DFB PRESIDENT NIERSBACH VISITS REFUGEE CENTRE
DFB president Wolfgang Niersbach has praised the work and support of helpers at a refugee centre in Egelsbach, near Frankfurt, as well as the positive impact of football in the integration process. "It’s exactly as we had imagined. It sends a great message out to Berlin – this needs to be implemented," said the 64-year-old, who was invited to drink a coffee with a Kurdish family from the north of Syria.
This was followed by a match between a DFB XI and “Refugees United”, who were founded in December 2014. The match finished 4-2 to the DFB team. 45 people have been taken in at the centre, just south of Frankfurt, which is supported by a Christian refugee aid group.
Niersbach promises more money
Niersbach has promised to allocate more money to the organisation’s refugee aid fund: “It's never enough money. I can say that we will do more.” Until now, the DFB’s refugee initiative “1-0 for a welcome”, which is also supported by the German government and UEFA, has received €700,000 to be put towards supporting the 1,400 amateur clubs who have been offering places to refugees.
The DFB visited SG Egelsbach to say thank you to them and the many football clubs who have integrated refugees into their clubs, and to call on more clubs to get involved in the project.
600 clubs already involved
"We have always been very staunchly committed to issue of integration. It is an ongoing topic in both the country, and the game of football,” said Niersbach. "It is our absolute duty to send a clear message from the top right down to the grassroots of the game. Refugees are welcome. We want to make everyone feel at home."
A few days ago, the available funds for the initiative were increased by €700,000 thanks to grants from UEFA and the German government. 800 clubs will receive funding in 2015, before a further 600 in 2016, with the money going towards initial membership fees, travel costs and language courses, as well as either a football kit or pair of boots. TSV Wittislingen (Bavaria), who are currently doing their bit to help Syrian war refugees, are the 600th club to receive funding from the initiative.
Let’s be honest now. From up near the press box of Hampden Park, Scotland’s equaliser against Germany, when seen in real time, looked very much like (for the sake of calling a spade a spade) a Neuer mistake. Something that is so rare in Germany matches that even Thomas Müller being kept quiet is a more frequent occurrence.
There are certain terms that are slowly dying out in the German language. 'Löschpapier' (blotting paper) is one such word, ' Wählscheibe' (phone dial disk) and 'Kreiswehrersatzamt' (military commissariat) others. In terms of the DFB team, there is another term which is in danger of disappearing from the German language: goalkeeper error.
Neuer: "It was a difficult situation"
As the ball rolled in to the Germany goal following Shaun Maloney’s (28') free kick, the reporters couldn’t quite believe what they had seen: "Did you see that too? He has to catch that, right?" They begun to quickly rack their brains for previous instances of this happening, the more experienced amongst them recalling past memories of old goalkeepers on black and white televisions – the days when German goalkeepers made mistakes. It was though, as is seemingly so often the case, simply an illusion. A mirage of grand proportion. The loud noise of the Scottish fans affected not only our hearing, but also our sight.
The ball did not slip through the keeper’s hands; the goal was in fact a concatenation of unlucky circumstances, of which Manuel Neuer was just a part. The man himself in fact can shed light on what happened: "It was a difficult situation. I was anticipating that one of the Scottish players would get something on the ball and direct it towards the corner. This didn’t happen. I had to get down as the ball bounced just in front of me. I tried to push it away, but Mats was trying to help and was standing right in front of me. I should have got rid of it better, but it was not an easy situation for me."
Upon self reflection then just a small error, but in objective criticism not even that. Whatever the case, Neuer providing analysis on a goal conceded does not happen that often. Moreover, he has in many ways changed the perception of what it means to be a goalkeeper. In an interview with Sport Bild, he elaborated: "Goalkeepers are becoming increasingly more important for teams, because they are being drawn into the game more and more. A keeper begins passages of play, as often it is he who plays the first pass."
Neuer: "You always have to provide an option as a goalkeeper"
Neuer doesn’t think this evolution is yet complete. He believes that the line between goalkeeper and outfield player will slowly become more blurred. More specifically, he says: "I think that the role of a goalkeeper will change a lot in future, in order to further increase the overall strength of a team." As an example he cites situations where attackers press the defenders in their own half: "As a goalkeeper you have to be confident on the ball, and always provide an option. Even outside the penalty box. In such cases, you can outnumber the opposition, and pull the attackers towards you, thus creating more space for your own players."
It doesn’t look good then for the longevity of the term 'Goalkeeper errors', particularly if Neuer’s prophecy that goalkeepers will start to act as an extra outfield player turns out to be correct.
