OUT OF MANY, WE BECOME ONE!! THE WERDER BREMEN CHRONICLES (PES 2009)
We Climb Our Highest Peaks in Our Third Season, Going on a MASSIVE Campaign!!
(+7 CEF Pokal and 8 CL Matches)
25 wins,
8 draws,
5 losses
1st in
Central Europe Federation
CEF League and Pokal Champions!!
Werder Bremen. A Central European Powerhouse. Who would've thought that these words would materialize in only three short years? Nobody, absolutely no one in the footballing universe could've ever predicted this incredible and joyful ride. Indeed, one of the most amazing stories ever to grace
European Football,
Manager Millossobek's Midfield Revolution took hold and elevated the
Werderaner from the doldrums of second division to the heights of
League and Cup competitions in only three seasons. Was it magic? I wouldn't say so. Magic is defined as something supernatural, something that defies our physical existence and goes beyond our understanding.
This is reality. This story, my friends, represented the new face of German Football, united in diversity, forging strength from different origins. This team was humble yet devastating. International yet rooted in local traditions, with charisma pouring out of every move. This adventure, in fact, was a brotherhood of one. Let me tell you how it came about.
This generation of the
Werderaner has its roots in different corners of the globe, which, quite unexpectedly and spotaneously, came together under Northern Germanic skies. While it is true that
Manager Millossobek knew that he had something special brewing in his first season, his
Four Musketeers soared to previously unimaginable, heights that seemed almost impossible when this story began. And we did it in our own way. Building young talent and mixing it with veteran leadership, we assembled
a truly international roster who, even if they were not considered superstars, created something together that not only stood the test of time, but transcended football, created an identity that an entire city (and indeed, a country) could rally behind:
Claudio Pizarro. The grizzled
Peruvian striker, "
El Bombardero de los Andes" who had toiled away for years at
Werder, was joined in our first season by three incredibly promising youngsters, some of which were just realizing their potential, others entering their prime:
Mesut Ozil, A young, 20 year old German of Turkish origin, an on-ball magician with amazing field vision and a knack for making the right pass at the right time, an artist painting a canvas on the pitch..
Shinji Ono, the Japanese Jack of all Trades, a complete player bringing a sense of calmness, coolness, opportunity and charisma and always playing with a wisdom belying his years, and
Stephen Appiah, The Ghanaian Warrior, the engine of our team, tireless and our emotional leader driving the midfield, temperamental and mercurial but always inspiring. Driven by this midfield revolution accompanying our Peruvian striker, the "
Four Musketeers" steered
Werder to promotion in their first season, against a tough Central Europe Federation made up of German, French, and some Dutch and Swiss teams.
We were back in the top flight in the first year of our adventure!
Even though
The Werderaner had returned in first division, back to their rightful place amongst Central Europe's teams, nobody could've expected what would happen in our second season, the outcome of which was incredibly more surprising than the first. Our
Four Musketeers were strengthened by a good amount of role players, and even though nobody in our team could rightfully be called a superstar, we were playing as a cohesive unit, one that believed in each other and had rapidly found an identity under
Manager Millossobek: A talented midfield being the engine of the team, with veteran leadership up front and role players humbly doing their part. Earning promotion was hard but now,
a much tougher challenge awaited. The
Top Flight featured the
cream of the crop of Central Europe, Bayern, Olympique Lyon, Ajax, Dortmund, Marseille, PSV Eindhoven, Schalke and many others! Would we be able to compete against this massive group? This question would be rapidly answered! We actually went beyond competing, and in fact had what I can only describe as
a campaign right out of a storybook. Coming racing out of the gates, we had an awesome and surprising first half of the season (
going 12-5-2), as the rest of the campaign would take on a suspenseful nature, namely a tit-for-tat league race against archrivals Bayern Munich. This was an incredible achievement, given that we had not had any big-name signings in the offseason.. You see, it was just a question of us staying together and believing in each other, as the synergy between
Pizarro, Ozil, Appiah, and Ono was undeniable and seemed to grow stronger as each match progressed. In the end, even though we crashed out of the
Central European Federation Pokal Cup, and
Bayern injured 4 of our players during the title race, fueling more fire to the rivalry late in the campaign,
we ended up winning the league by a comfortable margin, in an astounding turn of events, going from bottom dwellers to
winners of the top flight in only two spellbinding years! 🏆
What new experiences would wait us? An amazing ride had preceded us, but would we have the firepower, and more importantly, the mettle and the spirit to repeat our performance? Our meteoric ascent to the top of the
Central Europe Federation had definitely put a target on our backs, as the other teams (especially Bayern)! were eager to dethrone us and prove to the world that our team of upstarts and rag-tag wildcards were nothing more than that, a lucky strike from the Footballing Gods, a one-time deal. Everyone was out there to prove us wrong, and like the popular adage says, and which in this case was totally applicable..
