That tingling feeling of excitement...

Worms match preview

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Florian Kohfeldt looks forward to SV Werder's first competitive game of the seasonin Worms (Photo: nordphoto).
First Team
Thursday, 16.08.2018 / 17:25

The long, gruelling summer is coming to an end for SV Werder Bremen, as the 2018/19 season beckons. "At the start, we were training three times a day. That was pretty tough," admits Niklas Moisander. Now it’s time for the real thing. On Saturday, 18th August (15:30 CEST), the Green-Whites kick start the new campaign at the EWR-Arena against Wormatia Worms in the DFB-Pokal.  "In the cup, the only thing that matters is progressing. Of course we are favourites, we need to show that," told Philipp Bargfrede, meanwhile new signing Davy Klaassen insists: "We must and will win."

SV Werder – the Cup team: 1961, 1991, 1994, 1999, 2004 and 2009. Six times, the Green-Whites have triumphed in Germany’s premier cup competition – only FC Bayern have won more (22). But the last success came ten seasons ago in 2009, when now-sporting director Frank Baumann lifted the golden cup high into the heavens in Berlin’s Olympiastadion. It’s about time the current crop of players experienced that feeling, believes Ludwig Augustinsson. "The road to the cup final is tough, but we dream of making it," told the Sweden international. Klaassen also talked up Werder’s cup ambitions, adding: "You don’t play to reach the semi-final. You play to reach the final."

Only a win will do for Davy Klaassen & Co. (Photo: nordphoto).

Florian Kohfeldt on the match: The team’s chances are obvious – SV Werder are clear favourites against a fourth-tier team. "With due all respect to Wormatia Worms, it’s a Bundesliga team vs. a Regionalliga team," admitted Florian Kohfeldt. Added to that is the fact that Werder have never been knocked out of the cup by a fourth or fifth-tier team. Twelve times the Green-Whites have met teams from this league and twelve times they progressed to the next round. That should also be the case this coming Sunday, believes the Werder coach. "There’s nothing else to say other than we are going there and we will win. I’m sure of that," said Kohfeldt.

Can you feel it too? There’s a special feeling spreading through the Werder camp. "I can feel this tingling feeling in my stomach," shared Kohfeldt. Anticipation ahead of the season opener has put the head coach in a sprightly mood. "I’m happy that pre-season is finally over," Kohfeldt told, as the Green-Whites finally prepare for competitive fixtures. "There’s a kind of tension growing as the cup match approaches. That’s the special thing about this job."

No active player has scored more DFB-Pokal goals than Claudio Pizarro (Foto: nordphoto).

Cup legend Pizarro: All good things come in threes? No, fours! Claudio Pizarro returned for his fourth spell at SV Werder this summer, and with him comes the guarantee of goals. Not only was the Peruvian part of the 2009 cup-winning side, he is the competition’s most capped foreign player, as well as the most lethal in front of goal. Pizarro has played 53 times in the cup and scored 30 goals. 

Back in the cup after five years: While the match will be SV Werder’s first of the season, VfR Wormatia have already played four times in the Regionalliga Südwest, winning two and losing two, leaving them currently in eighth place. Worms qualified directly for this year’s competition after winning the Südwest-Pokal. This is their first appearance since 2012/13, when they knocked out Hertha BSC in the first round, before being eliminated on penalties by 1. FC Köln.

 

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