, is Neubert, and, calm as can be, his finish is perfect, putting the game out of reach.

Okereke and Scholze manage to add two more in fine form before things end, Okereke on a towering header, Scholze on a stinging right-foot volley, but by then we’re just tacking on more to make our goal differential look that much better.

Final Score – Dynamo Dresden 5:0 Münster
MoM – José Brenes

After the game, I give the team some congratulations, but now a lot. As far as I’m concerned, St. Pauli punched a real hole in our armor, and I won’t have a real feeling about how our season will end until after our game against Schalke 04 Under-23s. However, on the upside, St. Pauli did only put in a paltry draw with dead-last Kiel, a disappointment to be sure, meaning our lead extends to five points clear.

We have 13 games remaining now, 7 at home, 6 on the road. Winning those home games is most important, and grinding out results in the road games is next on the list. More than anything, we can’t drop points stupidly.

February 25th, 2004

The first leg of the Second Round of the Champions Cup is today, with the marquee matchup not proving nearly as close as people might have hoped, as Arsenal is embarrassed at home by Real Madrid, who, on the strength of two fine goals from the ever-consistent ( ) Raúl coast to a 2-0 victory. Inter Milan thrash Ajax 4-1 as Cristian Vieri reminds the world of his class, scoring twice and assisting on the other two goals as Inter Milan continue their positive season. Manchester United win the first leg of their clash with Newcastle, Paul Scholes’ 57th-minute strike proving the difference in a game that was Newcastle will feel emboldended by for the return leg in St. James’s. And, in the shock of the day, PSV Eindhoven really take their chances, and, despite being outshot 9-3, they make those three count, defeating reigning champions AC Milan 3-0 at the Phillips Stadion.

Here’s the roundup of all of today’s scores…

Arsenal 0:2 Real Madrid
FC Bayern 1:0 Dinamo Kiev
FC Copenhagen 1:1 Chelsea
Inter Milan 4:1 Ajax
Juventus 2:1 VfB Stuttgart
Man Utd 1:0 Newcastle
Olympiakos 1:1 Lazio
PSV 3:0 AC Milan

The media here isn’t thrilled with Germany’s prospects for being represented in the Quarter-Finals. Dinamo Kiev battled all the way with FC Bayern, as only Roque Santa Cruz’s 89th-minute goal gave the German giants any sort of edge heading back to Kiev for the next leg, while VfB Stuttgart does have a vital away goal, and will be returning home for their next match, but will have to get past a tough Juventus defense to progress. FC Bayern is still expected to do the deed however, so far in the competition they’ve only allowed a single goal.

February 26th, 2004

Thomas Richter, now 33 and relegated to the Dynamo Dresden II team after I found out he wasn’t very good has announced that he’ll be retiring from the game at the end of the year. Given that players like Breinburg and Dickhoff will be returning to their particular clubs at the end of the season, and that, on the practice field he hasn’t been all that bad, I feel as if I might want to try and talk him out of it. He could have his use next season, if he can be consistent. If. Sure, he’s rated a 5.75 so far this year, but we don’t really have anyone else qualified to play the center of defense for next year, and I don’t have much (any) money to burn on new talent.

February 27th, 2004

Schalke 04 Under-23s managed to defeat Saschen Leipzig today 2-0, moving them to 43 points from 22 games, a game ahead of us and three points behind. Our March 14th match with them is looming larger and larger.

Febuary 28th, 2004

Another damnable road game. Would I have it so we could play every game at home. Of course, so would everyone else.

German Regional Division North – Game 22: Wuppertal v. Dynamo Dresden

With Wuppertal 8th and not in a title race, this game means a lot more to us than it does to them. That said, I’m not looking to break up any team chemistry, and the team sheet from last week’s demolition of Münster doesn’t change.

Wuppertal (5-3-2): Maly; Hörster, Baumann, Mehnert, Narewsky, Bach; Gensler, Meyer, Flock; Terranova, Kohout

Dresden (4-4-2): Kresic; Langen, Dickhoff, Oppitz, Shuaibu; Brenes, Heidrich, Wagefeld, Scholze; Neubert, Okereke

It’s a wet, horrible day at the Stadion am Zoo, and the rain doesn’t let up for a moment from kickoff. With the pitch nearly slop, it’s quite difficult for any real good passing plays to get strung together, and close ball control seems to be the way towards victory early, but that doesn’t mean there’s no passing, as Wagefeld manages to free Neubert with a smart through ball that sends the striker streaking diagonally towards the touchline. With his marker doing a good job of making sure he can’t turn in on net, Neubert swings his leg and flicks a cross into the box that Okereke, a full two yards ahead of his man meets at the penalty spot and cheekily nods up and over Maly and into the back of the net for the opener on 14 minutes.

Wuppertal, apparently not looking to make life easy for us, come roaring back however, and on 19 minutes Meyer takes it upon himself to attempt to kill me, picking up a loose ball first time and absolutely drilling a banana shot from nearly 35 yards that somehow bends its way in on net, only to have Kresic, reacting far too late for my own personal likes, leap and paw it away to keep us in the lead. Flock isn’t so unlucky five minutes later though, a shoddy clearance landing right at the edge of the penalty arc for him to arrow home from 20 yards for the equalizer.

With everything to play for, we begin to attempt to lay siege to Wuppertal’s net, with Neubert painfully denied on 36 minutes on a bending 15-yard shot that Maly manages to push onto the post and away from the goal mouth. Maly is apparently on his game today, and makes another fine save on 42 minutes, stopping a first-time Brenes volley from a Langen cross at point-blank range in rather spectacular form. However, Okereke is there, thankfully, to stab the ball just past the keeper and to push us into the league.

We spend the second half playing a most entertaining back-and-forth seesaw game with Wuppertal that has me nearly tearing my hair out on the sidelines. Kohout is let down by his finishing on 61 minutes, a one-on-one chance with Kresic being shot right into the Croat’s chest. Meanwhile, we just can’t seem to slip it past Maly, as Heitung, on as a sub for Neubert goes on a mazy run down the left, evading two defenders before knifing in on net from an angle that proved just too extreme, pinging the ball off the left post and back into the grateful clutches of Maly. With every moment that passes, the possibility of Wuppertal managing a late winner increases, a fact that becomes even worse as Brenes comes off on 89 minutes, leaving us a man short. The three minutes of stoppage time somehow end up as four, and I’m screaming at the fourth ref when finally the whistle is blown and we can relax.

Final Score – Wuppertal 1:2 Dynamo Dresden
MoM – Uche Okereke

After the game, it’s real congratulations all around. We did everything we needed to, and our defense came up absolutely huge at the end, snuffing out no less than four Wuppertal opportunities that could’ve turned into goals. Kresic himself, while not stellar, was good exactly when we needed him to be, which, honestly, is all anyone is ever looking for in a goalkeeper. Now we’re six points ahead, looking towards a match with 12th-placed Neümunster before our clash with Schalke 04.

Thankfully, it turns out that Brenes only bruised his head, and will be available for the next match.

March 6th, 2004

German Regional Division North – Game 23: Dynamo Dresden v. Neümunster

What I love about this part of the season, is that there’s a real urgency to all the games. Once March comes around, when the winter begins to melt away and the spring begins to shine, attitudes begin to change, teams either hold their nerve or falter and fall. For us… well, this has been a dream first season in charge. We were supposed to finish respectably, and now we’re fighting to finish top. Promotion would mean a lot to this team, and to me.

Dresden (4-4-2): Kresic; Langen, Dickhoff, Oppitz, Shuaibu; Brenes, Wagefeld, Frölich, Scholze; Janssen, Okereke

Neümunster (4-4-2): Freidrich; Schröder, Westphal, Gersdorf, Schmidt; Vargas, Drewes, Hey, Petersen; Zoric, Reibe

Urgency does not necessarily mean a “good” game however, especially when your opponent comes out as negatively as Neümunster does. They’ve basically parked all eleven men right infront of their area, and aren’t venturing forward for anything short of a sure breakaway, which they don’t get. Thankfully, continued pressure forces a mistake, a heavy shove on Tim Janssen sending Scholze to the spot to give this painfully boring encounter one moment of glory, which he does, in clinical form as always.

Final Score – Dynamo Dresden 1:0 Neümunster
MoM – Andre Freichrich

After the game, there’s only outstandingly good news, being that, thanks to St. Pauli turning in an awful 0-0 draw with Uerdingen and Schalke 04 Under-23s losing 1-0 to Chemnitz on the road, we are all of nine points clear of the nearest opposition, with St. Pauli, Schalke 04 Under-23s and Münster all stuck on 43 points to our 52. Meaning that we’ve got a very, very comfortable lead going into our fixture with Schalke 04 (A). I’m still tentative, although the pundits have not been holding back in their praise. However, if we manage to go ten points up with ten remaining to play, short of a colossal loss of form, I’d back us to walk away this season, at the very least, preparing to play at a new level next year.

March 10th, 2004

Raúl continues his systematic torture of Arsenal today, scoring twice in the first seven minutes to guide Real Madrid to a 2-1 win at the Santiago Bernabeu and a 4-1 on aggregate over the Premeirship-leading team. Meanwhile, AC Milan prove they’ve got the mettle to repeat as kings, turning a 3-0 deficit around today with a stunning 5-0 demolition of PSV Eindhoven to send the Italian side through to the next round. Andriy Shevchenko nets a most spectacular hat-trick in the process as Milan cruise. And finally, VfB Stuttgart slips through on away goals today after a 1-0 victory over last year’s runners-up Juventus in a result that noone was really expecting. A gutsy performance from Stuttgart was culminated in a 61st minute header from Andreas Hinkel that sank the Old Lady of Turin.

Here’s the full scores (Aggregate scores in parenthesis)….

Ajax (3) 2:2 (6) Inter Milan
Chelsea (4) 3:0 (1) FC Copenhagen
Dinamo Kiev (1) 1:1 (2) FC Bayern
Lazio (4) 3:3 (4) Olympiakos (Olympiakos advance on the Away Goals Rule.)
AC Milan (5) 5:0 (3) PSV Eindhoven
Newcastle (0) 0:1 (2) Man Utd
Real Madrid (4) 2:1 (1) Arsenal
VfB Stuttgart (2) 1:0 (2) Juventus (VfB Stuttgart advance on the Away Goals Rule.)

March 14th, 2004

After playing a part in Costa Rica’s Gold Cup win, Costa Rica manager Jose Quesada wants our man on the left flank, José Brenes to play for country once more as the Central American nation vies for World Cup qualification. Good for him.

German Regional Division North – Game 24: Schalke 04 Under-23s v. Dynamo Dresden

There are two teams with unblemished home records this season. Us, with a 10-1-0 record that we’re very, very proud of, and Schalke 04, with a 9-2-0 record. Tack on that Schalke have only allowed three goals against while at home and I’m thinking that, even with the best intentions, that we’ll be fighting an uphill battle. All of this said, the last time we played them, we blew them out 4-0, and St. Pauli, who played and won yesterday are two ahead of them and seven behind us. This should be a great match, both teams will want, more than anything, to win.

Schalke 04 (4-4-2): Lenz; Hoogland, Adamu, Kläsener, Petereit; Büskens, Prang, Hajnal, Pinto; Schiller, Delura

Dresden (4-4-2): Kresic; Langen, Dickhoff, Oppitz, Shuaibu; Brenes, Wagefeld, Frölich, Scholze; Janssen, Markovic

There are good omens, and there are great omens. Neither of those words accurately describe how we’re feeling when Goran Markovic turns his back to his marker, traps the ball and, in one fluid motion, flicks it right to a streaking and completely unmarked Tim Janssen (of all people not to mark!) who crashes it home into the back of the net after a mere 1:31 has ticked off the clock.

From there, things only get worse for Schalke, as the early goal and continued pressure begins to spell panic in their ranks. Struggling to properly deal with our attacking form, they’re making all sorts of mistakes and bad judgements, the worst of which coming on six minutes, Petereit keeping Markovic from connecting with a Brenes cross in the easiest manner possible, through a firm, good shove that the referee kindly spots. A point to the penalty spot, up steps Scholze, 2-0 Dresden.

With a defensive lapse and a penalty already under their belt, Schalke make it a trifecta of defensive blunders on 13 minutes, Kläsener needlessly holding back Janssen and earning himself a Red Card and an early bath. At that point completely beaten, Schalke never threaten, and we punch in two more for good measure.

