Werder Bremen - Anorthosis Famagusta FC MATCH PRESS KIT Weserstadion, Bremen Tuesday 16 September 2008 - 20.45CET Group B - Matchday 1
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Werder Bremen - Anorthosis Famagusta FC MATCH PRESS KIT Weserstadion, Bremen Tuesday 16 September 2008 - 20.45CET Group B - Matchday 1 Contents 1 - Match background 7 - UEFA information 2 - Match facts 8 - Match-by-match lineups 3 - Squad list 9 - Competition facts 4 - Head coach 10 - Team facts 5 - Match officials 11 - Legend 6 - Domestic information This press kit includes information relating to this UEFA Champions League match. For more detailed factual information, and in-depth competition statistics, please refer to the matchweek press kit, which can be downloaded at: http://www.uefa.com/uefa/mediaservices/presskits/index.html Match background Werder Bremen will be hoping to get off to a winning start at last in their fifth successive UEFA Champions League campaign. After four straight defeats on Matchday 1, the Bundesliga runners-up will be trying to exploit the inexperience of Anorthosis Famagusta FC, the first Cypriot club to reach the group stage. • Bremen – who also tasted defeat in their first fixture on their only other group-stage appearance, in 1993/94 – lost their first game last season, 2-1 away to Real Madrid CF. They then followed that with another reverse, at home to Olympiacos CFP. Victory in their other two games at the Weserstadion meant they finished third in the group for the second straight season. • The previous year, Bremen started with a 2-0 loss at Chelsea FC, and that was also the scoreline on their two previous opening nights, when they went down to FC Barcelona and FC Internazionale Milano. The best the German club have managed in the competition was successive first knock-out round appearances in the 2004/05 and 2005/06 campaigns. • In 2006/07, Bremen followed the Chelsea loss by winning two and drawing one of their home games. Their record on home soil in the competition – group stage to final – shows ten wins, three draws and four losses in 17 games. • Coached by Thomas Schaaf, the club have met sides from Cyprus on three occasions, two of which ended in 5-0 victories. Those came home and away in the European Champion Clubs' Cup preliminary round against APOEL FC in 1966/67, resulting in a handsome 10-0 aggregate triumph. Bremen also took on Apollon Limassol FC in the 1996 UEFA Intertoto Cup and won 2-0 away from home. • To make history and become the first Cypriot side to reach the group stage, Anorthosis needed to overcome all three qualifying hurdles, but they strengthened their hand with successive 3-0 home victories in the second and third rounds, first against SK Rapid Wien and then Olympiacos. In the Athens return of the latter tie on 27 August, goalkeeper Arian Beqaj played brilliantly to restrict Olympiacos to a single goal, putting Anorthosis in dreamland. • Temuri Ketsbaia's men beat Armenian side FC Pyunik 3-0 in the first qualifying round over the two legs before recording a 4-3 aggregate victory against Rapid. Lukasz Sosin scored three times for the Cypriot titleholders over the three ties with Nikos Frousos and Vincent Laban weighing in with two goals apiece. Last updated 15.09.2008 20:27:52CET www.uefa.com Match background 1 Werder Bremen - Anorthosis Famagusta FC Tuesday 16 September 2008 - 20.45 CET MATCH PRESS KIT Weserstadion, Bremen • Anorthosis have failed to win in any of their six previous meetings with German opposition in UEFA club competition. Four of those ended in defeat, including a 10-0 reverse at FC Bayern München in the 1983/84 UEFA Cup first round. • Clemens Fritz scored for Germany in their 4-0 UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying victory against Cyprus in Hannover on 17 November 2007. Fellow Bremen defender Per Mertesacker also played in the game while Anorthosis duo Lambros Lambrou and Georgos Theodotou were on the opposite side. • Lambrou and Theodotou were also in the Cyprus team that earned a 1-1 draw against Germany in November 2006, with Fritz in the visiting side. • Panathinaikos FC take on FC Internazionale Milano in the section's other Matchday 1 fixture. Match facts Bremen UEFA milestones • None UEFA Champions League statistics • None Disciplinary information • Bremen have no players suspended or within a booking of a ban. Latest domestic information • Saturday 13 September: Werder Bremen 3-0 FC Energie Cottbus (Diego 75, Frings 80, Sanogo 83) Bremen scored three times in the final 15 minutes to register their first win of the Bundesliga season. Having been frustrated by a deeply-lying Energie outfit, Diego finally broke the deadlock, and the visitors' resolve as Torsten Frings and Boubacar Sanogo made the scoreline flattering. • Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf said: "It was the game we expected and in the end I am very pleased. We always sought the ball and never lost faith. It is a step in the right direction." • Per