| 24.08.2008 |
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| The story of the Bundesliga's second week must be the fact that a village team now heads the top league in Germany. Hoffenheim defeated fellow promoted side Borussia Moenchengladbach 1-0 to go top of the table as the only team with maximum points after two matches. This could change if Wolfsburg beat Bochum by a large margin in one of the Sunday games but as David Bowie once said, "Hoffenheim can be heroes…just for one day" (or something like that). It is more likely that this little team will continue to be heroes even if their early form peters out and they end up returning to a lower tier after this season. Having climbed up four divisions to reach the Bundesliga for the first time in their history and then sitting on the summit with two wins in their first two games in their debut season means that these players are already legends, whatever happens next. Vedad Ibisevic may not be the easiest name to say but his is the moniker stumbling from the mouths of commentators and fans alike after his third in two games gave the minnows a deserved winner and put him joint top of the scoring charts. While the people who wrote them off even before a ball was kicked may not be forced to eat massive amounts of humble pie while the officially named TSG 1899 Hoffenheim toast an improbable championship title in May, the team's initial showing means a little more respect is certainly due. Today's young side which is admired for its attractive and aggressive style has certainly been injected with a large amount of Bundesliga knowledge by their coach, the former Stuttgart, Hanover and Schalke 04 trainer Ralf Rangnick. Helped by the millions of German businessman Dietmar Hopp, who made a fortune developing computer software and headed the giant SAP group, Rangnick has bought in 21-year-old Brazilian Wellington Luis de Souza and midfielder Andreas Beck, also 21 and a former Stuttgart youth player. Hoffenheim's youthful and international squad also boasts 23-year-old striker Demba Ba from Senegal. They're hardly a bunch of shopkeepers and Sunday league pub players. Not everyone in Germany is pleased to see Hoffenheim's rapid rise to the upper echelons, and the club finds itself to often be the brunt of abuse from rival fans who feel the club is merely a rich man's toy. "Hoffenheim is not a project but more of a model," Rangnick said. "We are putting a lot of emphasize on youth. Today (against Moenchengladbach) we had an average age of 22.5. Our under-17 team has become German champions. Our motto is that we are not buying any players over the age of 25." It's this youthful desire which has set a blaze of ambition burning in the belly of this club. How Juergen Klinsmann must be hoping to get the same battling spirit and belief from his dazzling array of lavishly-paid superstars. The Bayern Munich coach can still claim that he has yet to lose a Bundesliga match since taking over at the Allianz Arena but the Bavarian giants have still to record their first league win under their new coach after laboring to another score draw on Saturday. The champions have yet to find their stride under Klinsi in this embryonic campaign and the loss of captain Mark van Bommel, sent off as Bayern had to come from behind to earn a 1-1 draw at Borussia Dortmund, could be a sign that a little frustration is already creeping into the psyche of the perennial winners. This result against Juergen Klopp's BVB follows a 2-2 draw at home to SV Hamburg in the opening game of the season. Even the return of Luca Toni and Turkey midfielder Hamit Altintop couldn't inspire the champions to an early flyer. In fact, it was BVB – who had dispensed with Bayer Leverkusen in a 3-2 win on the first day – who went ahead in the ninth minute when Polish midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski gave Michael Rensing in the Bayern goal no chance with a shot into the top corner from the edge of the area. Van Bommel was dismissed in the 23rd minute after being booked twice inside two minutes. The first yellow card came for a lunging tackle on Sebastian Kehl, and the second for a forearm check to the back of the head of Tamas Hajnal in another challenge. Bayern were able to rescue a point when new signing Tim Borowski netted from close range in the 75th minute following a corner headed down by Lucio for his first goal since joining from Werder Bremen. "We wanted to win, but we got the point playing with 10 men for over an hour and really deserved it," Klinsmann said. "We will take the point and get the three next Sunday (at home to Hertha Berlin)," he said. Klinsmann said he could not see clearly the incidents that led to the dismissal of van Bommel and did not want to comment. "I don't want to watch the action replay 10 times. It has happened and the team nevertheless reacted wonderfully," he said. "In the break we said we wanted to put them under pressure, and what the boys showed in the second 45 minutes was great." Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer said the yellow cards to van Bommel were justified, saying the Dutch midfielder, who was dismissed twice last season, "lacks a bit of self-control." "He has to control himself because he is not only harming himself but also the team," the Kaiser said. Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp said his side gave too many balls away in midfield, allowing Bayern back into the game. "In the end the team lacked bit of confidence in itself," he said Schalke 04 scored a late equalizer at Werder Bremen for a 1-1 draw between the two teams expected to provide the strongest title challenge to Bayern. Heiko Westermann got the equalizer for the Royal Blues with minutes left after German international Torsten Frings had given Werder a 64th minute lead. Bremen's new signing Claudio Pizarro started for the first time since rejoining the club from Chelsea, but it was Germany midfielder Frings who was on target with a 63rd minute goal following a low cross into the box from Mesut Ozil. It looked enough for victory but defender Westermann grabbed a lifeline for Schalke with five minutes remaining when he mopped up after keeper Tim Wiese could only parry a Benedikt Hoewedes header. Elsewhere, Hamburg continued their unbeaten start by snatching a last-minute 2-1 victory over Karlsruhe. The home side went ahead through an own goal by Karlsruhe's Tim Sebastian who screwed the ball into his own net in the 32nd minute to give Hamburg the lead. Karlsruhe were on equal terms in the 67th through Sebastian Freis but HSV’s Dutch defender Joris Mathijsen hit a close-range winner in the 90th. Goals in each half from new signing Patrick Helmes and Theofanis Gekas gave Bayer Leverkusen a first league win under new coach Bruno Labbadia at VfB Stuttgart. Poland striker Artur Wichniarek scored his third of the season as Arminia Bielefeld came from behind to a Marko Pantelic goal to draw 1-1 at Hertha Berlin. As well as Wolfsburg versus Bochum, Cologne and Frankfurt meet in Sunday's other match. |
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