Final Score – Schalke 04 Under-23s 0:4 Dynamo Dresden
MoM – Tim Janssen

After the game, we’re nine points clear of our closest opposition, and in absolutely ridiculously good spirits. Not only is it a road win, but it’s a dominating road win against the next best home team in the Division. We’ve stamped our authority here, and if we weren’t favorites to go up before, we sure as heck are now.

March 19th, 2004

I’ve forgotten to catch you up on some competitions that don’t involve us. So here they are.

The Euro 2004 Groups have been decided, and here’s how they’ll look…

Group A: Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece
Group B: Belgium, Denmark, England, Wales
Group C: Holland, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden
Group D: Czech Republic, Italy, Scotland, Turkey

Group C is the closest thing to a “group of death” this year, with Portugal and Holland expected to still finish 1-2 but ostensibly, Sweden and Ireland could cause a lot of trouble and might pull of a surprise before it’s all said and done.

On the club side, the Quarter-Finals are all set up in the Champions Cup, here’s the draw…

Olympiakos v. AC Milan
Chelsea v. VfB Stuttgart
FC Bayern v. Man Utd
Inter Milan v. Real Madrid

Ostensibly, AC Milan should make it through to the next round, but after that it’s a bit of a toss up, with every other side having an honest chance, should their current European form hold. Here’s hoping they’ll give us some entertaining play on the way to the end of the Champions Cup.

March 20th, 2004

German Regional Division North – Game 25: Dynamo Dresden v. Paderborn

Now that we’re fully nine points ahead with ten to play, we can’t quite relax, you can never do that, but we can begin to take our foot off the gas. A little, but not a lot. I’m fully expecting St. Pauli to try and make a late run at us, and so the goal is to keep the lead as big as we can for as long as we can until we’ve clinched promotion.

After our big win against Schalke, the teamsheet doesn’t change for today’s fixture.

Dresden (4-4-2): Kresic; Langen, Dickhoff, Oppitz, Shuaibu; Brenes, Wagefeld, Frölich, Scholze; Janssen, Markovic

Paderborn (3-5-2): Keller; Krösche, Waterink, Bollmann; Maaß, Lorenz, Hakan, Niestroj, Cartus; Lytollis, Donkov

Paderborn start the game very cagey, while, as always, I’m encouraging a smart, well-thought attack from my players. Thankfully, today, the passes we need to be hitting to have a shot at scoring are all finding friendly feet, and Keller’s getting a workout, evidenced early in the goings as Scholze raps one against his post within 10 minutes of the start, and Heidrich forces a smart save from a 25-yard blast. Keller isn’t superman today though, and bad fouls near the area always spell trouble. And, on 37 minutes, from a position nearly straight-on net, Heidrich shows why it is so, drilling a 22-yard freekick right into Keller’s net, leaving the keeper completely flat-footed.

With Paderborn looking mostly toothless in attack, once again thanks to the tireless work of men like Maik Wagefeld and Volker Oppitz, the 50th-minute header from Goran Markovic isn’t a surprise in as much as it is expected. Tack on one more for Tim Janssen, and you’ve got yourself three goals and three points.

Final Score – Dynamo Dresden 3:0 Paderborn
MoM – Steffen Heidrich

Another weekend gone, and there’s a real contrast in the media stories about us today. On the one hand, they must mention that St. Pauli’s 2-2 draw with Eintracht Braunschweig has extended their unbeaten run in the league to an amazing 22 games. And yet, still, they must mention that they are now, thanks to the draw, eleven points behind us. For St. Pauli it’s a matter of blown chances. They’ve drawn a Division-high 11 times this season, and if five of those draws are wins, they’re four points ahead of us.

March 24th, 2004

The Quarter-Finals of the Champions Cup get started today, and there are only two wins to go around. Real Madrid ends up regretting giving up Zinedine Zidane, as the ex-Madrid midfielder puts in a virtuoso performance in helping Inter Milan defeat Real Madrid 3-0. Meanwhile, Olympiakos fights AC Milan to a nil-nil draw, while Manchester United and FC Bayern bash their way to a 1-1 draw in Munich. And lastly, a 93rd-minute strike from Jesper Gronkjaer gives Chelsea the edge as they slip past VfB Stuttgart 1-0.

April 4th, 2004

I don’t think I’ve been happier in my life to see April come around. Mainly because it means that we’re that much closer to the end of the season. Only nine games left…

German Regional Division North – Game 26: Dortmund (A) v. Dynamo Dresden

Dortmund’s amateur team has put together a surprisingly good campaign this year, currently 5th in the Division. That said, we’ve had enough success against these “Amateur” and “Under-23” sides this year that I’m expecting three points from this encounter.

Dortmund (3-4-1-2): Rose; Winkler, Bisser, Berg; Wagner, Sasy, Mohr, Metzelder; Westphal; Wanke, Seifert

Dresden (4-4-2): Kresic; Langen, Dickhoff, Oppitz, Shuaibu; Ziebig, Wagefeld, Heidrich, Scholze; Neubert, Okereke

For the first time in a long time, I’m feeling entirely victimized in a game, as we rack up four completely indefensible yellow cards within the first 30 minutes of the game. Much worse Kresic’s up to his old flapping tricks again, standing flat-footed on 41 minutes as Westphal fires the most paltry goal past hin and into the right side of the net.

To their credit, Dortmund’s back line is doing a fine job of forcing us into stupid 20-30 yard blasts that have no shot of making it on net. Perhaps it’s because of missing players, like Brenes, but our offensive ability is shot today, and we slump our way to a pretty pathetic loss.

Final Score – Dortmund (A) 1:0 Dynamo Dresden
MoM – Dirk Seifert

While it’s a crappy loss, we don’t lose any ground, and are still eleven points ahead with eight to play now.

April 7th, 2004

FC Bayern and Manchester United have a history at this point, and an extra chapter to that history gets written tonight as the two European giants engage in a back-and-forth edge-of-your-seat clash for passage to the Champions Cup Semi-Finals. And, after an early strike from Ruud van Nistelrooy, and Jens Jeremies’ equalizer to send the game into extra time, not to mention no less than six game-saving saves from both Oliver Kahn and Tim Howard, finally, on 110 minutes, the Dutchman strikes again, lashing home a volley from 15 yards to dump Bayern out of the Champions Cup.

None of the other games quite stack up in terms of excitement, but here’s the roundup of scores…

AC Milan (2) 2:0 (0) Olympiakos
Man Utd (3) 2:1 (2) FC Bayern
Real Madrid (0) 0:1 (4) Inter Milan
VfB Stuttgart (0) 0:1 (2) Chelsea

Needless to say, there’s a good bit of disappointment here in Germany that no teams will be representing the nation in the last four, as was (and is frequently) expected.

Meanwhile, the news from Turkey this week is that Galatasaray have run away with the Turkish Premier Division championship, winning it with six games left to play, after extending their ridiculous lead to 19 points over Beskitas. Obviously, it’s been an absolute dream season for Galatasaray this year, adding their 16th Premier Division trophy to their cabinet in some style, leading the Division in both Goals Scored (75) and Goals Against (25). And there’s still six games to be played.

April 9th, 2004

Kiel, who have been perfectly awful this season (they’ve got a 100% record on the road, 0-0-14) and have culled a measly nine points from 26 games finally have the inevitable come to pass today, as they are relegated from the German Regional Division North after a 3-0 loss to Dortmund (A).

April 10th, 2004

German Regional Division North – Game 27: Dynamo Dresden v. RW Essen

Some minor changes to the team tactics, and we’re going to hope that our offense can find its teeth again. Our lead is just about insurmountable, but screwing it up isn’t in my plans.

Dresden (4-4-2): Kresic; Langen, Oppitz, Dickhoff, Shuaibu; Brenes, Heidrich, Wagefeld, Scholze; Markovic, Janssen

Essen (4-4-2): Kirschstein; Weigelt, Baumann, Lorenz, Sümnich; Tutas, Lintjens, Wedeau, Goldbaek; Wolf, Köhler

A slow game is a slow game any way you spell it. After Dortmund’s win, Essen is looking to employ the same kind of strategy to get a point or a win our of today’s fixture, grinding it out in midfield, closing down constantly at the back, never allowing us a moment of time to think, especially in gravitating towards the wings to stop our offensive adventures there. Much of the work ends up being left to our strikers, which just isn’t the best of offensive decisions, but, thankfully, Essen give us a hand, as Baumann’s attempt to deflect Janssen’s cross across the goalmouth works, but not in the way he had hoped, as the ball comes off his shin and bounces right into the corner of the Essen net.

That’s all it takes, as Essen fairly limp their way through the remaining minutes of the game as we coast to another victory.

Final Score – Dynamo Dresden 1:0 RW Essen
MoM – Ronny Scholze

Our lead stays at eleven points with the win. With seven left to play, if we can pick up another three wins or so, we should be having a very, very happy summer.

Meanwhile, the Champions Cup sets up for the Semi-Finals. Here’s the draw…

Man Utd v. AC Milan
Inter Milan v. Chelsea

Needless to say, the possibility for an all-England final or, alternatively, an Milan derby in the final has everyone excited about the results. None of these teams have been playing negative football this season, so there’s a real, genuine hope that they’ll give us some genuinely entertaining games.

April 21st, 2004

The Champions Cup Semis start today favoring the home sides, as Manchester United immediately benefits off an unlikely penalty miss from Andriy Shevchenko in the 5th minute to come roaring at their Italian opposition, scoring on either side of halftime, one from the precocious Portuguese talent Cristiano Ronaldo, the other from fan-favorite Ole Gunnar Solskjaer that leaves last year’s champions returning home for the second leg in an unfortunate 2-0 hole on aggregate.

Meanwhile, Inter Milan, who are putting together one of there best seasons ever, with the chancing for a treble, only a point out of the lead in Serie A, in the Italian Cup final, and now seemingly on their way to the Champions Cup final after a 3-0 thrashing of a completely hapless and lackluster Chelsea side today that looked in no way like the caliber of side people would’ve expected of them. Goals from Christian Vieri, Alvaro Recoba and Mohammed Kallon did the trick, although by all means they should’ve scored more. Chelsea will really have to turn things around and find their offensive bite to get through on the return leg in London.

April 24th, 2004

German Regional Division North – Game 29: Dynamo Dresden v. Saschen Leipzig

At this point, with the title nearly ours, it’s good to know that teams like Dortmund (A) and St. Pauli are all more concerned at making a final run at taking the second promotion place than trying to put together a run to steal the championship away from us. For us, a major goal is now in reach. If we win today, and if St. Pauli and Schalke 04 Under-23s both lose, we will win promotion to the German Second Division.

Dresden (4-4-2): Kresic; Langen, Oppitz, Dickhoff, Shuaibu; Brenes, Heidrich, Wagefeld, Scholze; Markovic, Janssen

Leipzig (5-3-2): Rechner; Marso, Bergner, Grissman, Bach, Bleau; Ferl, Kemble, Bruns; Meissner, Bongard

Well, we’re putting our fans to sleep at this rate, as the season winds down the results are becoming less and less… well, entertaining. That said, I don’t think anyone’s unhappy with three more points, even if we’re putting everyone for miles asleep in the process. Were that things would be better if not for our opponents adopting a policy of getting as many men back as humanly possible and waiting for our way, way, way too overezealous midfielders to fire off shots from 20-yards that have more of a chance of spontaneously combusting than going in the net. That said, if a goal is all it takes, as long as people like Dexter Langen are around to slip balls from a tiny angle past the keeper, we’ll live.

Final Score – Dynamo Dresden 1:0 Saschen Leipzig
MoM – Michael Rechner

Of course, neither of the teams we need to lose, so we won’t be able to celebrate at home with our fans, like I know I’d prefer to.

April 29th, 2004

I’d like to think that the measure of a great season isn’t just winning, but winning by a lot. So two teams across Europe have had very, very good seasons.

First, here in Germany, FC Bayern have fought off Leverkusen’s push to absolutely streak away with the title, clinching the Bundesliga title for themselves today with three games left to play. Ten points ahead of 2nd-placed Leverkusen, Bayern’s quality saw them through in the end, a record of 21-6-4 proving to more than what was needed to see of their competition.

