Ich gebe zu, dass die Überschrift nicht besonders glücklich gewählt wurde. Mir ist aber keine bessere eingefallen. Es ist schon gespenstisch was sich im hohen Norden abspielt. Kein Verein ist dieses Jahr mit einem solchen Verletzungspech gesegnet, wie der Sportverein an der Elbe. Besonders in letzter Zeit spitzte sich die Verletzungsmiserie doch arg zu.

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Mit der Verpflichtung des niederländischen Superstars Arjen Robben, der bei Real Madrid keinen Platz mehr hatte, nachdem die Weltstars Kaka und C. Ronaldo das Trikot der Spanier tragen, hat der FC Bayern München einen echten Transfercoup gelandet. Somit wurde man also doch noch einmal tätig auf dem Transfermarkt – und reagierte damit eventuell sogar auf das Drängen der Fans, die (zumindest teilweise) in einem öffentlichen Brief ihrem Ärger Luft machten.

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Seeing that there's a lack of bombastic news coming in from our camp, let's see what news are worth a mention. Ivica Olic, who's been quite excellent in Bayern's pre-season efforts, has picked up a knock and we'll be sidelined for at least a week, two at most. As reported, our Slavonian Speedster (don't ask) landed awkwardly during a training session and ended up straining a knee ligament.

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Am Samstag, als der BVB in Gladbach das Unentschieden sicherte und sich darauf verließ, dass der HSV das Siegtor nicht hinbekommt, da war ich mir plötzlich sicher, dass Hamburg noch gewinnt. Warum? Weiß ich auch nicht. Vielleicht war es der Glaube an einen Fußballgott, der nicht immer dieselben mit Papierkugeln bewirft.

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Link:

The Frank Baumann winner was a comedy of errors as Michael Gravgaard's clearance hits a piece of debris and bounces out for a corner. Frank Rost is unable to deal with the header adequately and the ball deflects of his hand into the area of Piotr Trochowski and Baumann. Trochowski standing on the line gets to the ball but his kick only manages to tattoo the forehead of the charging Baumann and the ball bloops over for the goal.

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The final of the UEFA Cup were determined on Thursday with the second legs of the semifinals. Here's a recap of both games with the final set to be played May 20th in Istanbul.

Shakhtar wins on a late goal to win 3-2 on aggregate - Video Highlights

Shakhtar Donetsk defeated Dynamo Kiev 2-1 in the second leg of the UEFA Cup semifinals on goals from Rodrigues Jadson and Junior Ilsinho.

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While yesterday's antics by Chelsea and the drama in dying minutes get all the coverage, today's semi-final matchup between Werder Bremen and Hamburg provided significantly more bang for the buck, and a real game to boot. And while there were a few questionable calls, the only German to cover himself in shame, this week, was Mannschaft captain Michael Ballack.

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Okay, ich sage es gleich vorweg. Ich bin HSV-Fan. Und als HSV-Fan muss man echt Einiges einstecken können. Nach dem 1:0 Hinspielsieg im Bremer Weserstadion habe ich wirklich geglaubt, dass die Mannschaft es packen könnte. Nichts da! Die Bremer werden uns auf Jahre hinaus auslachen und sich jetzt wahrscheinlich hemmungslos besaufen (nun gut, dass mache ich auch gerade aus Frust).

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(Werder Brema-Amburgo 0-1. Trochowski)
WERDER BREMA: Weise, Fritz (40'st Prodl), Mertesacker, Naldo, Boenisc; Tziolis, Frings, Ozil, Diego; Pizarro, Hugo Almeida (16'st Rosenberg). A disp.: Mielitz, Tosic D., Baumann, Vranjes, Harnik. All.: Schaaf.
AMBURGO: Rost, Demel, Gravgaard, Mathijsen, Aogo (34'st Benjamin); Jarolim, Alex Silva (30'st Boateng), Pitroipa, Trochowski; Guerrero, Olic (46'st Torun). Click to continue reading...

May is the dawning of the much-heralded ‘business end to the season', the fitting climax to the sweat, tears and bloodshed which have been sacrificed to guarantee a euphoric finale. It is the curtain-fall that differentiates the genuine victors from the once-threatening aspirants and creates an opportunity to watch mesmerising history unfold in front of our very own eyes. Click to continue reading...

"Not speaking English is a problem. You've always got his interpreter running around the training ground. Sometimes you pass the ball through the middle and he chases it. And the interpreter is running alongside him and he gets in there and heads into the net!"
Harry Redknapp on the problems created by Roman Pavlyuchenko's lack of English. Click to continue reading...