Two goals and an assist – the Man of the Match award for the 3-2 win against Scotland was never in doubt. The phenomenal Thomas Müller scored the first two of Germany’s goals in the European Championship qualifier in Glasgow’s Hampden Park, before providing an exceptional assist for Ilkay Gündogan to find the winner in the second half. The Fan Club Nationalmannschaft powered by Coca-Cola wanted to hear it from the supporters anyway.
The result was undisputed. With 53.9 percent of vote - 1474 votes to be precise – the Munich man was head and shoulders above his teammates. In second place was winning-goal scorer Gündogan with 17.8 percent of the vote (488 votes), and in third place Mario Götze picked up 6.3 percent (171) of the votes. 2660 users in total voted.
This is Müller’s first Man of the Match award this year. The 25-year-old last received the award in November as Die Mannschaft beat Gibraltar 4-0, scoring two goals himself then as well.
Erik Durm to miss another six weeks of action
The talented youngster seems to have finally found a cure for his constant knee problems.
Erik Durm's injury woes continued on Wednesday, as the
Borussia Dortmund defender was ruled out for another six weeks following a knee operation.
The culmination of a continuous problem
The 23-year-old underwent the operation on Wednesday, too. The procedure was carried out at the Straubinger Sporthopaedicum by Dr. Jürgen Eichhorn, in order to remove inflamed tissue in his knee. It was the exact same operation that Nuri Sahin had last year.
Durm has been out for quiet a while down, and has missed all of Dortmund's competitive action this season. Such is the extent of his knee problems, he has missed even the early tussles this term including the opening UEFA Europa League games againstWolfsberger AC.
Having already missed the four European clashes, a DFB-Pokal win over Chemnitzer FC and BVB's opening three Bundesliga triumphs, Durm is set to be absent for another eight games. Those include ties with Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen in domestic competition, while the first three Europa League matches could come too soon for the versatile wing-back.
Not a massive loss, other injury problems
While before the start of the season this could have left Dortmund light on both the left and right-back spots. However, the addition ofJoo-Ho Park and the emergence of Mathias Ginter as a very viable option on the right now mean that Thomas Tuchel is covered well in both positions. In fact Ginter's form has been nothing sort of fantastic, notching three assists and a goal in five games this term.
Lukas Piszczek and Marco Reus are also both unavailable for selection, in what has been an injury-filled international break. The former will miss just a few more days after picking up a knock with Poland, though Reus is out for a more substantial amount of time. He fractured his toe just as he joined up at the German national team in Frankfurt, and should return along with Durm in the coming weeks.
FFC Frankfurt's Theresa Panfil ruptures ACL
1. FFC Frankfurt will be without Theresa Panfil for several months after the teenager ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament in training.
Theresa Panfil has been ruled out for at least six months after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament.
Her club,
1. FFC Frankfurt, announced the news via their official website earlier today, revealing that the 19-year-old suffered the injury during training yesterday afternoon.
Panfil underwent surgery on her right knee this afternoon in Frankfurt and is now expected to spend several months on the sidelines as she recovers.
Nightmare start to Frankfurt return
The setback is a terrible one for the teenager, who only made the switch to rejoin Frankfurt earlier this summer, leaving
Bayer Leverkusen after two years with the club.
She started her career with the current
Champions League holders, but struggled for playing time and thus, after making only two appearances for the first team, opted to move to Leverkusen in the summer of 2013.
There, she impressed thoroughly, playing 32 games across her two seasons and netting three times in an attacking midfield role as she matured into a very composed performer at a young age.
Frankfurt noticed Panfil's improvements and opted to bring her back to the club as a result, with manager Colin Bell saying that the teenager had "reached the level" at which she could be "a real advantage" for the team, adding that the fact that she was "ready to accept this challenge" showed her "great character."
However, now 19-year-old must cope with a long-term injury and the lessons that are learned from a spell out of the team.
Club wish Panfil the best during her recovery
Panfil has struggled to fight her way into the Frankfurt team in their opening two games, playing just eight minutes of football despite being introduced into both matches.
However, with Champions League football approaching and the DFB-Pokal about to get underway, rotation was bound to occur and chances were going to come for the youngster.
Instead of battling for game time though, Panfil will now switch her focus to recovering from surgery.
Manager and investor at Frankfurt, Siegfried Dietrich, spoke to the club's official website about the news, saying that "the diagnosis is very bitter" and that it is "a shock" for the whole club.
He added that he wishes Panfil "all the best, a speedy recovery and a speedy return."
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