And, in England, Arsenal have absolutely blown away all the competition, winning the Premiership today with four games left on their schedule. How dominant has Arsenal been? Well, if the standings stay the way they are, they’ll finish a ridiculous 18 points ahead of rivals Manchester United, and more than 20 ahead of any other teams. Moreover, one of the most stunning parts of their 29-2-3 record this year? A 15-1-0 mark posted at Highbury this season.

May 1st, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Whoop! Missed one, sorry. We knock off Chemnitz on the road, 5-0, but still don’t clinch. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

May 2nd, 2004

So it’s all just a waiting game now. With four games left on the schedule, and 14 points ahead of Dortmund (A), it shouldn’t be that much longer until we can finally lift the Championship Trophy over our heads, which will be a most entertaining experience, I’m sure.

With Dortmund playing today, I gather the team at the training ground and flick on the radio during training, to keep us updated on the score as they take on HSV (A). Needless to say, today’s training session isn’t exactly focused, as we’re splitting as much time listening to the highlights as we are actually attempting to kick the ball around. Our hearts notably sink a bit as Ralf Mohr scores for Dortmund in the 6th minute however, and with Dortmund at home, HSV will have quite a task ahead of them.

A small crowd of our supporters begins to gather as we go over the happenings, hoping as much for a good result as we are. And, when the news comes that HSV have equalized just before the half, it’s impossible for me to stifle the smile. Moreover, as their game drags on, and minute after minute ticks away, training itself comes to an end as we huddle around the radio, the last few seconds of time eking away in Dortmund until the final, 1-1 draw is announced, meaning exactly what we’ve been hoping for for months.

We’re going up!

We’re not only going up, we’re going up as Champions of the division, something that every single player on this team has to be proud of given where we were supposed to be this season. We’ve done something really special here, that’s for sure.

Still, I keep our celebrations, for now, a little muted. As far as I’m concerned, we’re not really champions until the German FA shows up after our game this weekend against 1.FC Köln (A) and hands us the trophy.

May 5th, 2004

The second leg of the Champions League Semi-Finals play today, and for two sets of fans, it’s absolutely gut-wrenching.

First, at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea put up a absolutely heroic fight, coming back from a 3-0 aggregate deficit, goals from Verón, Makéléle and Crespo, the latter a stunning 30-yard strike with five minutes left to play, sending the game into extra-time. Moreover, with neither team able to find the advantage there, it’s left to penalties, and, for all of their heroics, Chelsea just can’t hold their nerve, Geremi’s miss allowing Zizou to step up and send Cudicini the wrong way, putting Inter Milan through to their first Champions Cup final since 1972.

Meanwhile, AC Milan’s effort against Manchester United comes up just, just short, despite coming back from a 2-0 aggregate deficit with goals from Cafú and Kaká to send the game into Silver Goal extra time, and a 109th-minute strike seeming to surely send the defending kings back to the final, but, Manchester United still has but one trick up their sleeve, as Kléberson absolutely breaks hearts in Milan, striking with a 118th-minute blast that just evades Dida and slips into the net to grant Manchester United another trip to the Champions Cup final.

May 6th, 2004

The UEFA Cup, which, as you can tell, I don’t pay much attention to, sets up its final today with Deportivo and Parma both making it through to the final of “the other” European cup competition.

May 8th, 2004

German Regional Division North – Game 31: Dynamo Dresden v. 1.FC Köln Under-23s

Now that we’ve earned promotion, the rest of the games this year are, for the most part, throw-aways, not that I’m going to press the team for anything short of four more wins. That said, I’m not going to give you quite as much detail as with our other fixtures this year. That said, it’s just as well for this game, as there’s not much to talk about until 74 minutes, when Scholze bends a 25-yard beauty of a freekick around the wall and into the net to give us the lead. Okereke then strikes twice before the final whistle, to make sure that we’re not just celebrating promotion today.

Final Score – Dynamo Dresden 3:0 1.FC Köln Under-23s
MoM – Uche Okereke

After the game, we’re presented with the Regional Division North trophy by the German FA, and Maik Wagefeld is the first to lift it as we roar our success with our supporters. Our critics call us “overachievers” and say that next year we’ll come crashing back down to earth. I think, if this team plays as well as they know they can’ we’ll be a surprise next season too, and that’s all I could possibly ask for.

Meanwhile, in the Regional Division South, Stuttgarter Kickers and 1.FC Eschborn both get promoted to the German Second Division today, Stuttgarter as the champions, and 1.FC Nürnberg is promoted to the First Division. Myself, I’m becoming increasingly anxious to find our what the German Second Division will be like, and how next season will treat us.

May 9th, 2004

Now I understand why club managers hate international play so much.

José Brenes, our revelation on the left side of midfield this season was featuring in Costa Rica’s game against El Salvador today in the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers for 2006. In a challenge with one of El Salvador’s players, Brenes collided with him, and had to be stretchered off the field. The report? A broken leg. Brenes, who has been so valuable through the games we’ve played this year, will be missing for at least six months, and won’t be back until November of next season, at best.

Meanwhile, Oberhausen joins Regensburg in falling out of the German Second Division, getting relegated today. There are still two spots open, and three teams fighting for their lives, so the ending there should prove very interesting.

May 10th, 2004

Titles are just getting handed out like party favors today, apparently.

First off, Inter Milan win the Serie A title, while in Spain, Real Madrid take the Primera Liga for themselves, and Marseille easily win the French First League title. Of the three, the most interesting was Inter Milan’s title, snatching it away from the groping hands of AC Milan. Now, Inter Milan has a chance for a historic double, taking both the domestic and European club titles for themselves. Opposing them in this endeavor will be a Manchester United team that will be looking to write their names on both the FA Cup and the Champions Cup to make up for being blown out of the domestic league by Arsenal (who they’ll have to take on to win the FA Cup, unsurprisingly).

May 15th, 2004

German Regional Division North – Game 32: Dynamo Dresden v. Kiel

The major point of interest in this game is that this is Kiel’s last chance to improve their 0-1-15 away record to a slightly less embarrassing 1-1-15. Problem being, we’re not looking to put any blemishes on our home record, so Kiel is SOL. It only takes 15 minutes for us to put them away, but we tack on a few more goals for good measure after the fact.

Final Score – Dynamo Dresden 5:0 Kiel
MoM – Goran Markovic

Meanwhile, Inter’s chance at a treble is ruined, although it wasn’t much of a chance before, as they lose to Roma in the Italian Cup Final, 5-2 on aggregate after today’s 1-1 draw. The double is still there for them, and that’s not exactly getting short-shrifted.

Meanwhile, Hannover 96 and Rostock end horrific seasons in the First Division today with relegation. Rostock, in true football form, immediately fire their manager, Juri Schlunz once the team has gone down.

May 16th, 2004

Going Up: Cottbus and Burghausen are headed for the German First Division.

Going Down: Lübeck and Osnabrück fall from the German Second Division.

May 19th, 2004

The UEFA Cup Final comes to pass today, with Parma taking on Deportivo in a clash of teams that are looking to take something positive from this season, Deportivo a distant 2nd to Real Madrid and Parma a disappointing 8th in Serie A. And, there doesn’t seem to be much in the game until the 2nd half, when traffic begins to turn Parma’s way. Still, it’s not until extra-time and 102 minutes when a goalmouth scramble is finally poked home by Parma’s Adriano to bring Parma its third UEFA Cup triumph in a decade.

May 22nd, 2004

Two cup finals and two late goals seal victory for two different teams today. First, here, FC Bayern do the double for the second year in a row after beating Hamburger SV 1-0 today, thanks to a goal in the 2nd minute of stoppage time from Akin Serhat that puts the cherry on top of a domestically dominant season for the continually powerful German juggernaut.

Meanwhile, a Ruud van Nistelrooy goal in the 3rd minute of stoppage time grants Manchester United the FA Cup over Arsenal 1-0. While Manchester may not be pleased with their performance in the season, now with the Champions Cup final looming in four days time, they may be able to pull off a quite impressive double of their own, that is, if they can stop Inter Milan from doing their own double.

May 26th, 2004

Inter and Manchester United take each other on for the Champions Cup tonight, and it is what proves to be an entertaining game of football, with two quick early strikes from both times netting the score at 1-1. Sadly, both defenses stamped their authority on the game for much of the remainder of the game until the hero, Inter’s Mohammed Kallon took advantage of a Manchester defensive mistake, blasting home the winner in the 2nd minute of stoppage time to send Milan fans into raptures and Manchester fans home sorely unhappy. 2-1 is the final score, as Inter Milan lift the Champions Cup.

It’s a much-needed year of glory for Inter Milan, who pick up their first Serie A title since 1989 and their first Champions Cup triumph since 1965, the third one in the club’s history.

May 29th, 2004

German Regional Division North – Game 33: Wattenscheid v. Dynamo Dresden

91 degrees and humid. We melt, Wattenscheid walk away with an easy one. A gimmie. We’ll get them back for it at some point.

Final Score – Wattenscheid 2:0 Dynamo Dresden
MoM –Bastian Pinske

May 31st, 2004

The upside to the coming end of the season is that we’ll be receiving a good amount of money for the promotion, along with the fact that we’ve made a healthy three-quarter million dollars this year by keeping the teams wages low and fan interest up. (Winning helps).

The downside is spending some of that money to address concerns in the squad, like needing a new goalkeeper and central defender before next year. So now, we begin searching in earnest for new blood, new talent that we can pick up without having to splurge some $450K that we don’t have on his “talents”.

June 5th, 2004

German Regional Division North – Game 34: Dynamo Dresden v. Uerdingen

A simple encounter to end the year, highlighted by Sebastian Hartung personally beating two Uerdingen defenders off one of their kickoffs, streaking downfield and knocking home a goal, and a 30-yard thunderbolt from Shuaibu that cracks the post before rattling home. A very, very nice way to end a very, very successful year.

Final Score – Dynamo Dresden 4:0 Uerdingen
MoM – Ishola Shuaibu

After the game, we do a victory lap for the 6000 supporters who have shown up to celebrate the last day of the season. As I said, the promotion is a real boost for the club, it’s taking them to a whole new place in German football, and people know our names now. We’ve become the “feel good” story of the 2003/04 season. I’m glad for it, the boys deserve all the praise, although I will be very sad to see our Loans, invaluable assets like Tim Janssen, Dion Dickhoff and Reinhard Breinburg leave the club. If they’re available next year, I will most certainly attempt to bring them back to Dresden for another season.

Meanwhile, our dear, dear “friends” St. Pauli have a lot to celebrate as well, winning promotion today despite losing on the final day of the year and finishing 4th, as Dortmund (A) and Schalke 04 Under-23s are not allowed to get promoted to the Second Division.

Our search for new blood isn’t going as well as I’d hoped. Working with the board’s generous estimates, I should be able to offer a few players between $50K and $110K a season, but no more than say two or three players. Problem is, most of the people we’re placing inquiries into are asking for $250K, $450K and so on, money that we do not have to spend.

June 8th, 2004

With all of our Loans ending today, it’s a little odd, and a little humorous for Reinhard Breinburg, our defender on Loan from Feyenoord to be awarded for the Regional Division North Goal of the Season, for his sublime volley on September 13th against Wuppertal. Myself, I think they gave him the award as much because that it was a fine strike as because he, of all people, somehow managed to score it.

June 10th, 2004

So, with the season over and Euro 2004 looming (although none of our players will be involved) let’s take a look at the squad, shall we?

Formation: 4-4-2

GK: Ignjac Kresic (37 y/o, CRO, GK): 34 apps, 31 Conc, 20 Cln, Av. Rate 6.56: Ignjac’s career is just about over, but he’s kept on plowing away anyway. But his numbers are misleading, every member of my staff thinks that Kresic was, at best, mediocre this year, and often just bad. It’s a testament to our defense that he never faced many shots this year, as many of those he did went sadly unsaved. We’ll hang onto him for next year, but everyone’s fully expecting Ignjac to take on a slightly reduced role in the team, and that we should have some new blood in soon.

DR: Ishola Shuaibu (23 y/o, NGA 6 caps/3 goals, D/AM R): 18 apps, 2 gls, 5 asts, 2 MoMs, Av. Rate 7.39: One of my smarter buys this season, there’s nothing but promise for Ishola out on the right flank. When I was looking for someone I could put on the right to at least solidify the wings of defense, Ishola has been the solution, averaging a surprising 3.52 tackles a game over the course of his time this season. A great pickup for the second half, I’m looking forward to seeing Ishola in a Dresden kit for a long time coming.