There's nothing harder than being a Defending Champion.
Manager Millossobek was not counting his chips though, as he knew deep down that we had a chance to not only perform well, but to stun the
Central European Federation if we kept our head down, humbly played every game one at a time, displayed the same intensity and heart, and gave our best effort while still playing with the unison and joy that characterized us our first two seasons!
Season #3 could not start any better, starting out with with a couple of 0-2 away wins against Brugge and Toulouse to get us off on the right foot, followed by a 5-0 thrashing of Lyon and a 1-0 victory against Dortmund which enlarged our confidence!
Four straight victories: A crackin' start to the season, one in which no one player shined but one in which we were absolutely playing as a team, all together displaying the same qualities
that had driven us to the title the previous season, brandishing our swords of defending champions with pride! This hopeful and encouraging start was followed by a 2-2 draw against Frankfurt in
Fixture 5 (in which we uncharacteristically gave up a 2 goal lead in the second half), and a few mixed results: (our first loss of the season, 1-0 to Stuttgart, in a match where it was abundantly clear that they were playing
with a huge chip on their shoulders, as their rabid fanbase egged them on passionately against the unexpected Defending Champions), followed by a trip to Belgium where we drew 0-0 against Standard Liege, on a very cold evening in the Wallonia, French-speaking area of the country. Thankfully, in true
Werderaner fashion, we rebounded quite well from this mini-slump, and went on a tear,
winning 4 out of our next 5 matches! (
Fixture 8 saw us beating the always tough Ajax 2-1, followed by the only loss of this stretch against Bordeaux, and then reeling off 3 straight wins: 2-1 vs Anderlecht, 1-2 in a road win against LOSC Lille, and a 3-1 victory against recently promoted Zurich in
Fixture 12!).
This run of positive football, in which we were
8-2-2, was a first quarter of the season that truly went above and beyond what anyone was expecting. Yes we were
defending champions, but we were playing with a poise and a togetherness which was made the more surprising being that other teams saw us as targets.
With 25% of the season in the bag, we were sitting in first place, a point ahead of Girondins, and spearheading us 4 points clear of third place!
The
CFE Pokal would come next. As we were
League Champions, we were given a be in the first round, so therefore a
2nd Round matchup against a familiar foe (should I say top nemesis) awaited: Bayern Munich. I gotta say, facing Bayern this early in the Cup was a bit of a surreal experience, (I would've expected to have faced them much later on, but that, in a sense, was the luck of the draw)! In the first leg, played at the
Weserstadion, we weren't able to prevail, as a late goal by Bayern lifted them to a 1-2 victory in our grounds, freshly reminding us that even if we were doing really well in the league, the
Cup was a completely different creature and that Bayern would not take anything for granted. In actuality, I have to say that I was a bit frustrated after this match, because not only were we facing our toughest rivals (who gave us a nail-bitingly epic title race last season down the stretch), but
we were also facing an insane schedule, the lines of which we hadn't seen before in this campaign:
16 matches over 8 weeks! It was really crazy, to say the least, trying to balance out
3 competitions at once, but it was a challenge that we were looking forward to facing, being that we had reinforced our team quite well during the previous offseasons, adding depth the our bench roster.
Back in the
League, and after a great away win in Fixture 13 against PSV (in which we played a large squad comprised of mainly second team players due to scheduling fatigue and in a game where we managed to play really well, with our little-used defender
Hyka contributing 3 assists), we were ready for a new challenge. For the first time in many years,
Werder Bremen would be playing the
Champions League, a privilege granted to us due to being
Central Europe Federation Champions the year before. Our group would face us off against tough rivals:
Valencia, Tottenham and PSV Eindhoven, a very balanced group with no clear favorite. Yet the most resounding question would linger: After a great first third of the season where we had surprisingly cemented our place atop our league,
would we be posed to face off against the European best? Would we be ready? Our first
Champions League match would be at the
Weserstadion, facing Tottenham (and a very young Luka Modric I might add)!
Groupstage 1 was an interesting match. Even though our starting eleven was rested, we finished 1-1 against the English side, as our master playmaker
Ozil found
Di Gennaro for a goal but unfortunately we couldn't hold on for the win. Not the ideal result, but we had managed a point in
our first CL fixture, a decent result in our international Cup debut.
