It doesn’t get much better than that. The first two friendlies of the preseason didn’t see Werder venture too far from home, as Kruse, Harnik and Co. ran riot in Bremerhaven against FC Eintracht Cuxhaven and OSC Bremerhaven. Head coach Florian Kohfeldt emphasised ahead of the tournament that: “They might by friendly by name, but we are taking these games seriously”. There was no question of that on Tuesday afternoon.
Line-up and formation: Kohfeldt named a side for the first game against Eintracht Cuxhaven that included experienced faces like Kruse (captain), Bargfrede and Gebre Selassie alongside a few young up-and-coming talents. Three players involved in the Werder u19 setup last year played in the game, namely Manuel Mbom, Ilia Gruey and Luca Plogmann.
Kohfeldt made eleven changes for the second game against Bremerhaven, including new arrivals Jan-Niklas Beste and Felix Bejimo as full backs. Also in the team were Josh Sargent, Milot Rashica, Maxi Eggestein (captain) amongst others.
Highlights:
5th minute: GOAL FOR WERDER (1-0), Möhwald - The new signing got on the end of a corner from Max Kruse and headed into the net with force.
20th Minute: GOAL FOR WERDER (2-0), Kruse - The very active Möhwald was fouled poorly and won a penalty. Kruse set up to shoot and finished expertly in the bottom right corner.
23rd minute: GOAL FOR WERDER (3-0), Harnik - The second goal scored by a new signing! This time it’s Kruse who shines in the build up by playing a beautiful pass to Harnik, who beat Hildebrandt to open his account.
28th minute: GOAL FOR WERDER (4-0), Kruse - Harnik wins Werder’s second penalty of the game. Kruse steps up again and makes no mistake for his second goal of the game.
32nd minute: GOAL FOR WERDER (5-0), Kruse - Bargfrede intercepts a pass before playing through Kruse, who scores to get his hat--trick, this time into the bottom left.
35th minute: GOAL FOR WERDER (6-0), Bargfrede - The midfielder wins the ball back well and takes no time at all to spin and shoot. No chance for the keeper and a brilliant goal!
38th minute: GOAL FOR WERDER (7-0), Kruse - It’s Kruse again, who looks like he wioll score every time he touches the ball. An unsavable shot nestles into the top left corner. Goal number four for him today.
44th minute: GOAL FOR WERDER (8-0), Harnik - Möhwald plays in Gebre Selassie down the right, who plays the ball directly into the middle. Harnik is there to finish with aplomb.
45’+1: That’s it! The first match of the round-robin tournament is over. SV Werder have beaten FC Eintracht Cuxhaven 8-0. A goal-hungry Max Kruse bagged four against the Bezirksliga side, whilst Harnik and Möhwald celebrated their debut goals for the Green-Whites.
Highlights:
2nd minute: The first opportunity of the match goes to the hosts from Bremerhaven, who can’t exploit a dangerous cross from the left flank, as Duffner rushes out to collect it.
3rd minute: GOAL FOR WERDER (1-0), Sargent – After a fluffed defensive clearance, Jan-Niklas Beste pounces on the loose ball and puts Sargent through for a tap-in.
5th minute: GOAL FOR WERDER (2-0), Rashica – After a link-up with Johannsson, Rashica darts around an opponent and smashes it past goalkeeper Pazhigov to make it two within five minutes.
28th minute: GOAL FOR WERDER (3-0), Rashica – A brace for the Kosovo international! After a strong tackle by Eggestein, he plays the ball through to the wide-man, who slots home his second.
30th minute: GOAL FOR WERDER (4-0), Friedl – The Austrian youngster fires a free-kick into the corner of the net! Brilliant stuff, Marco.
31st minute: GOAL FOR WERDER (5-0), Johannsson – Great play from Sargent, who sees Johannsson sprinting into the box out of the corner of his eye and passes into his path. Aron makes no mistake.
45’ +2: Full time. Another bundle of goals and another clean sheet – job well done.
Round-up: SV Werder produced two convincing displays and sailed towards the tournament trophy. Defensively solid and threatening in attack, the Green-Whites took their chances and dominated the games. The next friendly takes place this Sunday, 15th July, where SVW take on Czech side FK Pribram at their training camp in Austria at 11:00 CEST and then MSV Duisberg at 13:00 the same day.
Florian Kohfeldt: “It was a great venue for the tournament. A lot of praise must go to the organizers. Everything ran smoothly, including our football. The lads played with concentration and the fresh faces, including the younger players, made a very good impression. Of course not everything went swimmingly, but I’m very happy. It was a good end to our first week back.”
Starting XI vs. Cuxhaven: Plogmann - Gebre Selassie, Moisander, Vollert, Jacobsen - Bargfrede, Mbom, Gruev (28‘ Philipp), Möhwald, Harnik - Kruse
Goals: Möhwald (5‘), Kruse (20‘, 27‘, 30‘, 38‘), Harnik (23‘, 43‘), Bargfrede (34‘)
Starting XI vs. Bremerhaven: Duffner - Beijmo, Langkamp, Friedl, Beste - M. Eggestein, Käuper, Wagner - Rashica, Sargent, Johannsson
Goals: Sargent (3’), Rashica (18’, 28’), Friedl (30’), Johannsson (31’)
Attendance: 3000