DL: Dexter Langen (23 y/o, GER, D/DM L): 33 apps, 2 gls, 4 asts, Av. Rate 7.29: A marauding force for us down the left this season, I can’t count the number of goals that involved, in some way, shape or form, Dexter Langen. Everyone on my staff is a “keen admirer” of his abilities, although many of us are interested in finding out how he’ll play next season, and if his lack of determination and willingness to put in the hardest work will really bite him in the butt. That said, this was a career year for the kid, and I hope he can give us more.

DC: Was Reinhard Breinburg or Dion Dickhoff, both now departed back to their original clubs.

DC: Volker Oppitz (26 y/o, GER, D C): 31 apps, 1 goal, 1 assist, Av. Rate 7.11: Solid, would be the term for Volker this year. He mixed very, very well with the central defenders we took on Loan from other teams to create a strong backline that only surrendered 30 goals in 34 league games (although by the lopsided total of 28 conceded on the road, 2 at home) and was as dominant in the air as you could possibly ask a defender to be. Admittedly, I’d like him to be a little more aggressive and skilled in his challenges for the ball, but I can’t have any real complaints about his play this year.

MR: Ronny Scholze (23 y/o, GER, AM/F R): 26 (4) apps, 14 Gls, 6 Asts, 2 MoM, Av. Rate 7.31: What I’m about to say will sound absolutely ridiculous, I know, but I’m concerned about Ronny. He put in a stellar season for us this year, scoring more goals from the wing than any midfielder has a right to, and being spot-on from the penalty spot when we needed him to be. And, all of this said, this year’s performance was so good, I don’t know if he can follow it up next year. It’s known that he doesn’t have the blazing speed one might expect of someone playing his position, and the question on the mind of my staff and I is whether he can give us the same kind of effort against tougher competition.

ML: José Brenes (25 y/o, CRC 10 caps/1 goal, D/M L): 21 apps, 1 Goal, 11 Asts, 3 MoM, Av. Rate 7.63: Those numbers speak for themselves, not to mention the fact that I’ve somehow managed to grab one of the first-choice starters for the Costa Rican National Team. I can say without fear of contradiction that we will miss him dearly at the beginning of next year, as he recovers from his broken leg. Was an absolute gem of a find, and did everything you could’ve asked this year, on offense or defense, he was grand. A speedy, healthy return is desired.

MC: <I>Mai

retired_britty

MC: Maik Wagefeld (23 y/o, GER, DM C): 31 apps, 3 Gls, 4 Asts, 1 MoM, Av. Rate 7.13: One of my, and the fans favorite players, Maik just put the needed work in all this year, he would never give up, and I can’t count the number of times he’s nipped in to make a needed challenge and keep the opposition from making a play. Moreover, the few times I’ve needed to swap him, he’s been equally effective in the attack as in defense, so, to make a long story short, the starting place in the lineup is his to lose next season.

MC: Steffen Heidrich (36 y/o, GER, AM C): 17 apps, 2 Gls, 2 Asts, 1 MoM, Av. Rate 7.06: I feel we have a few problems as a team, a significant one being that we have to rely on a man whose career is coming to a conclusion for our offensive verve in midfield, a situation made worse when you realize that Heidrich’s own success is a byproduct of being surrounded by skilled players. While he is vocal and tough enough to be the team captain, he’s not skilled enough to be more than a fringe player now.

FC: Goran Markovic (28 y/o, SCG, F LC): 15 (4) apps, 14 Gls, 7 Asts, 3 MoM, Av Rate 7.16: Goran adjusted wonderfully to life in Germany, and to his new position, as he’d mostly been used as a midfielder or winger throughout his career, but he took to life infront of the net like a fish to water. When called upon, he was a threat that we needed, and, my staff and I can all say that, while he’ll never probably be a star, he does everything he needs to right. A goal-poacher of good caliber, short of another amazing Loan like Tim Janssen showing up, he’ll see 25-30 appearances next season.

FC: Thomas Neubert (23 y/o, GER, S C): 17 (8) apps, 11 Gls, 7 Asts, 1 MoM, Av. Rate 6.76: The next year or two will be make-or-break years for Thomas. He’ll either blossom into a deadly striker and use the talent he has to lead the line for this time like I’ve envisioned, or he’ll never quite pan out, and end up on the transfer list as I look elsewhere for consistency and skill. It certainly doesn’t seem like it should take much. Fast as a dart, but he needs to make his right foot as good for scoring as it currently is for passing. Here’s hoping.

On The Bench:

Oliver Herber (22 y/o, GER, GK) 1 (1) app, 3 Conc, 1 Cln, Av. Rate 6.00: Oliver won’t be anything more than a fringe player at the club, and his tepid performances in replacement of an inconsistent Kresic haven’t helped his stock any. Short of us being completely incapable of finding a new goalkeeper this offseason, he’ll be seeing just as much action next year, if not less.

Tom Hoffman (22 y/o, GER, D R): 7 (3) apps, Av. Rate 7.00: Would’ve been our starting right-back, if not for the sudden and happy arrival of Ishola. Still, a functional, skilled player who can/may play a role in our efforts next season, given that I cannot account for every little mishap that might/will happen.

Thomas Richter (33 y/o, GER, D C): Retiring. That’s all that I need to say.

Nico Däbritz (32 y/o, GER, DM RL): 13 (7) apps, 7 Asts, Av. Rate 6.65: Was just as versatile as I wanted him to be this season, and, while he is getting on in years, we should be able to eke another two years out of his legs before he calls it a career or we cut him loose. Having him as an option off the bench is exactly the kind of thing I’m looking for next year, and given that he was reasonably effective in his time on the pitch, I’m hoping he’ll turn in good performances again.

Sven Johne (20 y/o, GER, M RC): 0 (8) apps, Av. Rate 6.00: Young, and still growing, everyone on the staff is a little iffy on where Sven’s going to be in another three to four years, and, while we’re all hoping, noone’s expecting too much from this young soul.

Rico Kühne (22 y/o, GER, M R): 1 (4) apps, 1 Ast, Av. Rate 6.80: See Sven Johne.

Ranisav Jovanovic (23 y/o, SCG, AM/F L): 8 apps, 1 Gl, 3 Asts, Av. Rate 7.25: Ranisav didn’t feature all that much this season, but when he did, he’s been a real “on the cusp” kind of player. If he makes the turn into a really skilled player (he’s already not bad) he could be a real player for the club, the only problem being that currently he’s behind Brenes on the depth chart. Of course, there’s the matter of whether Brenes might replace Langen, but those are issues for next year.

Daniel Ziebig (21 y/o, GER, AM/F L): 1 (6) apps, 1 Gl, Av. Rate 6.52: His crosses are great, but he’s not enough of a good player to be anything more than a fringe player on this team. He will probably find himself on the transfer list before the season comes to a close.

Christian Frölich (26 y/o, GER, AM C): 12 (5) apps, 1 Gl, Asts 2, Av. Rate 6.82: Our second option in the attack in midfield, Christian isn’t the best thing ever, and he’s not all that functional. I’ve explain to him already that if we do find someone with better passing ability to work the attack for this team, he may be riding the pine next season.

Uche Okereke (28 y/o, NGA, S C): 11 apps, 9 Gls, 5 Asts, Av. Rate 7.64: Instant impact would be the way to describe Uche’s effect on the team. Just as clinical infront of net as advertised, Uche’s speed and knowledge infront of net has been an absolute godsend to a team that needed someone who wasn’t on Loan to lead the front line. Uche can expect 30 starts next season, and I’ll be expecting him to make every one count.

June 12th, 2004

The local news is notable in some cases, and big. First is that Ishola Shuaibu has gotten the call from his nation to be part of the team who will take on Algeria in the African World Cup 2006 Qualifiers. Whether he’ll feature and grab himself another cap, I don’t know, but I’m wishing him the best of luck in his venture.

What’s big news for me is the fact that I might land one of the biggest prospects in football, or at least, he was. Freddy Adu, yes that Freddy Adu, signed much earlier this season with Argentine powerhouses Boca Juniors. Freddy’s time in Buenos Aires hasn’t been nice at the slightest however, and he’s found himself consigned to the Under-19s team, well behind domestic talents and languishing. After an apparent row with his manager, Carlos Bianchi, Adu has been placed on the transfer list. Apparently, I’m one of the few people to have picked up on this, and I’m placing frantic calls to Boca to try and secure the 15-year old’s services. According to his agent, Freddy would have no problem playing for our team and for me, although I’m sure he’d view the club as a stepping stone to future glory. That said, it’s just a matter if we can grab him. Freddy signed with Boca on the 14th of July last year, and according to FIFA rules, we can’t transfer him until after that date. That doesn’t, however, mean we can’t offer Boca a first-option on him for some substantial cash to make sure we’re first in the pecking order for his name.

Meanwhile, Euro 2004 kicks off with a flourish today, as Denmark defeats a resilient Wales team 3-1 to take the first points of the group stage of the competition. The match is quite the entertaining affair, Denmark going ahead on 40 minutes thanks to a strike from Jesper Gronkjaer, and Wales equalizing literally seconds before the half thanks to Craig Bellamy. But, with an in-form Ebbe Sand constantly creating trouble for the relatively weak Wales defense, it was only a matter of time before the Schalke 04 striker netted twice, sealing the game for the Euro 92 champions.

With the one of the premier International competitions in the world beginning today and domestic leagues around Europe finally coming to a close, let’s take a look at the big leagues and who did what, where.

England, as stated previous, was dominated this year by the sterling form of Arsenal, who managed a ridiculous 31-3-4 record, finishing with 96 points, fully 18 points ahead of 2nd-placed Chelsea, although Arsenal will consider the season still somewhat disappointing after being unable to pull any success from their FA Cup or Champions League campaigns. Chelsea, as noted, finished 2nd, with the top 5 reading just as the usual suspects in England usually do, with Manchester United 3rd, Liverpool 4th, and Newcastle 5th. The only real surprise was Leeds, who turned in a gorgeous season, finishing 7th, and the arrival of Antoine Sibierski, who punched home 20 goals for Manchester City this season.

France was dominated by Olympique Marseille and Didier Drogba, whose 25 goals pushed Marseille to their first title since the heady (and quite controversial) days of the early 90’s. Ten points behind Marseille is Lens, with Auxerre, Montpellier and Lille rounding out the top five, with usual stalwarts Lyon, Monaco and Paris-SG finishing 6th, 7th and 8th respectively, years that probably won’t ever be considered successes for those clubs.

Germany was won my, unsurprisingly, FC Bayern, whose 23-7-4 record helped them finish 10 points ahead of surprise 2nd-place side Kaiserslautern, as Bayern’s usual rivals for the title in recent years, Borussia Dortmund turned in a disappointing performance, finishing in 5th. With Leverkusen third and Hertha BSC 4th, the pundits are all talking about whether anyone new will finally throw Bayern off their throne next season. The surprise player this year? Golden Boot winner Alexander Iashvili of SC Freiburg, whose 23 goals capped off an absolute career year for the 26-year old striker, whose high before this was 24 in his early years with Dinamo Tblisi.

Ajax saw their chance at an undefeated season fall short in Holland this year as they quite literally fell at the final hurdle, losing their last game away NEC Nijmegen to ruin their shot at history. Ostensibly, what is also surprising is that, despite Ajax’s stunning 28-5-1 record, PSV Eindhoven only finished three points behind them. While Ajax’s Wesley Sonck led all scorers with 25 netted domestically, all the focus is being put upon Arjen Robben’s breakout season, netting 22 times for PSV and putting on a real Player of the Year performance. Surely, bigger clubs will beckon.

It was the year of Internazionale in Italy, winning the double in the Scudetto and the Champions Cup. Finishing four points ahead of rivals AC Milan will help, as fans and pundits alike hail the signing of Zinedine Zidane as a stroke of genius by club management. As stated, AC Milan finish 2nd, just barely ahead of Juventus who finished 3rd, and Roma who turns in 4th. Lazio rounds out the top five, as fans turn their eyes now to Euro 2004 in hopes that the Azzuri can bring European glory home once more.