As we continued to juggle our lineup, it was time to go back to the
League as we faced the Farfán-led Schalke in
Fixture 14, drawing against them (2-2). Then it was time for groupstage of the
Champions League, once again playing at home but this time against grizzled veterans Valencia. In reverse fashion to what had happened earlier in the season, this time we came back from an 0-2 deficit to equalize with a goal by Pizarro and a penalty kick by
Di Gennaro (who came in to replace a tired
Mame Diouf in the second half, the Italian was a key role player), and we were once again able to salvage a point. Although we had only managed 2 points in our first couple of games,
Manager Millossobek saw this as a moral victory of sorts, being that we were able to come back in the darkest periods of
Groupstage 2. This was followed by another tie back in the
League, 1-1 vs Leverkusen before our most important match of the
Champions League Stage so far, an away encounter against PSV Eindhoven in the
third groupstage. And let me tell you guys, this was a crazy, crazy match. and one that set the tone for the rest of the groupstage: PSV scored first to the delight of their rabid fans, and
Shinji Ono equalized to make it 1-1 in minute 34. Only four minutes later, PSV would take the lead again to make it 1-2, which was a disheartening turn of events heading into halftime. Changing tactics was important, and we did, as just as the second half started,
Mame Diouf equalized again (on a rebound after the PSV keeper stopped
Pizarro's shot), and everything was tied again (2-2). The match went on.. Were we destined to play to another draw, only managing to rescue a point, or would we do something to separate ourselves from the pack? Out of nowhere though in minute 57, PSV went scored again.. it was 2-3 and things weren't looking good... We were fighting so hard, not only against PSV but also facing increasingly loud supporters.. Would we be able to rescue a point?
Reisinger came in for an exhausted
Pizarro and, out of nowhere, in minute 72, was recklessly fouled in the box by a PSV defender!! What a mistake by PSV!
Mame Diouf steps through and we equalize!! The roller-coaster continues.. a couple of minutes later.. It's
Fredheim Holm, our youngster from the bench who came in for
Ozil with the winning goal, we take the lead, this time for good as we manage to hold on in the most exciting match of the Groupstage! Final score: PSV 3-4 Werder! An insane match that had
Manager Millossobek sweating all throughout, yet we showed the quality and depth of our squad!
Shinji had an absolutely monster game, the architect of our midfield and of our comeback. The key was this: No matter how many times PSV scored on us, we always had a response.. and at the halfway mark of the Groupstage,
we had 5 points and were second in our group, only trailing Valencia! A remarkable turn of events!
Back in the league, we would draw 2-2 vs Marseille in
Fixture 16 (once again fielding a largely second team) before heading out to London to face Tottenham Hotspur in
CL groupstage 4. And even though we were close to replicating the comeback against PSV, in this case we played to another goalfest, a 3-3 result to draw once again. Seen in retrospect,
this was an extremely valuable point as it retained our second place moving forward. Yet
the insane, 2 game a week scheduling would continue: After a very convincing win 4-1 win against Hoffenheim in the League, it was time to go back to the
CEF Pokal, where, reminder time, we were trailing 1-2 against Bayern. Yet,
Comebacks were becoming a staple of our Werderaner, as we beat them in Allianz Stadium 2-4 (for a global of 4-5), with late goals by
Pizarro and Ozil to seal the deal and advance to the next round against our rivals!
After coming back and drawing 1-1 in
Fixture 18 (once again against Bayern, this time with a second team), it was
Champions League time once more, as we would head out to Spain, where we would face group leaders Valencia (the toughest match of our group, on paper). This was a "moment of truth" game, since a win against the leaders would give us a very nice position for
Champions League qualification, and.. We stepped up to the challenge! Responding with a resounding away 1-3 win at Estadio de Mestalla!!
Pizarro, Diouf and Ozil scored some beautiful goals and we signed the exclamation point and came back with the most important CL win of our groupstage. These 3 points were definitely worth their weight in gold,
as we overtook Valencia and led the table with 9 points, with Valencia having 8 and PSV 7. This convincing result meant that a draw in the next match would see us through to the next round!
