The Green-Whites are back in action just one day after the Telekom-Cup as they face VfL Osnabrück today, Sunday at 15:00 CEST. Alexander Nouri’s side can expect an opposition that will be highly motivated. VfL are preparing for the new 3. Liga season, which begins this Friday away at Karlsruher SC.
Having finished the previous season in sixth place, VfL Osnabrück have brought in a number of new faces of the summer. Seven players have left the club but five have joined, all on free transfers. The most well-known name in that quintet is defensive midfielder Tim Dannberg, who made the move to the club from Chemnitzer FC. The Werder defence will also need to watch out for centre forward Kwasi Okyere Wriedt. The 23-year-old was VfL’s top scorer last season with twelve goals.
For Werder head coach Alexander Nouri, the match also presents a trip to his footballing past. Nouri played for VfL Osnabrück from 2004 to 2008 and scored nine goals in 93 appearances. It is however not long since Nouri has faced his old club as Werder head coach, with the Green-Whites beating them 5-1 in a friendly eight months ago. Max Kruse scored a brace, whilst Florian Kainz, Robert Bauer and Lennart Thy all got their names on the scoresheet.
Alongside Alexander Nouri, a number of the Green-Whites squad are also pretty familiar with Niedersachsen. Ousman Manneh, Michael Zetterer, Jesper Verlaat, Milos Veljkovic, Niklas Schmidt, Ulisses Garcia and Johannes Eggestein played against Osnabrücker in last season’s 3. Liga, with the Werder U23 side doing the double over this afternoon’s opposition.