Real Madrid went out and proved every single soul who said that selling Zinedine Zidane would kill them wrong this season, winning the Primera Liga in Spain in convincing form, seven points ahead of Deportivo and miles ahead of everyone else in terms of team quality. With Raúl netting a League-leading 22 goals, and Ronaldo punching home 18 more of his own (not to mention names like David Beckham, Luis Figo and Steed Malbranque putting in virtuoso performances in midfield), there was little doubt of how things would end, although the 4-0 aggregate defeat to Inter in the Champions league is an open wound. As stated, Deportivo finish 2nd, Real Sociedad 3rd, Valencia 4th and Barcelona a disappointing 5th.

June 13th, 2004

Ignjac Kresic gives us all the pleasure of accepting that his age is preventing him from putting in the best performances possible, and accepts that he will have a reduced role in the team next year. To that effect, he signs a new $14K a year deal that will have him wearing a Dresden jersey until 2009 or his retirement, whichever comes sooner.

Meanwhile, England takes on Belgium in another Group B encounter, as two second-half strikes from Michael Owen and Stephen Gerrard seal doom for Belgium as Paul Robinson proves unflappable infront of net, putting on quite the performance as England stroll away with a 2-1 victory and three vital points.

Italy takes on Turkey in the later in the day, and are shocked to find that the Turks don’t roll over infront of the much hyped Azzuri attack. Not only don’t they roll over, but Tayfun’s 50th minute strike, a glorious 25-yarder that Buffon palms but can’t quite stop from rolling into the net wins the match for the Turks, the ever expectant Italian fans unimpressed with their team’s effort over the course of 90 minutes, ripping into Giovanni Trappatoni for not giving Francesco Totti the starting nod and instead opting for what proved to be an ineffectual 5-3-2 formation.

Scotland takes on the Czech Republic in the final match of the day, and the dark hose Czechs are stunned to only be able to draw a point with the plucky Scots who hold the Czechs to a 0-0 draw, despite being outshot 7-0. The hero, of course, the goalkeeper, Neil Alexander of Cardiff, who turned in a performance of a lifetime to keep the Czechs at bay.

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June 14th, 2004

France takes on Greece today in a Group A match that ends as many expected, as Greece can only manage a late strike for dignity as Thierry Henry goes on a four-goal rampage, as Greece is defeated 4-1. Not that it was really Greece’s fault, an in-form Thierry Henry may be the single scariest thing in football today.

Jan Schlösser is 21 years old and finding himself surplus to requirements at FC Bayern, who have put him on the transfer list and aren’t looking to renew his contract, which expires on the 30th. We’re in need of a new keeper, and Schlösser looks like the man for the job. Most importantly, he’d be a free transfer, we wouldn’t pay a penny, which means more to me than I can state. By the evening, I’ve talked to the youngster and begun to convince him that Dresden is the place for him to develop his talents.

Meanwhile, the frustration over Germany’s tepid Euro 2004 Qualification campaign is beginning to boil over now after the national team positively limped to a 1-1 draw with Bulgaria today, actually needing Bernd Schneider to tally in the 66th minute to save them from the ignominy of an early loss. Already, the doomsayers are predicting that Germany may not even make it out of the group stages, but

June 15th, 2004

The power of home field advantage isn’t apparently with Portugal today, as they are held to a 1-1 draw with Sweden after the usually reliable Nuno Gomes completely fluffs a penalty on 85 minutes, blazing the ball well over the net to ensure that the opening fixture isn’t what Portugal had in mind.

Meanwhile, Holland happily surge to the top of Group C today with a 2-0 victory over Ireland as Roy Makaay does the damage, scoring twice in the first half to sink a completely hapless Ireland side who can’t manage a single shot on target throughout the 90 minutes. Coming under the most fire will surely by Birmingham’s Clinton Morrison, who was as invisible as any player has ever been in the history of sport, undoubtedly a “goat of the match” performance.

June 16th, 2004

Well, luck does shine on those not wearing a Real Madrid shirt sometimes, as Boca Juniors, looking to offload the young talent (and apparently out of their minds in my opinion) agree to a First Option for Freddy Adu worth $75K now and another $75K as the transfer fee. I couldn’t be happier. This will secure Adu for us surely, and allow us to make another bid on his services later, when he is more cash is ostensibly available.

Meanwhile, Wales’ Euro 2004 dreams end in today, as Belgium hands them a absolute drubbing, four goals from Emile Mpenza helping as they hammer poor Wales 6-1 in a match that was over at the half. I really can’t help but feel bad for Wales, who put together such a superb qualifying campaign to finish first in their group, only to see the dream destroyed such as this. Surely, the team will be trying to pull some sort of a moral victory out of their final fixture against England, perhaps screwing up the ambitions of their rivals would make the wound heal faster.

June 17th, 2004

A 5th-minute strike from Darius Vassell is good, but it’s not enough from England, who can’t hold off a furious Danish attack in the final few minutes of the game, that culminates with Jesper Gronkjaer salvaging a point for the Danes with a 87th-minute strike to equalize the game at 1-1. A point for both sides leaves Denmark and England sitting on four points, with Belgium behind with three. It’ll take the final day of matches in Group B to decide who goes where.

June 18th, 2004

It’s penalty drama at the Estádio José Alvalade today, as a missed penalty in the 45th minute by Ivo Ulich keeps the Czechs from building upon their 1-0 lead over Turkey before the end of the first half. The Turks would’ve been hard-done by this result, given the sterling performance they turn in for the next 40 minutes or so, but, thankfully, there is always the issue of a pressured defense making a dumb mistake, which Zdenek Grygera is entirely guilty of on 88 minutes, tripping Sanli Tuncay in the area to allow Belözoglu Emre to step up and equalize in the dying moments, securing a point for Turkey.

In the later fixture, it’s all credit to Scotland, as, despite allowing a staggering 19 shots on target, through the work of goalkeeper Neil Alexander, who is about to become very hot property, and the tireless work of a backline that contested each of those shots as best they could, it’s not until Francesco Totti’s 83rd-minute header (that Alexander still nearly stops) that Italy secure the three points. 1-0 to the Azzuri then.

Now, Italy sits atop Group D with 4 points, with the Turkey in 2nd with three, and the Czechs in 3rd with two. Scotland, surprisingly, still aren’t technically out of the running, as their point, claimed against the Czechs, means that a final-day win against Turkey might just push them into the knockout stages.

June 19th, 2004

Today we throw a benefit dinner to celebrate our success, and to say it’s well attended would be an understatement. It’s a chance for the fans to meet the players and for the players to personally thank the supporters for giving us such great support all year. It’s really a great sensation to see over 750 people pack the reception hall, and the ovation when José Brenes comes to the stage to accept his Fans Player of the Year award, crutches and all is hugely endearing. The news I’m most enthralled about is when Jochen Rudi reveals that we’ve been granted $3.6M in TV rights for the next season in the Second Division. Good news indeed!

Meanwhile, in Euro 2004, Greece hands Bulgaria a 3-0 thumping in a show of clinical finishing ability, as it only takes the Greeks four shots to do the needed damage and send Bulgaria preparing for a trip home, while Greece are now seriously entertaining the notion of progressing to the next round of the competition.

Meanwhile, Germany are finding themselves staring into the abyss now, after being firmly defeated by rivals France 2-0 in the day’s second fixture. The goals, coming from the feet of Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet have the Germans in 3rd, behind 1st-placed France (who qualify with six points from two games) and behind 2nd-placed Greece, who are only two points ahead. Germany must win its final match of the group stage, against Greece, to have any chance of progressing to the next round of the competition. Ostensibly, the odds are in their favor, but after the draw with Bulgaria, there is a sense of general doom and gloom about much of the country now.

June 20th, 2004

The search for a Center-Defender goes on, but the California Clippers’ Andy Jeffries wants nothing to do with us, at least nothing to do with us that doesn’t involve a contract worth at least $250K, which is way out of my price range. We’re ticking off name after name on our list now, and I’m starting to run out of potential candidates. Next on my list is career journeyman Fan Zhiyi. A reach, I know, but I’m willing to look anywhere.

Group C sees the first match of the night turn from what should’ve been a great offensive game into a dull, listless 0-0 draw as Holland and Sweden opt to provide all the attending fans with a sleep aid for the restless, managing a combined 5 shots on net between both sides in an encounter that will ostensibly be remembered in years to come for how boring it ended up being.

Apparently, it’s a running theme in Group C tonight, as Portugal and Ireland play to the same, boring 0-0 draw with neither side’s offense looking able to create much more than a whimper offensively. Still, such a particularly horrid match doesn’t spell doom for anyone in the group, as now, with Holland atop with 4 points, and Portugal and Sweden 2nd and 3rd, with Ireland falling in the rear, the final day of matches should provide some extra entertainment as to who will make it to the knockout stages. Portugal, of all the teams, will have the toughest task, needed to win to ensure passage, having to get through Holland to do it.

June 21st, 2004

In a clash of old rivals, England sees off Wales today, a 3-1 victory in Group B that ensures England’s progression to the next round of Euro 2004. With Darius Vassell, Wayne Bridge, and Alan Smith doing the damage, the latter two undoing the damage of Ryan Giggs’s heroic 34th minute goal to equalize after Vassell put England ahead. Giggs skinned both Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand before neatly sliding the ball past Paul Robinson to give Wales a semblance of hope. And, while it certainly was a great goal, it was only a matter of time until the latter two goals were struck, with England happily dominating play all over the pitch.

In the other match from Group B, Denmark are through after a 1-1 draw with Belgium that saw John Dahl Tomasson’s 78th-minute penalty be enough to secure the needed point to put Denmark just ahead of Belgium on points (5 to 4) to keep them in the competition and to bring another disappointing end to Belgium’s international campaign.

June 22nd 2004

Jan Schlösser finally stops dawdling and signs on the dotted line today, inking himself a Dynamo Dresden player for next season. He won’t arrive until July 1st however, but this is good news. It means that one of our problems, that of goalkeeping, is solved for no money paid to another team.

Group A finally concludes its work, and France’s 2-0 victory over Bulgaria is no surprise, but Greece’s confident 2-0 dismantling of Germany is all over the news today, as Labros Choutos and Zisis Vryzas both strike within the first 10 minutes to sink a German team that, from that point on, needing three goals to progress, looks absolutely beaten. Needless to say, the listless performance (only one point from three games, only a single goal scored, only ahead of Bulgaria on Goal Difference, -5 to -6) has the media and fans here absolutely aghast and angry. It’s already a given that, after this debacle, Rudi Völler will be losing his job. For such a proud footballing nation to find themselves watching France and Greece go through to the next round, and packing to head home with Bulgaria is, completely unacceptable.

June 23rd, 2004

Group C finishes today, with Pauleta’s 18th-minute tap in after an amazing 30-yard dash from Cristiano Ronaldo is all that Portugal need to knock off Holland today, 1-0. Despite the loss, Holland will still qualify for the next round along with the hosts, thanks to Ireland and Sweden putting on a surprisingly bad performance in their 0-0 draw, a match that both desperately needed to go all-out to win, in order to have an honest chance at qualification.

Meanwhile, Group D finishes off in the evening, and it’s absolute frustration for the Czech Republic, who will be heading home after a 1-1 draw with Italy that sees the Azzuri through to the knockout phase. With Jan Koller’s 52nd-minute goal canceled out less than 10 minutes later by a Francesco Totti penalty, the Czechs tried everything they could to get through the Italian defense, but Nesta, Cannavaro, Materazzi and Zambrotta held firm, and sent the “dark horses” of this competition back home.

Turkey and Scotland somehow conspired to turn in a entertaining 2-2 draw today, as Scotland, with nothing to play for, still gives quite a good fight against the Turks, two goals from Barry Ferguson putting momentary fear into the Group D leaders until Ilhan Mansiz equalized on 60 minutes and Turkey ensured itself a place in the knockout stages.

Here’s the lineup for the Quarter-Finals of Euro 2004:

France v. Denmark
England v. Greece
Italy v. Portugal
Turkey v. Holland

Not a bad match to be found I’d say.