Two
League matches beckoned after our
CL trip, as we handily beat Wolfsburg 2-0 and lost one of the few matches this season so far, 0-1 at home vs Belgian powerhouse Club Brugge. in
Fixture 20 (once gain fielding a secondary squad due to scheduling constraints). As we went back to face
groupstage 6 in the
CL against PSV, we knew that
a draw would be enough, so we played a bit more conservatively than usual. However. as the Footballing Gods would have it, we would end up winning the game 1-0, courtesy of an early game dispossession by
Stephen Appiah which led to a furious run that beat the entire Dutch defense for the score (minute 7)! A good defensive performance would follow for the rest of the match, as we hung on for the 3 points and
finished the group stage at the top of the table! Remarkably, we had won our group after drawing our first two matches by winning 4 of the next 5 groupstages! It could now be said that we had shocked not only German writers but also Europe, as we weren't favored to win the group, proving on the way that
we belonged in the International Stage against some of the toughest squads in the continent, a group in which Valencia had led most of the way and Tottenham largely disappointed, and PSV always chipping at the heels. But we had overtaken them all!
would be a huge boost for us, both in our confidence as well as in terms of recognition both in the
CEF as well as the continent at large! We would ride on the coattails of this momentum in several high-scoring matches, both in the
League and back at the
CEF Pokal Cup. A 4-2 goal festival in
Fixture 21 of the League vs Toulouse (in which
Ozil scored an insane shot from outside the box in the first half, and recently signed
Kazim-Kazim shined with two second half goals) was followed by yet another 4-2 result in the
Pokal Cup quarters against Ajax (a Masterful performance by
Pizarro, with yet another brace added to his collection).
Fixture 22 was a rare 4-2 defeat against Lyon, as
Manager Millossobek decided to rest most of our starters, yet we would recover back at the
CEF Pokal, showing resiliency in drawing 2-2 in Amsterdam in the return match (6-4 global score), and in the process eliminating Ajax and advancing to the Pokal Semifinal!
An interesting point is that the
Pokal semi wasn't scheduled for another 11 weeks, which meant that our immediate goals were twofold at the moment: continue our torrid pace in the league, and focusing on our
CL quarterfinal, which would be against none other than Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Henry and Zlatan's
Barcelona, a strange turn of events and a stiff challenge indeed as they finished second in their group.
We were looking forward to the challenge!
Before facing Barca, though, first we had to take care of a few matches back at the
League.
Fixture 23 would feature another historically great match, one of several that would remain etched in memory, against the massive
Yellow Wall of Dortmund, Signal Iduna Park, perhaps the toughest place to play in all of Central Europe was awaiting, with their 81,000+ passionate, standing-only supporters. Yet,
in true Werderaner fashion, we wouldn't let this, or anything intimidate us this season, as we faced the yellow wall and the Dortmund faithful and walked away with a dominating 0-3 win, in a game that featured 2 goals from our "Bombardero de los Andes"
Pizarro, who dazzled a still unbelieving Dortmund Crowd! Importantly, this encounter also featured the emergence of
our Fifth Musketeer, Defensive Midfielder
Blaise Matuidi, who assisted one of the goals and perhaps more importantly, played tenacious defense, harassing the Dortmund midfielders and forwards during the entire 90 minutes and enabled us to play with freedom to score our goals! This was an impressive win, indeed,
perhaps the most impressive win of our league season so far. Yet
Fixture 24 would be very different, as we lost our most lopsided game of the season, a 4-1 defeat against Frankfurt. It is important to note however, that we played all of our reserves, even some of our youngsters, due to the fact that in the same week, we would play our
Champions League quarterfinals against perhaps the most lauded team in the world, Barcelona!
Going up against THIS superstar-filled Barca was always going to be a challenge, we knew that. But there was no fear whatsoever.
We played a hard-fought match at the Wederstadion for the first leg, and played really well. In fact, I would say that
we outplayed Barcelona through most of the match, with clear chances by
Pizarro, Appiah, Ono, and Diouf all throughout. Unfortunately though, a screamer from Bojan Krkic in minute 64 was just enough to seal Barca's 0-1 victory, which was a bit frustrating. In fact, during the last 5-10 minutes of the match, we were literally all over them, pressing them and creating a lot of chances (almost an equalizer by
Diouf which sailed just wide just before the match ended)! So,
although we lost a frustrating match, we weren't feeling discouraged because we had played them really well, generating many chances.. We knew we had a chance at Camp Nou. (Following the insane scheduling of the
Central European Federation though, we had another midweek game against Stuttgart-
Fixture 25, but in this case, we did much better, edging them 1-0 with once again our reserve team).. A few days later, we would go to Catalunya to try to revert the first leg result, and this match was a bit different, as Barca played better than us and ended up winning 2-1 (3-1 aggregate score)., featuring goals by Zlatan and Seydou Keita (both assisted by Henry). Even though
Mame Diouf had gotten us closer with an equalizer, we were still behind on the global, and Keita's 84 minute score sealed the deal. As the final whistle blew, we were out of the
Champions League, as Barca would advance to the semifinals against Inter, while Real would face Man U in the other semi.. Was I disappointed? Sure, a bit, but also having fought against this team with so many high-paying superstars (and who probably quadrupled us in terms of budget and salaries), and having battled them well,
we had a great European Cup and could leave
with our heads held high. In a way, I was also relieved, because the
insane League-CL-Pokal schedule was really draining on my players. With the
Champions League over, now we could
fully focus on the League and the CEF Cup! 
