| 24.11.2008 |
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| The list of the Bundesliga's top goal scorers begins with Hoffenheim's Vedad Ibisevic, a journeyman striker who's somehow – doping? dumb luck? divine intervention? – racked up 16 thus far this season. But look just a little bit further down that list and you'll see two names whose goal tallies have been accompanied by personal tragedies. They are Wolfsburg's Grafite and Bielefeld's Artur Wichniarek. The Brazilian is mourning the death of his father last October, while the Pole lost his mother at the beginning of the season. Previously, I never had very many nice things to say about this pair of characters. Grafite earned himself a lengthy suspension last season for arguably the league's worst cheap shot – he tried to break the hand of a prostrate opponent. And the memories of Wichniarek's painfully unproductive, rancorous stint at Hertha Berlin from 2003 to 2005 always make wish I had an Excalibur every time I hear the phrase King Arthur – the striker's nickname in Bielefeld. Still, I can't help but think that these two players' current run of form is one of this season's nicer side stories. Football players may be egomaniacal dunderheads with fantastically limited horizons in many respects, but I think most do genuinely appreciate the sacrifices their parents made. So, if Grafite succeeds in leading the Wolves to a top five finish and Wichniarek helps Bielefeld stay in the first division, I'll find it hard to begrudge them their success. |
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| 1 Comment |
| I am guessing you were trying to be funny about Vedad Ibisevic but that was a cheap shot. Vedad has always been an opportunistic goal scorer (I saw him play before he was even in the Bundesliga) that happens to make the most of Hoffenheim's flying 3-prong counterattack. There is nothing unusual about his success as football is a team game (on a team where he has to muscle and head limited chances in he will not score much whereas Luca Toni would flourish). Vedad also has a pretty fascinating back story as well. |
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| floormaster squeeze | Homepage | E-Mail | 28.11.2008, 16:05 | ||