June 24th, 2004

France and Denmark are first up to the plate and I cannot stress how well Thomas Sorensen plays in this. Personally keeping the French at bay, it’s his sterling saves, including a stunning reflex save from a point-blank shot by Thierry Henry that allows the Danes to make things very interesting, as Daniel Jensen strikes a glorious 25-yard freekick that beats Barthez and equalizes the game at 1-1 on 62 minutes. With Sorensen at his best and France becoming increasingly rattled, Denmark sweat their way through Silver Goal Extra Time to penalties, where, to Europe’s shock, the once mighty French do not hold their nerve, Robert Pires and Lilian Thuram both missing (only Thierry Henry scored), while the Danes nail all three of their kicks. It only seems fitting that, on the fourth penalty kick for France, taken by Steed Malbranque, the scorer of their goal, that Sorensen again would end up the hero, brilliantly parrying the ball away to send 2000’s champions home and to begin the media wondering once more if Denmark can provide another shock like in 1992.

June 25th, 2004

Greece’s dream ride through Euro 2004 continues today, as staunch defense and a well-timed strike prove the way to victory, as Labros Choutos again gives Greece victory today, a 1-0 win over fancied England sending Greece into the Semi-Finals, and making Matthew Upson a villain all over England. With the team down 1-0, struggling, and Michael Owen already off the field with injury (what turned out to be torn ankle ligaments), Upson reckless challenge on Choutos, which, incidentally injured the player, granted him his 2nd Yellow Card, and an early bath, taking England out of the match entirely. Truly, a moment of madness from the Birmingham defender that will be remembered for years to come.

June 26th, 2004

The hosts v. Italy tonight, and the spate of draws frustratingly continues, as defense clamps down after goals in the opening 10 minutes from Christian Vieri and Nuno Gomes and the game devolves into a longball-fest, devoid of much offensive invention. Credit to Italy however, as the game careens into penalties, on hostile soil they hold their ground, winning 3-1 on penalties over the hosts and progressing into the Semi-Finals, where everyone is hoping someone might manage to score more than one goal.

June 27th, 2004

Finally, multiple goals. One from Ruud van Nistelrooy and one from Patrick Kluivert is enough for Holland to knock out a spirited Turkey side 2-1 in the last of the Quarter-Finals today. Despite a last-minute charge that featured a goal from Sanli Tuncay, Turkey simply couldn’t come up with an equalizer in the dying moments of play, and it’s Holland who will advance to the Semi-Finals and a chance at their second European Championship triumph.

Semi Finals –

Denmark v. Holland
Greece v. Italy

June 30th, 2004

Holland, a team who rightfully could’ve been accused of not playing up to their potential in recent years (see their horrific missing out on the 2002 World Cup) but they’re showing all the potential they need to be kings of Europe this year, Patrick Kluivert coming up with two big goals to send them through to the final today, after a 3-1 win over Denmark. Clarence Seedorf got the scoring started on 13 minutes, but Ebbe Sand, who has had a wonderful tournament, equalized eight minutes later. Kluivert, in the kind of form that has made him one of the most feared strikers in Europe, hauled Holland onto his back and blasted home two goals on either side of the half to send the Dutch through. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about for Denmark here either. They played well, but Holland was simply the better side.

July 1st, 2004

Jan Schlösser arrives at the club today, to get himself situated. Since our players are all still on their month-long vacations, he’ll have some time to settle into Dresden.

Jan Schlösser (21 y/o, GER, GK)

And, in a another (mostly) boring match today, Greece’s fantasy ride finally comes to an end today, as Antonio Cassano’s 65th-minute blast gives Italy’s all it needs to hold of Greece and send Italy to its third European Championship final. Up to this point, it had been a very surprising tournament, with Denmark and Greece coming within a win of the final but it would seem now, with Italy and Holland preparing to battle it out for a place in history, things have returned to some state of normalcy.

July 4th, 2004

Euro 2004 wraps up today, as Holland takes on Italy for the Henri Delaunay trophy. With both teams even odds to win according to the bookies, everyone’s expecting a good match, but the doldrums of painfully slow, glacial, defense oriented football continue throughout today’s game, as Holland have the first of a sparse few chances to begin the fixture. The closest comes for Van Nistelrooy, who chips well wide of the net on 30 minutes, trying to beat Buffon.

Vieri brings glory for Italy on 41 minutes though, knocking home Del Piero’s stinging 20-yard shot after van der Sar spills it. Italy shells up as well as any other team possibly could, never venturing into attack again, and the world has to endure a absolutely boring last 45 minutes of play where the Italians concern themselves entirely with stopping the Dutch attack and think absolutely nothing of a possible offensive move. Still, they didn’t cheat or anything of the sort, so while many people may have complaint with their style, you can’t stop Fabio Cannavaro from climbing the podium at the end of the match and lifting the Henri Delaunay trophy over his head to begin the Italian celebrations. 1-0 to Italy.

Meanwhile, as the competition comes to its “official” end, the head coaches of France, Germany and England are all ceremonially fired. France and England may have come as surprises to some, but Rudi’s canning after the disaster that was Germany’s qualification and subsequent tournament form, noone’s really surprised.

July 6th, 2004

With the International, and Geman transfer windows finally open again, I can start looking to plug the holes in my squad that need… well, plugging. And first on my list of enquiries is Loans for next season, with VfB Stuttgart’s Marco di Biccari and Liverpool’s Richie Partridge topping my list of potential pickups, should both agree to join the club. For all intensive purposes, if there’s a player on loan, and he’s of reasonable talent, I’m going for him.

Meanwhile, friendlies begin for us today, as we travel northwest to England to begin a tour of the nation, where we’ll take on Wrexham, Hull, Huddersfield and Aldershot before returning to Germany for a number of games against local sides, including a quasi-derby vs. Dresdener SC, which should be fun.

Friendly – Wrexham v. Dynamo Dresden

So we’re in Wales today to take on Wrexham, and it’s really a surprise to see exactly how much prestige we’ve apparently gotten for our exploits last season. The Racecourse Ground only hold some 15500 people, and 14079 show up to see us trot out a number of Under-19s and regulars mixed into a single squad, as Wrexham do their part in putting up a good fight, taking us all the way into the 90th minute when Volker Oppitz happily nods home a Scholze corner to complete what was a most entertaining game for the fans to watch.

Final Score – Wrexham 1:2 Dynamo Dresden
MoM – Ronny Scholze

July 7th, 2004

We’re introducing a slew of new players to the Dresden facilities today, as I pull the trigger on three Loans and the introduction of six, count em’, six Under-19 free transfers to bolster our youth ranks with… well, anyone.

Loans In:
Richie Partridge (23 y/o, ENG, AM RL) From Liverpool
Marco di Biccari (21 y/o, GER, M C) From VfB Stuttgart
José Paolo Guerrero (20 y/o, PER, S C) From FC Bayern

Players In:
Fábio Artur (20 y/o, POR, S C)
Francisco de Souza Oliveira (15 y/o, BRA, F C)
Bok Joon-Hee (15 y/o, KOR, M RC)
Hafit Saleman (18 y/o, IDN, D C)
Jesus Benitez (20 y/o, URU, D/DM C)
Roberto Soares Espindola (15 y/o, BRA, SW/D/DM C)

Yes, I know what you’re asking. Why the worldwide flavor with the young-uns? Well, because we need new blood in the youth ranks. I asked for a report from my coaches on the status of our Under-19s and their report back was that we might as well start looking for new blood to supplement the team. And since Germany itself isn’t being wholly compliant with my needs for young talent to bring along, I’m going to look wherever else is possible. It’s a gamble, but I’m willing to roll the dice.

As for the Loans, Richie’s exceptionally versatile, and will be a huge help, whether off the bench or as a starter, the latter more possible until José Brenes returns. Marco is good insurance in midfield, and José Paolo is another striker who I’m picking up entirely in the hope that he’ll be able to fill in the same way that Dona N’Kunku did last year. I don’t think we’ll have another Tim Janssen this season.

July 8th, 2004

The transfer window finally comes alive today, with Manchester United shelling out $19.25M for everyone’s favorite Brazilian defender Roberto Carlos from Real Madrid. The move continues a surprising trend of Real Madrid replacing its bought “Galacticos” for new blood, as now only Ronaldo, Beckham and Raul remain from the core group that was supposed to be the stars of 2003-04. Carlos should happily find a home in Manchester, where his ability on all parts of the pitch will be appreciated, as will his dead-ball skills (Carlos scored eight times last year for Real Madrid).

Meanwhile, Arsenal are losing one of their best offensive talents. Robert Pires was anything but unskilled last year, scoring 12 times and doling out another 13 assists in helping Arsenal dominate the domestic scene in England. However, $26M is enough to convince Arsene Wenger to allow him to depart for Deportivo today, as Pires finally gets to leave for Spain. While the move will hugely benefit Deportivo, it’s not supposed to weaken Arsenal all that much, as the additions of Daniel Carvalho and Fredy William Thompson last year should give them more than enough depth in midfield.

All this time, I’m spending our English summer vacation on the phone, calling my scouts and coaches to find out how negotiations over new talents to bring to Dresden is going. There’s been good news and bad news. The bad news is that Fan Zhiyi, the center-defender I wished to bring to Dresden is willing to come, but not as a player, as he retires from the playing part of the game and joins the squad as a coach. The good news is, Zhiyi is a fine coach, and, moreover, the African continent is proving a strong place of talent once more, as I’m working out a deal with Enyimba’s Seyi Ogunsanya to bring him to Germany. According to Enyimba, I can pluck him away from Nigeria for only $65K, which I’m happily willing to jump on.

In addition to Enyimba, there’s Moharram Navidkia, a Iranian midfielder, already capped six times for his nation. Having played last year for Foolad Sepahan Isfahan, an Iranian club, Navidkia was been reported to me to have quite a large amount of potential for his age, and, more importantly, can play both in the holding midfielder role or in the attack, which is just about as important as anything I could’ve been told right now.

retired_lydiadiebolt

Congratulations on your promotion to the Second Division, Pred, and best of luck with your campaign. It sounds like you might need a little of it to ensure you have the players at your disposal to get through the season unscathed!

Great writing style, too, if I might be so bold to say so!

retired_britty

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>As always, thanks for the Kudos Dixie. I'm hoping this year goes over well myself! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

July 11th, 2004

Friendly – Hull v. Dynamo Dresden

A trip to Kingston Communications Stadium for a match against Hull City of the English Second Division, in what proves to be a reasonably entertaining match, as we take a quick 2-0 lead within the first 30 minutes, thanks to strikes from Neubert and Wagefeld, and, as we swap in substitutes and a number of youth players, Hull comes back to knot things at 2-2. It’s somewhat entertaining to watch these games, as the fringe players try to make sure I’ll keep them in my thoughts this season, as the established players work on making sure they’re in shape, and the youngsters hope that they’ve made enough improvement to warrant a few run-outs in the first team.

Final Score – Hull City 2:2 Dynamo Dresden
MoM – Stuart Elliott

July 13th, 2004

Seyi Ogunsanya and Moharram Navidkia both agree to contracts with the club today and will join us on our preseason tour of England. Considering I’m paying a combined $185K for the both of them ($65K for Ogunsanya, $120K for Navidkia), it’s a bargain for players who will most certainly feature in our first team plans next season.

Players In:
Seyi Ogunsanya (28 y/o, NIG, D/DM RLC)
Moharram Navidkia (21 y/o, IRN, DM C)

July 14th, 2004

Friendly – Huddersfield Town v. Dynamo Dresden

The Good: Jesus Benitez and Dexter Langen both tally on 32 and 34 minutes to tack another win in our column this pre-season and give a nice (albeit losing) show to the 8000 Huddersfield fans who show up to watch. Jan Schlösser is, most importantly, commanding and skilled in net, earning himself a Man of the Match award for the manner in which he conducts himself and organizes his defense. He hasn’t played a bad game so far, which I’m happy about.

The Unfortunate: Bok Joon-Hee tears a calf muscle, and will be down and out for a month. While this doesn’t effect my first-team squad any, I still don’t want to see any young prospects going down with injuries anytime soon. They might become recurring frustrations.

The Rest: See below.

Final Score – Huddersfield Town 0:2 Dynamo Dresden
MoM - Jan Schlösser

I wish I could say that I had gone out and micromanaged this game to the gills, but that’s a lie. In truth, I’m anxiously waiting for word from Boca Juniors today, as we finally place our $75K bid on Freddy Adu. I wish I didn’t have to wait to acquire his talents, Adu has already begun to show a desire not to leave Boca if the club will keep him, and honestly, if I can convince him that the place is a hellhole and life in Germany would be better, dear lord will I ever.