And guess what..
We came back.. With a vengeance!! Winning our next 4 League matches in SPECTACULAR fashion, we were DEFINITELY peaking after our
CL exit.
In all of these four victories (4-1 against Liege, 3-4 against Ajax, 3-2 against Bordeaux, and 0-4 against Anderlecht),
we scored a total of 15 goals, averaging almost 4 goals a game as once again our story turned!!
Our minds were truly concentrated and set: This was a complete goal carnival that really showed our talent back in the
League. Many players shined in this winning streak, for example, the emergence of
Kazim-Kazim (aka Kazim Richards) was key in this surge, an essential offseason pickup from England. Even though he was mostly a bench player (substituting for
Mame Diouf),
Kazim came through in several of these games and scored very important goals. He really shined.
Ozil was also on fire, assisting and threading the needle in the midfield masterfully, as well as scoring a beautiful angled free kick against Ajax (this game was an epic comeback, since we came down from a 3-1 deficit to score three more goals, including two scores by
Pizarro in the last 15 minutes), and playing beautiful overall football. Continuing on with the Musketeers,
Stephen Appiah scored two goals against Bordeaux, as it seemed like he was EVERYWHERE in this game. In addition, the match Anderlecht was also a clinic, with a
Pizarro brace, a score by
Kazim, and an absolutely beautiful play by
Ozil, slaloming the Belgian defenders and leaving them stranded in the box before a spectacular finish.
We were definitely riding high, and expanding our league in the standings! (After Fixture 29, we had a commanding 6 point lead in the table, over second place Lyon, and 8 clear of 3rd place Bayern and PSV!). Yes, we were focusing on the
League, and in commanding fashion, this was an insane run!!
Fixture 30 would be a draw, 3-3 at home vs LOSC Lille (continuing on our high goalscoring ways),. We would rest some players in this match, however, because.. After an 11 week absence, it was
Pokal Cup time again, facing PSV at the
Weserstadion. Yet even though our players were well rested, something was a little off in this match, as PSV was able to beat us 1-2 in our grounds. We had once again lost the first leg in the
Pokal, but hopes were still high, because if there's anything that
Werder had proven this year, is that we had a lot of fight in us and a comeback was absolutely not out of the question.. But once again, we had
League business to take care of: We would continue our hot streak, visiting Zurich and winning 1-2 (in what was Mame Diouf's night, a brace!), followed by yet another goalscoring 4-3 festival against PSV, in an encounter that featured a bit of everything! (an own goal by PSV in the very first play, a goal by our side back
Mamadou Dabo, THREE goals by PSV to level the score before halftime, and
Kazim-Kazim setting up
Mame Diouf for the winning 4-3 goal, another roller coaster of a match in a campaign filled with them!) We would continue on with our
winning League ways, beating Schalke 0-2 at their stadium in
Fixture 33, in a match that featured two goals in five minutes to seal the victory. We were really firing on all cylinders, which was really important, as it also gave us confidence to make a comeback at the
Pokal.
Our League lead was 4 points with 6 matches to go, and despite the fact that everything was up in the air still, this run of positive results bided really well.
First though, it was time to take care of business in the
Pokal semifinals. Even though we had lost our first match 1-2 vs PSV at home, and the road ahead seemed long and difficult as we traveled to Amsterdam for the second leg, we once again showed our class and figthing spirit and
ONCE again came up with a HUGE comeback, beating them 3-1 for a global score of 4-3! (We were up by halftime before they made it 2-1 and leveled the global score, but an 80th minute goal by little-used
Bernd Schuster was the deciding factor!) Once again, with our back up against the ropes, we showed what we were made of, this time with the contributions of an unsung hero, and we moved to the
CEF Pokal Cup Final as our exhilarating run continued, where we would meet LOSC Lille! But first, two
League matches were in store for us,
Fixtures 34 and 35, which we handily won (2-0 vs Leverkusen, featuring goals by our backup CF
Reisinger-who was having a great season, and our resident warrior-box to box emotional leader
Stephen Appiah, and another spectacular 1-4 win against Marseille in France, with
Pizarro and
Kazim Kazim doing the honors this time, with a brace each!) And the long-awaited moment after a season of
League dominance had arrived: After
Fixture 35, we were one step closer to clinching the League title,
as one more win in the last 3 matches would ensure us lifting the long-awaited and expected League Trophy! But first, we had some business to take care of.