Mertesacker was in the starting XI for the first time since suffering a meniscus injury to his left knee in training on 22 July. The German international replaced Sebastian Prödl in the heart of the defence although Peter Niemeyer missed out despite his return to full training last week. • Bremen have scored in every game so far this term, be it league or cup. • Tim Wiese, Sebastian Boenisch, Naldo, Frank Baumann, Frings, Daniel Jensen, Clemens Fritz and Markus Rosenberg are ever-present in all competitions this season. • Bremen began their Bundesliga campaign with successive draws against DSC Arminia Bielefeld (2-2) and FC Schalke 04 (1-1). Going into the international break they were still without a win following a 3-2 defeat at VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach. • A week prior to the resumption of league duties, on 9 August, Rosenberg scored four times as Bremen secured a 9-3 win at fifth-tier SV Eintracht Nordhorn in the first round of the German Cup. Injury news • Per Mertesacker – out 22 July to 13 September (knee meniscus) • Torsten Frings – out 31 August to 13 September (broken nose) • Peter Niemeyer – out since 30 August (knee) • Aaron Hunt – out since 31 August (calf) • Mertesacker, Frings, Niemeyer and Aaron Hunt have all returned to training. Last updated 15.09.2008 20:27:53CET www.uefa.com Match facts 2 Werder Bremen - Anorthosis Famagusta FC Tuesday 16 September 2008 - 20.45 CET MATCH PRESS KIT Weserstadion, Bremen Summer transfers •In: Niklas Andersen (Rot-Weiss Essen) Said Husejinović (FK Sloboda Tuzla) Sebastian Prödl (SK Sturm Graz) Claudio Pizarro (Chelsea FC, loan) •Out: Tim Borowski (FC Bayern München) Ivan Klasnić (FC Nantes Atlantique) Pierre Womé (1. FC Köln) Patrick Owomoyela (BV Borussia Dortmund) Kevin Schindler (FC Hansa Rostock, loan) John Jairo Mosquera (SonderjyskE, loan) International news • Fritz played 82 minutes of Germany's 3-3 draw away to a Finland side that included club-mate Petri Pasanen on 10 September. Four days earlier he had played the duration as the side got their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign off to an excellent start with a 6-0 win in Liechtenstein. • An unused substitute in Sweden's 0-0 draw in Albania, Rosenberg came on in the final stages of the 2-1 victory against Hungary. Meanwhile, Prödl and Martin Harnik were in action in four days of contrasting fortunes for Austria, who beat France (3-1) before losing to Lithuania (2-0). • Hugo Almeida scored Portugal's second goal in a 4-0 win in Malta on 6 September, and retained his starting place at home to Denmark though he had been withdrawn when club-mate Jensen capped a stirring 3-2 comeback triumph for the visitors. Jensen had also featured in Denmark's goalless draw against Hungary. • Diego was on duty for Brazil as the side moved second in the South American standings despite following a 3-0 win in Chile with a goalless draw at home to Bolivia. In Africa, Sanogo and Ivory Coast moved to the brink of the third round with a 1-1 draw in Mozambique. • Boenisch and Mesut Özil were in action for Germany as a goalless draw against Israel on 9 September, added to a 3-0 defeat of Northern Ireland four days earlier, earned the side a place in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-offs where they will face France. • Seven Bremen players were in action at UEFA EURO 2008™. Fritz, Frings and Mertesacker all played their part as Germany reached the final, while Prödl and Harnik were key components of an Austria team eliminated after the group stage. Almeida tasted just 33 minutes of Portugal's run to the quarter-finals, and Rosenberg was limited to two substitute appearances for Sweden. • Diego won a bronze medal with Brazil at the Beijing Olympics, opening the scoring in the third-placed play-off against Belgium. Miscellaneous • On 21 June Mertesacker extended his contract for a further two years until summer 2012. He said: "I am absolutely sure that we will do well in the future as the cornerstones of the team all have long-term contracts." • Sebastian Mielitz also agreed a new deal, committing until summer 2010 on 7 August. • Naldo celebrated his 26th birthday on 10 September. Anorthosis UEFA milestones • None UEFA Champions League statistics • Ten Anorthosis players appeared in all six qualifying games: Arian Beqaj, Nicolaos Katsavakis, Jeffrey Leiwakabessy, Predrag Ocokoljić, Andreas Constantinou, Nikos Nikolaou, Siniša Dobrašinović, Vincent Laban, Cédric Bardon and Lukasz Sosin. Last updated 15.09.2008 20:27:53CET www.uefa.com Match facts 3 Werder Bremen - Anorthosis Famagusta FC Tuesday 16 September 2008 - 20.45 CET MATCH PRESS KIT Weserstadion, Bremen Disciplinary information • Dobrašinović is suspended on Matchday 1. Latest domestic information • Friday 12 September: Doxa Katokopia FC 0-1 Anorthosis Famagusta FC (Sosin 82) Sosin's late goal made it two wins in two for the visitors, tapping into the empty net following good work from summer signings Sávio and Hawar Taher.