July 16th, 2004

I’d like to think I’m possible of pulling one of the biggest coups in football history. And I’d like to think I’m getting close now, as Boca Juniors accepts the $75K offer for Freddy Adu and says they’ll allow us to talk with the 15-year old wonderkid. Even better news is that Adu is so ready to get into the first team somewhere, anywhere, that he’s willing to take a pay cut (from $120K at Boca to $55K here) in exchange for a $90K signing bonus and the promise that we’ll let him play. I think we can manage that.

July 17th, 2004

Friendly – Aldershot Town v. Dynamo Dresden

We wrap up our trip to England with a game against Conference side Aldershot Town, in what basically amounts to a sightly more competitive practice, with more people rooting on the opposition. Fully 7000 show up for today’s game, and are treated to an all one-way spectacle of sorts, as we run the field against poor Aldershot, as Navidkia and Neubert both tally on the board in the first half before giving way to substitutes. I know the opposition isn’t really our class, but it’s heartening to see Neubert scoring with a little more freedom and happiness than he was last season. Every bit counts, and as far as he’s concerned, it’s really a matter of whether he’ll turn the corner, as I’m sure I’ve stated.

Final Score – Aldershot 0:2 Dynamo Dresden
MoM – Moharram Navidkia

July 19th, 2004

Well, hallelujah indeed.

It is today that I announce to the media, as we return to Germany for a few more friendlies, that the American phenom Freddy Adu will be joining Dynamo Dresden from Boca Juniors post-haste. I really can’t put into words how happy this move makes me. Yes, Freddy is still under seventeen and there’s ostensibly only so long we’ll be able to hold onto him before the rest of Europe comes calling for his particular abilities and skills, but in the meantime, I’m absolutely freaking thrilled. Freddy Adu is going to spend next season wearing a Dynamo Dresden kit, and that’s the kind of good news that any manager would love to hear.

Players In:
Freddy Adu (15 y/o, USA, F RLC)

I’m happy to say that since Freddy has all but been dubbed a “flop” by the media, this move goes under the radar, as they’re all agog over Jaap Stam leaving Lazio for Valencia in a $19.25M move today, and Chelsea’s Mikael Forssel departs for Chievo for a healthy $14.25M return to the London club.

July 24th, 2004

Friendly – VfB Leipzig v. Dynamo Dresden

A boring week, and, by almost unavoidable inevitability, a boring fixture, as we drag our feet through a 0-0 draw with Leipzig. I’d be a horrible, filthy liar if I didn’t come out and say that this was a game mostly to get the players legs more prepared for the league campaign. Boring, boring, boring, and Mr. Adu isn’t in good enough shape to feature yet.

Final Score – VfB Leipzig 0:0 Dynamo Dresden
MoM – Volker Oppitz

Chelsea is losing one of its strongest forces today, as $10.25M is enough to entice Chelsea into selling Claude Makélélé to Liverpool today, as teams begin to tool, re-tool, and tool again to prepare for the coming season. The media here is up in arms about how surprisingly quiet German teams have been this offseason,

July 31st, 2004

The Copa America comes to a conclusion today, with Brazil stealing victory away from hosts Peru 2-1. The Peruvians put up a remarkable fight for most of 55 minutes, striking first on 24 minutes thanks to a Claudio Pizarro free-kick. But when the goalscorer himself gets sent off for his second yellow on 55 minutes, it opens the gate for the Brazilians, as the ageless Rivaldo steps up and equalizes after an atrocious defensive blunder from the Peruvians and then strikes home the winner ten minutes before time. Hard done on the Peruvians, and Pizarro will rightfully be the goat after this, however still, a great performance to make the final at all.

August 1st, 2004

Juve’s Marco Di Vaio leaves for Lazio today for a pricey $15.25M as Arsenal quietly add Aruna Dindane to their squad for a quite cheap $4.6M for a player that scored 21 times in the Primera Liga last year at Oasusuna.

August 4th, 2004

Friendly – Dresdener SC v. Dynamo Dresden

When is a derby not quite a derby? When it’s a friendly. Still, there’s a good atmosphere around the ground today as we take on our in-city rivals. 15,000 actually show up, giving us our highest attendance at home (well, not technically at home, but Dresdener SC also play in the Rudolf-Harbig Stadion, so it’s away in that Inter v. Milan has one team on the “road”) since Dortmund came to town. I’m entirely confident to say that we’re the higher-quality team in this match, and, for 90 minutes, we most certainly are, keeping Dresdener SC from ever even testing our net with a shot. Navidkia and Neubert seal it for us as we walk.

Final Score – Dresdener SC 0:2 Dynamo Dresden
MoM – Moharram Navidikia

More good news today, as Richie Partridge agrees to join the club on Loan for the season from Liverpool. Immensely versatile and a skilled dribbler of the ball, it looks like he’ll be holding down the left side of midfield until Jose Brenes makes his return.

Players In:
Richie Partridge (23 y/o, IRL, AM RL)

August 7th, 2004

Happy birthday to me, as the season previews begin to come out. Sure, the nation’s eyes may be fixed on the First Division, but I’d content that this is a harder-fought place to play, as promotion here means a huge financial windfall in the top division.

From Kicker Magazine

1.FC Dynamo Dresden
Last Season - Regional Division North: Champions
German Cup: First Round
Top Scorer: Tim Janssen (18)

Strengths: A team crafted to attack, attack, attack, this team is at its best in the attacking third, and the addition of Freddy Adu will surely aid in that respect. When the midfield and attack is clicking, this team is arguably as strong as much of their opponents in the Second Division this year, and if Markovic and Okereke can keep up appearances, they should score their way to safety this season.
Weaknesses: Defense is still, unfortunately, an issue. Volker Oppitz is strong in central defense, but whether new arrival Seyi Ogunsanya can keep the heat off a new, young goalkeeper is yet to be seen. Opposition teams would do well to pressure Schlösser early and often, and try and force the 21-year old into mistakes. Moreover, the strikers are prone to hot and cold periods, which, in the struggle to stay up, often spell death for an ambitious side. Okereke, Markovic, Neubert and Adu will have to prove themselves in the absence of last year’s Loan star Tim Janssen.
Lesson From Last Season: Away form will once again be of paramount importance. Not allowing the loss column to overflow there will make a huge difference in their fortunes.
One To Watch: All the buzz in Dresden is about Thomas Neubert and this year being his year to truly step up to the plate. It is true, the 21-year old striker, who was acting far too much his age last year, has bags of potential, but still hasn’t capitalized on it yet. A potential star target man in the making, if he can get his game together to be just that.
Any Other Buisness: Manager Jacob Flanagan has spent the summer bolstering the club’s youth ranks with international talents, and has been one of the most active managers in the transfer market in Germany this summer. A very bold statement of intent to remain at Dresden from a man who has only been employed a year.

[b]Fan File – Falk Schwanke – www.dynamo-dresden.de
What Has Your Team Got To Look Forward To? A year to consolidate. Improve. Staying up would be nice, but we’re not holding our breath.
What Will Be Your Excuse For Failure? The jump in talent of our opponents was just too much, too soon.
Young Player To Watch? Everyone’s eyes are on Neubert. The way Flanagan’s been managing this club, either he makes an impact this year or he’s gone next. Which leads me to the real one to watch, Freddy Adu, who surely has something to prove to the world, and Boca Juniors especially.
Most Important Player? Toss up. Maik Wagefeld and Volker Oppitz were absolutely indispensable last season. Either they play well again, or we’re going down. It’s as simple as that.
Player You Would Most Like To Get Rid Of? Ranisav Jovanovic. I think we need to be on the lookout for a future winger, and he’s just not it.
Have You Got The Right Manager? Yes, but that’s mostly because of last year. He’s not expected for much this season, so we’re just going along for the ride here.
Are You Happy With The Chairman? Well, everyone would like an Abramovic to pop out, but since that isn’t happening, yes.
Will He Be There In May 2005? Sort of a cataclysmic disaster, yes.
Which Team Do You Most Want To Beat? St. Pauli. Came up with us and I’d love to send them back down.
Which Opposition Player Will Get The Most Stick? Currently? Dunno. Ask next year.
Where Will You Finish? 12th, just outside of the danger zone and prepared to start climbing the ladder.

August 13th, 2004

Ah, a new season breaks. We’re, unsurprisingly, 40-1 underdogs for promotion, and, of course, everyone’s wagering that we’ll be spending most of our time worrying about not being relegated. That I can understand, since it’s on my mind. But currently, I’m worried about Freddy Adu and Ishola Shuaibu, both of whom are away on International duty for the Olympics in Athens. Now, on the one hand, it’s good that they’re getting the experience, but on the other, I’m absolutely freaked out about the prospect of them pulling a José Brenes and us missing them for weeks and weeks.

German Second Division – Game 1: Dynamo Dresden v. Hannover 96

Last season was a unmitigated disaster for Hannover 96, finishing dead last in the First Division with barely 22 points to their name. Despite that, they’re still tipped 6-4 favorites to go up by the bookies, which means opening the season against them should be a reasonable barometer for our chances this season. A win here would be wonderful, but it’d be silly to think that Hannover haven’t been re-tooling all year, in the form of $1M new signing Leonardo Pisculichi from Argentinios Juniors. My hope is that we at least bloody their nose today.

Dresden (4-4-2): Schlösser; Langen, Ogunsanya, Oppitz, Hoffmann; Wagefeld; Partridge, Navidkia, Scholze; Okereke, Markovic

Hannover (4-4-2): Tremer; Gerber, Oswald, Konstantinidis, Schröter; De Guzman, Lala, Djordjevic, Karwan; Kaufman, Stendel

With 11,000 people showing up for the first game of the year, it’s a great sensation right from kickoff, knowing that this new adventure is underway as the fans are immediately cheering and chanting from kickoff. Sadly, Hannover are looking to put us in our place from the get-go, and do, catching our defense all out of whack on two minutes, allowing Karwan to loop a long cross into the box from the touchline that De Guzman manages to get to first, and nod just past a flailing Schlösser to give Hannover the lead, merely two minutes into the game.

Persitence is the only thing that will see us through at this point, although I’m a bit disappointed at how Oswald and Konstantinidis have been stifling our strike team. They’re marking the pair tightly, but when Konstantinidis shoves Okereke outside of the box on 24 minutes, Ronny Scholze steps up to take the freekick and arcs a 25-yard beauty over the wall and into the top-right corner of the net to equalize in style.

Coming out of the half, I remove Okereke and replace him with our Loan, Milan Jovanovic, giving us a pairing of Serbs up front, and it seems to work absolute wonders. Within moments, the pair are carving up the Hannover defense, putting our opponents on their back heels as we pressure for a goal. Unsurpringly, they’re involved in the workings on 60 minutes, Jovanovic dribbling past his marker before teeing up the ball for Wagefeld to drill a cross into the penalty spot that Scholze, out of nowhere, pops up to nod past Tremer and into the net for the go-ahead goal.

From there, we put our foot on the gas as Hannover wobbles more, Partridge clipping the bar on 62 minutes with a 20-yard piledriver that really should’ve gone in. Markovic and Jovanovic seem to have found an extra gear at this point, and are steaming downfield on 67 minutes, chasing down a long clearance/pass from Oppitz and handily beating their markers for pace. Tremer makes the mistake of a lifetime however, rather than catching the ball in his area, he comes outside of it to play it, and has to watch in horror as the ball bounces off his foot and right to the charging Markovic, who easily dribbles past him and boots it into the empty net for 3-1.

Markovic adds another on 78 minutes, but it’s just another wonderful streamer on the top of this party float that has been our season opener.

Final Score – Dynamo Dresden 4:1 Hannover 96
Mom – Goran Markovic


August 17th, 2004

Well, perhaps I spoke too soon about Tim Janssen.

I learned a few days ago that the prolific striker had been listed for Loan by his club, PSV Eindhoven once more, and when I approached the club about the possibility of taking him on for a second season, they and he jumped at the opportunity. I’m proud to welcome Tim back to Dresden, and, while he may not have as much of a large part in the team as he did last year, he’s an integral part of our successes.