Pokal final time against Lille..
Werder Bremen's first
Cup final in the
Millossobek Era, and.. You wouldn't guess it. This final was no contest, just absolute domination by
Werder Bremen! It was a single-match final played at the Stadio Olimpico, and we completely outplayed Lille, scoring a
Demolishing Penta (Goals by
Di Gennaro, Sami Khedira-who we had purchased in the offseason but hadn't had many chances to shine-, our young promise
Fredheim Holm, and TWO goals by our newest our Wunderkind
Kazim Kazim, once again coming up huge in the clutch moments!!).. After 90 minutes had passed, the final whistle blew, and we could finally say:
CEF POKAL CUP CHAMPIONS!!!!! We had won the final in spectacular fashion, and once again reiterated that we might not have been the most talented, or the most hip, or the most expensive team in the
CEF, but we were proving to be the best! Final score: Werder Bremen 5-0 Lille, a majestic night for the ages, as the night sky lit up with green and white confetti, we reveled in our victory under Olimpico skies. The first part of our mission was complete, and
we needed only one more win in the League to make Central European History.
Let me tell you though: For all the epicness of our
Pokal title, this joy would not compare to what would happen in our next match,
Fixture 36 of the Central Europe Federation. Going up against Hoffenheim, we knew that
a victory would finally ensure us the league title, our second in a row. Even though we were basking in the
CEF Pokal win, we knew that this match would define our legacy,
as a win would crown us consecutive CEF League Champions and therefore carried a lot more weight. As we stepped on the pitch and initial whistle blew, we were aware of the importance of our circumstances, and..... only 11 minutes later, we would strike first!!!!
Mame Diouf, our secondary striker, the eternal companion to
Pizarro on the front line, scored a goal with a great move outside the box to elude the Hoffenheim defenders, juking them out of their shoes, and finishing it off with a lethal strike from outside. It was 1-0
Werder Bremen, and things were going as planned. The match went on, with good chances by both sides, and despite the fact that we were winning, we weren't resting on our laurels, and kept attacking, trying to ensure the win.. Yet this wouldn't be a
Millossobek Story without a suspenseful challenge: In minute 37, Demba Ba equalized, and only a few minutes later, as the halftime whistle rang, the game was tied 1-1. We knew that we had a chance and were letting it slip away, would we respond in the second half? We came out aggressively, and even though Hoffenheim was closing spaces well and a tie wasn't a bad result for our title hopes,
we wanted to finish everything tonight.. In minute 56, it's
Mesut Ozil, eluding defenders, and going on a massive run to put himself in golscoring position... and it's a goal!!!!!!
Mesut had broken the deadlock with a patented strike from outside!!
Would we be able to clinch the title tonight? Not if Demba Ba had anything to say about it! Once again, His goal at minute 71 tied the game as this was looking like a rollercoaster of emotion once more.. Yet we didn't want to leave anything to chance.. And even though we were not aware of how Lyon (#2 in the
CEF standings) were doing in their match, it didn't really matter.
It was a matter of pride as well as winning the title NOW.. The time was NOW, and we felt it. We felt it in our heart. And so it was, as destiny would have it, that only 8 minutes later, in minute 79,
Ozil receives a pass from
Pizarro, goes on a great run, is one on one against the keeper, strikes it, the keeper saves it.... but it's
Pizarro, who was trailing
Mesut all along, who shoots in the rebound with the sideways bicycle kick..
AND IT'S A GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We would manage to hold on for the last 10 minutes + extra time and in the end, as the whistle blew..
The final score was Hoffenheim 2-3 Werder Bremen and
WE HAD FINALLY DONE IT WITH A LEAGUE-WINNING GOAL BY PIZARRO!! YES, YES!!!!!! FINALLY, AFTER WEEKS OF SUSPENSE WHICH SEEMED LIKE FOREVER, WE WERE BACK TO BACK CENTRAL EUROPEAN FEDERATION LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
As soon as the match was over,
Manager Millossobek ran onto the field to hug his players in ecstasy, the relief of a long wait to win the title even though he had led most of the way. You could hear a large group of
Werder Bremen supporters at the Hoffenheim stadium going absolutely nuts as we had clinched our second League title in a row, and as the champagne and the celebrations ensued, it was real. The fans, the footballing world was witnessing something special:
From Second Division to Back to Back Champions in three years.. They knew that they were witnessing an extraordinary adventure, and that they were a huge part of it!! The Four Musketeers hugged each other in celebration,
the struggle and the relief, the expectation and the reward had fully arrived.
