Ibrahim Afellay: First Interview at Schalke

Well, as the title implies: The new loan signing from mighty Barca directs his first words to Schalke's Club TV (in English with German translations).





What no one really expected: All of his early thoughts about the club are positive.

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Christian Tiffert vs. Goal-line Technology

You're in and you're out, you're up and you're down

After years of argumenting and (probably even more) testing, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) has once and for all approved the use of the so called goal-line technology in official football games.



So extremely difficult to evaluate situations like this wonderful Christian Tiffert goal could finally be consigned to the past:

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How football fans see themselves & are seen by others

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Marko Arnautovic: "I'm that rich, I can buy your life"

The best things in life are free

Caught in a police check in Vienna, Austrian Werder striker Marko Arnautovic responded in his very reluctant way:

Sod you! I make so much money that I can buy your life.

According to Austrian newspaper heute the police officer subsequently charged Arnautovic for "aggressive behaviour". So minted Marko probably has to "buy" a lawyer first and foremost.

Anyway, it's time for a quotes section on this blog, isn't it?

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The state of German non-league football?

Simply stick to Erkenschwick

...or as Goscinny didn't say: All of the Recklinghausen disctrict is under Schalke's control, except for one small village of indomitables that still holds out against the Royal Blues.

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Whatever became of... Mario Basler?

The proof: It's really him! (screenshot: netto-online.de/blog/)

What does he do for a living? Well, first of all he works as manager of Regionalliga (level 4) side Rot-Weiß Oberhausen. But it seems that even the recent relegation of his team did not stop him from looking for a part time job.

So he started to blog for a big discount supermarket chain about Euro 2012. He was not known for profound evaluations as a player, all the better that we now can admire his thinker's pose in front of a chalkboard.

You'd better watch out, Zonal Marking!

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Madrid vs Bayern: "90 MINUTEN IM BERNABEU SIND SEHR LANG"

This is how Spanish daily sports tabloid "MARCA" welcomes Bayern Munich on today's front page:

MARCA front page, 24 April 2012

The pro-Real-Madrid newspaper has some German words in advice prior to tomorrow's Champions League semifinal clash. "90 MINUTEN IM BERNABEU SIND SEHR LANG" translates "90 MINUTES AT THE BERNABEU STADIUM CAN BE VERY LONG" in English.

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German Football Museum in Dortmund

In 2009, DFB (German FA) announced that the new German Football Museum will come into existence in Dortmund. It will be located right next to the central train station and last year they even started to do some preparation works. But at the moment there's not much happening. Current photo of the building site:

Mitten ins Herz! – Right to the heart!

The completion of the building is planned for 2014. Uber Football will stick to it and report about progress on the construction at irregular intervals.

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Dynamo Dresden: Sold out empty stadium

NOT a valid matchday ticket

Because of riots during a cup tie in Dortmund, Dynamo Dresden will have to play today's home encounter with Ingolstadt behind closed doors. Despite the ban, the second division outfit started to offer tickets to the fans.

This proved a resounding success: yesterday, Dynamo announced that they sold any of the 32,066 available "ghost tickets" (which equals the stadium's capacity). In order to fulfill continuing demand, the club are going to extend the sale until kick-off and appeal the supporters:

SG Dynamo Dresden request any ticket owner to close ranks inside the ground. This is the only way for anyone interested waiting outside to NOT watch the game.

Limited edition T-shirts commemorating the "Geisterspiel" (English: "ghost game") are on sale as well. The tickets, which range from 5 EUR (terrace) over 10 EUR (seated) to 20 EUR (VIP), are nothing more than memorabilia likewise. As a reminder, Dynamo outline the privileges of "ghost ticket" holders on their website:

NOT to visit the match vs. Ingoslstadt
NOT to use the tickets for short-distance public transport
NOT to enter the ground
NOT to consume beer and bratwurst

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ARNE FRIEDRICH IS NOT GAY!

NOT GAY!

The new Chicago Fire signing ain't gay!*

Did you get message? Arne Friedrich is not a homosexual.

I repeat: The 32-year-old defender is not gay.

Everybody now:

A R N E__F R I E D R I C H__I S__N O T__G A Y!

*In October 2011, Friedrich's girlfriend wrote a fabulous open letter to the media, stating how sick she is of all the people googling for Arne Friedrich schwul (English: Arne Friedrich gay). "Arne ain't gay and I'm pretty sure that he'd be the last one to deny his sexuality," she clarified her position.

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Otto's Comeback

How to succeed without a George Clooney lookalike between the posts? Can a 73-year-old coach, who is believed to be social conservative and very authoritative, handle a Bundesliga with loads of experienced player in their early twenties? And will we see the return of the sweeper?

Questions upon questions. It's up to Otto Rehhagel (with double-'h'!) to start answering. Today, 15:30 CET, FC Augsburg v Hertha BSC.

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Bayer Leverkusen and Messi: Going, going, gone!

Charityjersey

When dreams come true: Michal Kadlec' and Manuel Friedrich's most ardent wish obvviously was to swap their work gear with the planet's best player. At their recent encounter with Barça the Bayer Leverkusen defensemen finally both got their object of desire, as Friedrich exchanged shirts with Lionel Messi already by halftime.