I wrote in the preview for the game that above all else an away goal would be crucial - and on the evidence of tonight Stephen Ireland's goal after just 30 seconds is our only glimmer of hope heading back to Eastlands for the second leg.
It was such a dream start to go in front so early, but before we could capitalise on this advantage Hamburg were back in the game and in truth it was no more than they deserved, with Shay Given making a number of saves before they got back on level terms. Click to continue reading...

Die Hinrunde des Hamburger Sportvereins ist fast eine Kopie des letzten Jahres - zumindest was die Ausbeute anbelangt. In der Tabelle rangiert man auf Schlagdistanz zur Spitze, die UEFA-Cup-Gruppenphase hat man als Klassenbester bestanden, auch im DFB-Pokal ist man noch dabei. Trotzdem will sich überschwängliche Euphorie beim ewigen Bundesligisten nicht so recht einstellen. Click to continue reading...

¿Olic al Valencia? ¿Crespo al Madrid? ¿180 'kilos' por Kaká? ¿Qué le pasa a la prensa deportiva en los últimos días? Parece que hay cierta escasez de noticias y que a los diarios no les queda otra que inventárselas. Si no, me dirán ustedes qué pintaría Ivica Olic, atacante del Hamburgo, en el Valencia. Click to continue reading...

Slaven Bilic sporting his Mads Mikkelsen look

It is a telling sign that Joe Cole, England's best player has to fight for a starting spot in the squad. What perversity is this? I know Capello is a bit of a martinet and Cole might have ignored his instructions but his goals provided the victory against Andorra.

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Germany will be feeling a bit relieved as Spain will be without David Villa who has been ruled out with a muscle tear in his thigh. But they still have Torres and Guiza to contend with. And Silva, Fabregas, Iniesta, Xavi, Senna, and Ramos.

This Spanish team is not afraid to let it fly from long distance and Lehmann's reflexes will be sorely tested.

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L'elisir del gol all'ultimo secondo

Vince l'imponderabile tra Turchia e Croazia. Se fosse stato un altro sport avrebbe vinto la Croazia ai punti, ma trattandosi di calcio alla fine ha vinto la squadra dell'imperatore Therim.

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I would definitely put a bit of money on Turkey. Just like Greece four years ago, they keep on pulling off the improbable results. They've only been ahead for two and a half minutes in the entire tournament, quite a feat if you think about it, yet have reached the semis, albeit one against the machine that is Germany. Click to continue reading...

EURO 2008 QF
HT Croatia 0:0 Turkey, Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna
Croatia: Pletikosa, Corluka, Robert Kovac, Simunic, Pranjic, Srna, Modric, Niko Kovac, Rakitic, Kranjcar, Olic
Turkey: Rustu, Hamit, Gokhan, Emre, Hakan, Mehmet, Sabri, Tuncay, Arda, Nihat, Kazim
The day's Viennese heat had cooled inside the Prater by kick-off, but the temperature was always goingto be stoked by the passionate Turkish fans and their Croatian counterparts, who outnumbered them substantially inside the bowl. Click to continue reading...

Croatia 2-1 Germany
So much for Germany's status as tournament favourites. I don't know if they just collapsed under the weight of expectations after their first game or what, but if so, Dear boys: You are not Spain. Stop being all neurotic. Love, me.
The first sign that maybe it wasn't going to be Germany's day came about 20 minutes in, after a relatively quiet start by both teams, as Mario Gomez put the ball into the net only for it to be (correctly) ruled out for offside. Click to continue reading...

I know what English fans are thinking? That should've been us beating Germany.
Turns out Croatia has a couple tricks up it's sleeve. They outplayed the group favorites up and down the field, beating Germany 2-1 on Thursday to secure a spot in the quarterfinals.
Darijo Srna scored the first after a great string of passes and Ivica Olic added a second. Click to continue reading...

First of all, apologies for not having put anything up on here yesterday. I am currently in the middle of working out the details for the new Twohundredpercent, which will open for business in about three or four weeks time. Secondly, I do feel rather that the content on here over the last week or so has been rather dry. Click to continue reading...

Croatia 1-0 Austria
It was the worst possible start for Austria: conceding a penalty in the first five minutes, after Ivica Olic was brought down in the box by Rene Aufhauser. A ballsy call by the referee, awarding a penalty against the hosts so early on, but I think it was the right one, and Luka Modric put it away easily. Click to continue reading...

England manager Steve McClaren made some of the boldest decisions in his team selection to play the crucial last qualifying game against Croatia, in a game that England could not afford to lose. Pre Match Press Conference?? When questioned about the speculation about the team in the pre match press conference McClaren replied that the players did [. Click to continue reading...