The very next day, back in
Bremen, hundreds of thousands of fans, in fact the entire city came out for the title winning downtown parade as the
Werderaner arrived! The whole city area was completely covered by
green, white, and
orange confetti, flags with the faces of
Pizarro, Ono, Appiah, and Ozil, music and beer to be found all over the place, an entire city held in rapture by this footballing revolution. In only three seasons,
Manager Millossobek had managed to do what seemed impossible: Not only rescue the Werderaner
from one of the lowest points in their history and second division semi-iobscurity, but also lead them into a
Double Championship (back to back CEF Leagues and a CEF Pokal Cup on top of it!) The celebrations went well into the night, as the entire eyes of not only Germany, but all of Central Europe, were fixed upon the city of
Bremen, where for one inspiring moment in time, titles were won not because of a financial takeover, nor a huge injection of money, but by a group of players from different corners of the globe (Germany, Ghana, Peru, Japan, France, England, Turkey, Costa Rica, Italy, Senegal) who came together under one banner, brandished an international style and embraced a
Werderaner identity as they played sometimes beautiful, sometmes fighting football! Innumerable flags could be seen on the streets, as immigrants and native Germans mixed together in dance and celebration, faithfully supported a team that represented their aspirations, a new face for Germany, hopes for the future, and reveling in the present.
This was one of the largest, most impassioned parades in European history, an entire city embracing their heroes with open arms, and open hearts.
The next two matches were a bit of afterthoughts after the title-clinching win (
Fixture 37 was a 1-1 draw against heated rivals Bayern in our grounds, a match which was taken professionally but where
the fans spent the entire match singing and waving their flags, in a way oblivious to the in-game action.. As the title had been won at Hoffenheim, this match had more of a concert feel, with fans playing Rock, African beats, and there was even a Japanese performer in honor of
Shinji Ono in the crowd, this match was taken more as a cleebration of the title! And
Fixture 38, a victory in our last game of the season 2-0 vs Wolfsburg at their stadium).
Winning two leagues in a row, plus the CEF Pokal was an incredible achievement, but moreso than the achievement itself, it was a celebration of loyalty and love for a team and a city, staying together, and a rags-to-riches stories completely fueled by the mind of
Manager Millossobek, who envisioned this
Midfield Revolution with his international young roster, led by veteran
Claudio Pizarro, the long-serving
Werderaner who had witness the bad times, the almost-bankruptcy of the club, and who could now hoist
three trophies with the organization! True, the
Champions League was eventually won by Real Madrid (beating Inter in the final),
but the story that captured the imagination of the football world this year was Werder Bremen's unlikely run, playing a brand of football that millions fell in love with, under an uber-charismatic group of players who, with humility, joy, pride, and persistence, beat much more experienced and expensive teams on their way to glory.
The tale of the 2009-2012 Werderaner is now written in Football History, engraved not in gold, but in green, white, and orange, like a chapter, a parenthesis that didn't make any logical sense, but was overtaken by emotion and by the power of belief and brotherhood! I believe that when Footballing historians look back on these three magical seasons, they will not only remember
Pizarro's goals,
Ozil's playmaking,
Ono's inventivenss, and
Appiah's tenacity, but moreso their smiles, the sparkling eyes of the players and the fans who, united under one flag,
wrote one of Football's most beautiful stories in recent memory!! Lang lebe Werder Bremen! Wir lieben den Werderaner!!!!!
"Words can't describe what I'm feeling right now.. There are hundreds of things I want to say, hundreds of ways I want to thank this group of players, the hundreds of thousands of
Werder Bremen supporters, and this entire organization.. But words fail me at the moment..
The emotion is too pure to be described with precise words, or perhaps the poetic one-liner that the press is looking for. I am overwhelmed by emotion. I can only say that, being as we were in second division three years ago, and on the brink of bankruptcy, of virtually disappearing as a team, it feels incredibly rewarding to have done this the hard way, the right way, bringing in a group of artists and warriors and seeing them grow and win together,
was the most rewarding experience of my Footballing life. I felt a joy, an innocence, and pure happiness that I hadn't experienced since I was a child, and I will treasure these memories forever, and I feel so grateful to have been able to create a motivation, and give a direction to the
Werderaner.. But the ones that took us there were the players and the fans, who were there for us in every step of our journey, and this moment belongs to them. The happiness I am feeling, I want you guys to know, is the happiness of every fan and every player."
