True Friendship

News in brief on Friday

Clemens Fritz and Per Mertesacker celebrate Werder's DFB-Pokal win in 2009 (Photo: nordphoto).
Team Talk
Friday, 14.09.2018 / 11:35

True friendship: Clemens Fritz and Per Mertesacker have more than just football in common. The two were roommates for the whole five years they had together at Werder. “Clemens is one of the few true friends I’ve made during my footballing career,” said Mertesacker. The defender also spoke about the funny side of the pair’s friendship: “I had no sense of fashion at all when I met Clemens.” “It’s no secret that we’re still friends. Per was already my favourite player to play with,” said Fritz. The Werder legend will line up alongside other big names like Michael Ballack, Petr Cech, Miroslav Klose, Claudio Pizarro and Tim Wiese next month for “Mertes Homecoming” in Hannover’s HDI-Arena.

Super sub: Milot Rashica seems to have adopted the role of Werder’s very own super sub so far this season. The Kosovo international has come off the bench in both Bundesliga games, playing 47 minutes. However, he’s more than contributed during his short time on the pitch. Rashica has a goal, an assist, and has set up chances for teammates three times already this season. He came on against Hannover and provided the assist for Theodor Gebre-Selassie, before scoring a wonder goal from a free kick to beat Eintracht Frankfurt. The 22-year-old winger is accepting of his bit-part role so far this season: “We have a lot of good players in the team and the competition makes us stronger. Everyone wants to play, that’s obvious. I always give my all.”

Milos Veljkovic and Niklas Moisander have set the Werder defence a target for this season (Photo: nordphoto).

Coming of age: With 61 Bundesliga games, five international caps and having taken part in a World Cup to his name, Milos Veljkovic is an essential part of the Werder Bremen team. With 30 league appearances last season, the centre back solidified his place in the starting XI before a further step forward this summer. “He went to a World Cup, which has given him so much more confidence,” said Niklas Moisander. Veljkovic also played two full games for Serbia during the international break. “He plays with much more confidence and has developed well,” Moisander added, “we’re well-drilled; we want to improve again this year and concede less than 40 goals.”

On both sides: Frank Baumann played 138 games for Sunday’s opponents before moving to Werder in 1999. Kevin Möhwald also used to play for 1. FC Nürnberg, signing for the Green-Whites last summer. The midfielder played 93 times for his former club, scoring 12 goals and getting 24 assists. Werder defender Robert Bauer is currently on loan at FCN for the season.

 

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