He thereby was just a few seconds faster than Kadlec, who devised to do the same. Like teenage girls at a Justin Bieber concert.

Thus Bayer sports director Rudi Völler told a newspaper in one of his trademark rants: „I guarantee, that Kadlec and Friedrich will auction their Messi shirts for a good cause. What they have done has certainly been somewhat too much of a good thing."

You win some, you lose some.

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Rudi Assauer: Fading memories of my life

"There are artificial knees, new hip joints, while others enjoy life with a cardiac pacemaker. But the head. The bonce. It can't come worse."

— Rudi Assauer, 2011

The last time I saw Rudi Assauer at a local gas station, he was like a goddamn boss. As always. Smoking one of his trademark cigars (at a gas station!) he carried a huge stack of newspapers under his arm as he headed to his limousine. What means that he still was interested in current affairs and also was able to get things done on his own. This happened less than two years ago.

The 67-year-old, however, then already had to deal with difficulties to articulate himself and occasional blackouts over the last few years. These problems were probably one of the reasons for his inglorious retirement as Schalke manager in 2006 and rumours that he might be an alcoholic one year earlier.

In 2010 Assauer finally underwent an examination at a specialty hospital in Essen. Sad diagnosis: Alzheimer's disease. Since then his condition has deteriorated significantly. He had to give up driving and was constrained to sell his villa and move to his daughter subsequently. But Rudi has always been a fighter and so he started to take the bull by the horns. As a consequence he allowed public-service TV broadcaster ZDF to follow him for about a year and wrote down his memoirs with support of sportswriter Patrick Strasser.

"Wie ausgewechselt: Verblassende Erinnerungen an mein Leben" (English: "Like having been substituted: Fading memories of my life") was published yesterday, February 2nd 2012.

Wish him all the best!

————————————

Senior career stats:
1963–1964 SpVgg Herten 24 (3)
1964–1970 Borussia Dortmund 119 (8)
1970–1976 SV Werder Bremen 188 (4)

Honours as player:
DFB-Pokal: 1964–65 (with Borussia Dortmund)
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1965–66 (with Borussia Dortmund)

Managing career:
1976–1981 SV Werder Bremen
1981–1986 FC Schalke 04
1990–1993 VfB Oldenburg
1993–2006 FC Schalke 04

Honours as manager:
UEFA Cup: 1996–97 (with Schalke 04)
DFB-Pokal: 2000–01 & 2001–02 (with Schalke 04)

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Breath of Roses

Paul > Moussa (Screenshot: "Transfermarkt.de")

Who has been the hottest shit on the German version of football transfers website "Transfermarkt" last week? Messi, Moussa Sow or new NUFC signing Papiss Demba Cissé? No, the profile page of "Paul Janke", 30, got all the attention.

But what is so special about a veteran midfielder playing for Hamburg based 5th division side "Niendorfer TSV"? Well... if I might say so: his footballing market value may be estimated as zero, but in his private live he seems to know how to score. Paul is chief character in the second season of "The Bachelor" on German TV.

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Klopp 1-3 Podolski

Hey Jürgen, why the long face?

Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp (being asked by a Sky reporter about a possible interest in buying 1. FC Cologne forward Lukas Podolski) on Sunday:

"Lukas is an exceptional player. But I believe him to be hyped in Cologne so much that it is hard for him to perform well regularly. With his potential, he had to be one of the best strikers, if not the best striker, in the league – but he is not. This is because he is not able to deliver often enough. And then it is too expensive for us  – for a good performance every few weeks."

Shortly afterwards Lukas Podolski responded via local tabloid Express:

"What a charming statement by Mr. Klopp. Maybe he's a little sad because I already denied his transfer requests twice. Then again he's right though: Actually I am too expensive for Borussia Dortmund due to the absence of Champions League revenues. Now that they have been eliminated finishing last place in their group, I absolutely understand that it wouldn't pay off."

Lukas Podolski. Master of counter attacks.

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Informer, you no say that's who I'm gonna blame

Beef!

Clemens Tönnies, chief executive of Schalke's supervisory board, is notorious for his liability to populism. For a couple of years now, the meat industrialist prefers to attend the annual Revierderby in Dortmund with fellow supporters on the terrace.

Last week's meeting has seen the odd smoke and fireworks coming from the away end. Too much for Tönnies, 55, who instantly started to take photos of the troublemakers with his smartphone.

"All reasonable fans should declare their solidarity against these lone perpetrators and expose them with photos so we can file them. These people have to leave our stadia," Tönnies told a newspaper on Wednesday.

Well, Clemens, literally: If you can't stand the heat, stay in your VIP box.

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Aktion Libero: German Sports Bloggers against Homophobia in Football

schwul, rund, grün - gay, round, green

Aktion Libero is an action alliance of German sports bloggers against homophobia. Supportetd by Dr. Theo Zwanziger (president of the German FA) Aktion Libero launched their website today. Additionally, more than 80 participating blogs released the campaign motive on their websites. Some authors have even published complementary thoughts, interviews and podcasts on the topic.

Their credo:

Wir schreiben in unseren Blogs über Sport, und unsere Haltung ist eindeutig: 

Wir sind gegen Homophobie. Auch im Fußball.

Our blogs are all about sports and our position is clear:
We are against homophobia. Also in football.


Visit Aktion Libero website (in German) for further information.

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