Stephen Appiah: "We have written history! Yes! History! I am sure that the streets of Accra, my hometown in Ghana, are bustling right now. To have witnessed and to have been a part of this experience was an honor, and it makes me think of what
Manager Millossobek told me three years ago, as a 22-year old youngster when I first entered the
Werderaner: He said.. "
Stephen, do you know what a Box to Box Midfielder is? It's a tireless player, a player that when he does not have the ball, he hungers for it, runs everywhere to get it, a player who, when he has the ball, has to be everywhere at the same time, passing, scoring, defending, pressing.
He is the engine of the team, the one that revvs it up and keeps the intensity and the beating heart of our squad. You,
Stephen, are my Box to Box Midfielder,
and it is up to you to be the fuel of our aspirations."
I will never forget these words.. And now, three years later,
a triple champion,
I can say that I have done my job. I can go back to Ghana with my head held high!"
Shinji Ono: "In Japan, we are taught that team comes before the individual. From early childhood, we understand that football, like most things in life, is a team game. Even though the media always touted
Claudio, Mesut, Stephen and Me as "The Four Musketeers", the truth is, we couldn't have done this without all of our 30 players.. The steadiness and world-class talents of
Blaise Matuidi, the spark plug geniality of
Kazim Kazim, the quality of
Junior Diaz, the quiet but steady support of
Mertesacker and Reisinger, the young talent of
Fredheim Holm, the fire and goalscoring talent of
Mame Diouf, the contributions of
Khedira, Schuster, the list goes on and on.. That being said.. I cannot help but feel an
eternal brotherhood with
Claudio, Mesut and Stephen. The four of us were here from the very beginning of this adventure, and to have gone through this together, the joy and the accomplishment that we felt, looking into each others eyes, we didn't have to say anything when
we lifted the trophy.. We knew what we had lived through, we know how we persevered."
"I know I am only a young player, coming from the academy and debuting in the team at age 20. But I am 23 now, and I feel like this experience has given me not only immense happiness, but also a maturity that I will hopefully carry for the rest of my career. I still feel like I'm in a beatiful slumber, though, waiting for someone to wake me up. But then I finally realize:
Yes, this is reality. I also know that I am amazingly priviliged to be in this position, to have won so much so early in my footballing career, but I hope to have the wisdom and the perspective to realize that this is perhaps a one-in-a-lifetime situation, that by matter of circumstance, I happened to land on a team with a
huge amount of heart and with a fire that came from within. Out of many, we are one. You see, I really think that
Werder Bremen, representing so many countries, is the
new face of Germany.. A way forward to the future. I am the son of
Turkish immigrants, but yes, I am also
German, and the way that we embraced this team, coming from so many different places, gives me hope and gives me the satisfaction of knowing that
we are not only representing the city of Bremen, but also the entire nation!"
Claudio Pizarro: "Three years ago, I had no idea where my career would take me. I had lucrative offers to go back to
South America, to play for large
Brazilian and
Argentinean teams, where I could've finished my career near my home. But I decided to stay, and man.. am I glad I did, because this entire adventure gave me
a fire inside of me that I thought was perhaps gone and I was able to rekindle. We were in second division only three years ago, and
this rise was nothing short of meteoric. But maybe the part that I can shed some light on is.. This was no accident.
This was no miracle. This was the result of having fire in our hearts, playing with passion and friendship, embracing who we were as players.
Manager Millossobek told all of us, we are not a system..
We are a collection of individual hopes coming together for a common goal. The goal at first was much more humble, to ascend to
first division and recover our rightful place in history.. But we exceeded those expectations, we went above and beyond even what we expected, but I knew it.. I knew it all along, even when we were struggling, that this team was something special. To be a part of this group, of the
Werderaner, is to give yourself to the team, but also, and perhaps more importantly,
to keep a part in your heart, and to be able to express yourself on the pitch the way you wanted to.
Manager Millossobek gave us that freedom. He said: "
If you are yourself on the pitch, then we will be better because of it. Play with joy. Play with faith. Play with instinct. Play with love. Trust that your teammates will do the same, and the chips will fall in their place." And I can say now that, three years later, he was right.
This is the most beautiful experience of my footballing career. Thank you teammates, thank you boss, thank you fans, thank you Germany and Peru and everyone who believed in us.... No matter where I go from here on out,
Ich bin ein Werderaner fürs Leben (I am a Werderaner for Life)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
) but an absolute machine of a midfielder.
We must destroy them. 
Not without his multi-million superstars 