Players In:
Tim Janssen (18 y/o, NED, S C)

August 18th, 2004

The injury bug bites again today, in a big way, as Thomas Neubert gets his studs caught in the turf during training today, wrenching his knee horribly. The result? Damaged cruciate ligaments, and a nine month sitdown for the promising striker. It’s horrible news for him and bad news for the club, seeing one of our young prospects struck down like this. However, as loathe as I am to put a player so young under the knife already, the option of surgery does mean Neubert would be able to cut his absence down to a mere three months or so. Hopefully, it’ll work out, and I give the okay.

Meanwhile, Barcelona are looking to solve the problem of last year’s paltry finish in style, via buying some new talent in the form of Inter’s Kily Gonzalez today, in a move worth $25.5M. Whether the move will have the effect that Barca certainly hope it does is unkown, but it’s a further solidification of the Barcelona midfield, and that can only work out well.

Chelsea, of course, aren’t silent either, signing Stephane Dalmat, also from Inter. After Dalmat spent a reasonably mediocre season on Loan at Tottenham, the question is whether he will be worth the $11.25M Chelsea have decided he is worth. My guess? No, not in the slightest.

German Second Division – Game 2: SV Eintract Trier 05 v. Dynamo Dresden

Game two. 36 more to go after this. Trier were perfectly mid-table last year, 9th out of 18 teams. Surely, they’d love to bump themselves up a few slots this year.

Trier (3-5-2): Langer; Koch, Zuraw, Drageljevic; Racanel, Weißhaupt, Grzeskowiak, Gaede, Bauer; Winkler, Patschinski

Dresden (4-4-2): Schlösser; Langen, Ogunsanya, Oppitz, Hoffmann; Wagefeld; Partridge, Navidkia, Scholze; Okereke, Markovic

I don’t want to say something ridiculous like this was “a game of inches” or anything quite so silly, but this one certainly is about taking your chances when they come your way. Our first road game of the year and Trier aren’t giving any ground from the start, and it’s only the linesman’s flag that stops Winkler from celebrating the opening score on six minutes. We take our chance on 14 minutes, Scholze fighting another beauty of a freekick into the box that somehow cracks the post rather than going in and is scrabbled away by defenders. It’s Winkler’s own incompetence that keeps us from going down soon afterwards, as a dribble around Oppitz frees him for a one-on-one with Schlösser that he rushes and fires over the net.

Finally, the break comes on 36 minutes, Partridge’s steaming runs down the left flank once again finding a hole in the Trier defense, allowing him just inside the box and well inside of his man as he streaks for the touchline before delivering a cross from the touchline that floats just over the desperate flapping of Langer and falls to a completely unmarked Okereke, who can do nothing less than tap home from a yard out.

Schlösser does his part to keep us ahead, making a fine save from a point-blank Koch header on a Trier corner, allowing us to go into the half with the lead. Coming out of it, a freekick leads to a trip on Langen in the Trier box. Up steps Scholze, and he is only too happy to put us well into the lead and nearly out of sight. Trier do attempt to bring themselves back into contention, but it’s just asking a little too much of them.

Final Score – SV Eintract Trier 05 0:2 Dynamo Dresden
MoM – Uche Okereke

retired_lydiadiebolt

Good start to your promotion campaign, eh, Pred!

Bad luck about losing Neubert for 9 months, though - hopefully you won't miss him too badly.

KUTGW, Pred, and I'll keep reading!

retired_britty

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Thanks guys! Drachen, i'm glad to hear the story's got the seal of approval from someone who actually knows what's going on. Dixie, I hope things will work out too.

There's been a short hiatus due to outside influences, and, with FM 2005 making its stateside debut in two days time, I must say i'm entertaining the notion of picking that up but, until the patch is released, stick with Dynamo Dresden. I will be! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

August 23rd, 2004

German Second Division – Game 3: Dynamo Dresden v. FC Hansa Rostock

With the U.S.A. puttering out pathetically in the Olympics (only managing a single point in their group) it’s finally time for the golden boy to make his appearance. Between him and Janssen’s return to the Rudolf-Harbig, we’ve managed to draw in more fans just to see these players get their chance. And I know I’m going to make many of them angry, as I’m going with the strike force of Markovic and Okereke up front again, being that they haven’t let me down yet.

Rostock are, like Hannover, looking to claw their way back into the top-flight this year, after having been relegated in 03/04. The media don’t have much faith though, and it’s easy to see why. Their top scorer was Antonio di Salvo, who was bought by Ascoli this summer. He scored seven goals in 33 appearances.

Dresden (4-4-2): Schlösser; Langen, Ogunsanya, Oppitz, Hoffmann; Wagefeld; Partridge, Navidkia, Scholze; Okereke, Markovic

Rostock (4-5-1): Schober; Milchraum, Hill, Groth, Tjikuzu; Schulze, Aduobe, Skela, Hansen, Rydlewicz; Schied

The first half is, sadly, bereft of any real chances, save for watching Navidkia continuously balloon the ball over the net from anywhere between 20 and 30 yards out. By the time we walk off for the half, the fans are clamoring for Freddy. But I’m not going to play that hand quite yet, instead bringing on Jovanovic for Markovic this time, and seeing if he and Okereke can form anything forceful up front. And once again, this Serbian sparkplug ignites the team once more, taking it entirely upon himself to put us up on 58 minutes, knocking a backpass away from Hill before outworking him for the ball once more, and then fighting off Milchraum inside the area to fire a blast that caroms off the inside of the right post before settling into the twine. I may have seen more stylish goals in my life, but I don’t think I’ve seen one that took more effort from one single player.

Three minutes later, and Ronny Scholze gives us the style, as Richie Partridge’s leftwing cross into the box bounces off Aduobe and out of the area. Scholze, catching it on the half-volley, strikes it as sweetly as can be, curling a ball from outside the area and just right of the penalty spot in and around Schober to grant us a 2-0 lead.

Jovanovic adds another on 76 minutes, a embarrassing Hill with a fine trap and spin maneuver to leave his marker in the dust before racing clear on net and slotting coolly past Schober to put the result beyond doubt. He tacks on one more, as 12,000 fans go home without having seen the golden boy, but happy nevertheless.

Final Score – Dynamo Dresden 4:0 FC Hansa Rostock
MoM – Milan Jovanovic

After the game, the postmatch reports are lauding me for finding talent in foreign countries, and using it to my advantage, whether it be on Loan or in Transfers. I’m not really impressed, players like Jovanovic and Janssen certainly aren’t unknown qualities to their own clubs, who both are protecting their futures with a vested interest. I’m just making the most of their development time.

That said, I’m thrilled with the start. Three wins, two over relegated sides, and we’re played great football. We’re sitting clear atop the Second Division with nine points from three games, and have got a veritable ton of momentum going into our next match, a German Cup fixture against Hamburger SV. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that, after last year’s good fight against Dortmund, if I don’t wonder if we can’t pull something surprising here.

August 27th, 2004

Lazio and Real Madrid add to their ranks of talent today, although one move is significantly higher-profile than the other.

Of course, Real Madrid are in the bigger of the two moves, paying Milan $10.5M for the services of Rui Costa. The 32-year old Portugese playmaker adds to the glut of talent in the Madrid midfield that now also has David Beckham, Esteban Cambiasso and Steed Malbranque, to name a few. Rui Costa, who was declared surplus to requirements in Milan, may not see the time he’s hoping for in Madrid, but when did notions like common sense ever stop Madrid?

Meanwhile, Lazio grabs Everton’s Thomas Gravesen today, surprising half of the footballing world which fully expects the next move involving Everton to also involve a certain precocious English striker. Anyway, that aside, it’s the $10.25M price tag that has most eyebrows raised, as the Danish midfielder, while skilled, wouldn’t be considered by most to be worth nearly as much as Rui Costa. Different teams, different needs. Go figure.

August 28th, 2004

German Cup – 1st Round: Dynamo Dresden v. Hamburger SV

Two years I’ve been the boss as Dresden, and two years straight we’ve been drawn against First Division teams in the First Round of the German Cup. Were I the type to believe in conspiracies, I’d say that the FA had something against us. But I don’t, I’m concentrating a bit more on trying to figure out a way for us to eke something special out of this game. I do feel in awe of HSV somewhat. I know some of the names of their players, Markus Babbel being the most obvious example, who returned to Germany this summer in a $2.3M move from Liverpool in England. Even less pleasing is the simple fact that this team is last year’s runners-up in this competition, who took FC Bayern to Silver Goal extra time in last year’s go-round. Or, alternatively, one of the last teams I’d really like to be playing.

Dresden (4-4-2): Schlösser; Langen, Ogunsanya, Oppitz, Hoffman; Wagefeld; Partridge, Navidkia, Scholze; Okereke, Adu

HSV (5-3-2): Pieckenhagen; Rahn, Reinhardt, Babbel, Ufjalusi, Jacobsen; Wicky, Beinlich, Ledesma; Barbarez, Mahdavikia

With 19,000 fans in full voice at kickoff, we’ve got a great atmosphere at the Rudolf-Harbig Stadion today, and I’m happy to see that, at the very least, our fans aren’t intimidated by our opponents. That, or they’re just that thrilled with seeing Freddy Adu making his debut. Whichever it might be, I’m already screaming myself hoarse from the touchline, giving instructions to my team. HSV, hopefully, would not be prepared for a team smaller and (supposedly) worse than them to come running at them from the beginning, and, while the opening exchanges do see us looking positive, it’s on 11 minutes that Mahdavikia swings a low cross into the box that somehow evades the feet of two defenders, allowing Ledesma to dummy it for Barbarez to rifle past a most confused-looking Schlösser for the opener.

I’m screaming at the boys not to get down, and to really start playing with a chip on their shoulders, which they do, harrying HSV all over the field for the ball. I don’t think I truly had an understanding of how on-song this team was until merely two mintues after Barbarez’s goal, Navidkia picks up a loose ball in the HSV third of the field and fires a pass for Okereke that the Nigerian flicks right past Babbel and then rifles into the back of the net from 20 yards to equalize. Two minutes later, Okereke’s at it again, beating Babbel once more as Scholze’s flick-on from a Hoffman throw-in manages to find its way to the right edge of the goal box, and Okereke muscles past Babbel to give it the tap it needs to send it past a sprawling Pieckenhagen.

2-1 up and suddenly with the fans roaring, we continue to push as HSV look so shocked to be down so quickly that they don’t know what to do next. It doesn’t get any better on 25 minutes, two defenders caught completely out of position by a Okereke pass allowing Adu a free run into the attacking third. On the upside, where the two defenders are, Adu doesn’t have much shot at rounding the keeper and scoring, so instead, as Pieckenhagen comes charging out, he flicks it beautifully, from 20 yards away from net, well to the left of the penalty spot and at a tight angle, up and over Pieckenhagen’s head, as the ball somehow, unbelievably floats down and into the net. A real spectacular start for the kid!

Going into the half 3-1 up, my instructions to the team are simple. Don’t let them back into the game, keep up the pressure, and try and kill them off entirely. A fourth wasn’t out of the question before the end of the 1st half, and it comes barely into the second, a lightning fast bit of play starting with Navidkia, to Okereke, to a streaking Adu who chips Pieckenhagen again to notch a splendid debut and surely kill off HSV.

I’d be gloating too much to describe the rest of the match, suffice to say, HSV does peg us back one, but Okereke notches his hat trick and Tim Janssen, on as a sub tacks on one more to turn this game into an embarrassment noone was expecting to go quite this way.

Final Score – Dyanmo Dresden 6:2 Hamburger SV
MoM – Uche Okereke

After the game, it’s smiles all around as I’m swamped by the media, looking for comment on the upset. Of course, I’m happy with the win, and I’m thrilled with my team’s play, especially Okereke and Adu, who formed a lightning-fast partnership up front that did in HSV’s defense that was, dare I say, overmatched. And no, I don’t think this game is a statement of intent for us to take the German Cup home. We want to win, like everyone else wants to win. But, all of that said, having this particular win in our column… well, everyone’s going to start taking us very seriously now!

Meanwhile, the Olympics closes today with Brazil offing France 3-1 in a reasonably entertaining match. Now if only the world really cared about that competition…

And lastly, apparently three goals in four games this year (and 11 in 20 starts last year) isn’t good enough for Milan Baros to keep his job at Liverpool, as he is shipped out today to Atlético Madrid for $12.25M.