Go Back To The Start

By: Abby | August 10th, 2009

A battling 1-0 win that my Bayern-supporting friend (bitterly, after I teased him about which team had won and which team didn’t on Saturday) referred to as “boring”?

Oh yes, it’s good to be back.

Hannover, much to my pessimistic predictions, put up more of a fight than they appeared capable of in pre-season. They had the better of what few chances there were in the first half, hitting the bar or having their shots blocked. As for Hertha, new boy Nemanja Pejcinovic started at right-back, in place of Lukasz Piszczek who was replacing Patrick Ebert in midfield. Artur Wichniarek also got a start up front with Raffael. (It seems he had a bit of a time of it, as well- the Berlin fans aren’t exactly patient, are they?)

The second half started a bit like the first, but eventually the home team started to turn the screw. Gojko Kacar gave a glimpse of what was to come by unleashing a 30-yard drive, saved by Enke, in the 52nd minute, but it was 30 minutes later (when it seemed as if the game was about over, but at least we’d keep a clean sheet, right?) that he finally made the breakthrough. Much praise also needs to be given to Valeri Domovchiyski, who worked the ball down the right side, playing an excellent one-two with Cicero before providing an excellent cross to Kacinho, who slid it through the Hannover defense and into the back of the net. That was all that we needed for a 1-0 game and the resumption of the season, right where it was.

And, okay, maybe Robby was right and it wasn’t the most exciting of games, but the goal, when it came, was particularly sweet. Creative, feisty, and everything that I hope to see in the season ahead, particularly with the good work by Domovchiyski and Kacar. There’s going to be a lot of pressure on those young shoulders, particularly Gojko’s- he’s already being touted as the new star of Berlin now that Pantelic and Voronin are gone. He seems eager to start on it.

Let’s all watch the goal, shall we?

Link:

There’s still about 20 days in the transfer window, too, and still much more to be done. We are apparently interested in Rwanda’s U-20 captain, Haruna Niyonzima. I can’t say much more about that. There are also reports that we’re planning on loaning Tunisian striker Amine Chermiti and bring in another striker. He’s never quite settled here – although a long-term injury hasn’t helped – and it might be a good idea to let him regain his confidence and scoring somewhere else. Although I still think he can come good for us.

The signings we’ve made are also not without controversy. According to various sources, Lazio are so peeved at our nicking of Rasmus Bengtsson that they may take it to FIFA. They claimed that they already had an agreement with Bengtsson’s agent by the time we signed him, but we were the ones who ended up with his name on a shirt. We’ll see.

Oh, and Marko Babic’s gone to Zaragoza.

There’s also the next round of the DFB-Pokal to think about. We’ve been drawn away to Munich, of the 1860 variety. The second-division Löwen came in twelfth in their league last season, but they did win their first game.