Hannover 96 Vs FC Köln (Game Day 5)

3 up,  3 down and 100% at Home

The Oktoberfest in underway in Germany and the location of this in Hannover is in the shadow of the HDI arena. The close proximity of the Oktoberfest to the stadium combined with the so called “English week” of games (which is what Germans call games that are played during the week instead of at the weekend) make for an interesting pre-match. People head from work, meet up for a few social drinks at the Oktoberfest and head to the stadium already in the mood for singing. In the stadium itself, they also had a “happy hour” before the game where all beer was 50% off. Something was telling me that could be a very enjoyable game under the floodlights.

My seat in the stadium is directly behind the goal where the away team warms up, it is always interesting to see them going through the shooting practice. A one-two pass on the edge of the box and shoot for goal. Watching them shoot, I was amazed at their accuracy and proficiency at finding the top corner of the goal nearly every time. I was wondering how this team had only scored 2 goals in the first 4 games! Their finishing was sublime. I was hoping that they would not continue this level of finishing into the actual game. Only time would tell.

Kick off, and the with the pitch being illuminated by the hundreds of floodlights on all side the singing started in ernest from both sides. This Cologne team may have only scored 2 goals in the first 4 games but in those 4 games they have kept 4 clean sheets, a great credit to their defensive work….but it took only 6 minutes for them to know they would not be keeping a 5 clean sheet. A turn and shot from Jimmy Briand that was blocked and fell nicely to Joselu who himself turned and shot past Timo Horn into the bottom left hand corner. 1 nil Hannover and the energy was buzzing.

Hannover were playing very well in the opening of the first half and dominating Cologne, shots were coming from all angles. One in particular from Briand went over the bar and over the protective net and was caught by a guy in the first row. Nothing too spectacular there, happens all the time, but the guys reaction was brilliant. Normally when the ball goes into the crowd, it gets thrown straight back to the ball boy, but this guy catches the ball, holds onto it and takes out his mobile and starts taking some “selfies” of himself with the ball. He then hands it to his friend who does the same. All this time the poor ball boy is just standing there waiting quietly. Once they got enough pictures they did return the ball to ball boy.

Half time and I was now starting to see why Cologne had only scored 2 goals in 4 games, their finishing in the warm up was excellent but they lacked the ability to get into those positions during the first half. Then, over the stadium speakers, just to get us all in even more of the mood, “I Gotta Feelin” by Black Eyed Peas with the line “I gotta feeling that tonight’s gonna be a good night”, 1-0 up and I agree with them, lets hope for more of the same in the second half.

The Cologne team was out after the HT break a few minutes before even the referee. They started the second half strongly but rarely looked like getting back on level terms. A few glimpse and nice header that was comfortably parried  by Zieler was about the height of it. This started to look like a game that was just going to peter out in a 1-0 scoreline. Hannover starting to take their time over every goalkick, throw in, etc and Cologne trying to inject some urgency which had a bit of a comical response. The ball goes out for a thrown in and the Cologne player runs after the ball, turns and restarts with a throw in. At the same time a ball boy throws a second ball and we have two Cologne players taking the throw in at exactly the same time 10 yards apart. Referee blows for two balls on the pitch and by Cologne trying to speed up play they actually slowed it down. Something was telling me that this was not going to be Cologne’s day.

A little of complaceny was starting to creep in around the 70 min mark from  both the players and the fans until I looked over and saw Tayfun Korkut going nuts on the sideline and even at one time enting a few meters onto the pitch to make his point, Hannover responded and the fans responded in kind, the atmosphere was back, singing, clapping and cheering the team over the finish line.

Full Time, unbeaten this season at home!! Unreal!

While this game will not go down as one of the classic encounters that I’ve experienced in the stadium, let’s look at the positives; 3 points, 3rd in the table and the bonus of a clean sheet. This means 9 points from the 3 home games so far. If only Hannover could play every Bundesliga game at home! So, the excellent start to the season continues and with two consecutive away games coming up the next visitors to the HDI fortress are Borussia Mönchengladbach on the 18th October at 15:30. Auf gehts Hannover!

Hannover 96 1 – 0 FC Köln

1-0 Joselu 6 mins

Hannover 96 Vs Hamburg (Game Day 3)

The Battle of HSV vs HSV

With Hannover 96 making it into the top 50 of European teams (place 44 and 1 ahead of Liverpool) according to the latest official UEFA co-efficient (click here to see for yourself) and a very respectable 0-0 against Mainz 05 on Game Day 2, the atmosphere was in stark contrast to 2 weeks ago against Schalke 04. There was genuine hope and expectation this week. And why wouldn’t there be hope and expection? Hamburg had a terrible season last year and the first two results of this campaign see them sitting at the bottom of the table after being beaten by Bundesliga new boys Paderborn at home on Game Day 2. This game, as are all derby games, was a “must win” but this one felt, walking to the stadium, a “will win”.

The friendly nature of the Hannover Vs Hamburg means that the stadium announcer from Hamburg travels down and announces the Hamburg players as if they were at home. The Hamburg captain was Johann Djourou, who was on loan at Hannover for the second half of the 2012/13 season. I was expecting a mixed reaction from the home fans towards him but when his name was called out, there was no discernible negative reaction from the haome fans. The same was true of the Hamburg coach, Mirko Slomka, who was the manager of Hannover from Jan 2010 to Dec 2013.

Just to add a little bit of extra spice to the game, the big screen in the stadium gives us all a view of a VIP! and what a VIP it is. German National trainer Joachim Löw. Wonder who he is here to see??

After a loud signing of the Hamburg song with the added visual effect of a load of blue and white ballons, the volume was turned up on the Hannover song “Alte Liebe” when at the end, unfortunatly some flares were lit in the guest block.

The game kicked off and the singing from the home fans that was so badly missing during the Schalke game was….THERE! Less than 30 seconds into the game and the Hannover fans were singing and singing loudly. The opening 5 mins was the best to any game I’ve been to in a while, Joselu had two half chances in the first few minutes. Hamburg fans were singing, Hannover fans were signing, chances at both ends and an open free flowing game of football. The stadium was electric, what more could a football fan want? A Goal, that’s what. We didn’t have long to wait, in a phase of play which resembled crossing practice from Sakai, Albornoz, Schmiedebach and anyone else who fancied going out wide Joselu got the ball and sucked in 2 defenders and layed the ball off to Albornoz who had all the time in world to place an inch perfect cross onto the head of Leon Andreasen, 1 nil Hannover and 13 minutes gone.

Less than 10 minutes later it is 2 nil to Hannover, once again the Hamburg defenders stand off and let Joselu advance and advance until he is nearly in the 6 yard box and squares the ball where Artur Sobiech bundles both himself and the ball over the goalline. The fans up the volume once more and sense there could be alot of goals today.

Slomka, on his return to Hannover seeing his team 2-0 down after 24 minutes decides to send out a couple of substitutes to warm up. One of these substitutes is Artjoms Rudnevs, who spend the second part of last season on loan in Hannover from Hamburg. While he was running down to the warm up area behind the hamburg goal, he turned to the Hannover fans in that section and applauded. This was greeted by a ripple of genuine applause back to him. Rudnevs, you are a true gentleman.

So 2-0 at the break and the expectation was that Hannover could and should kick on and put this game to bed. The fans were great form and the players were playing extremely well. Rudnev had been brought on at half time and within a minute of the restart Hamburg had a great opportunity to score, some miscommunication at the back for Hannover should have allowed Hamburg back into the game but the shot was pulled just wide to the relief of Ron-Robert Zieler. The atomosphere turned quieter as the second half went on and barring one top class shot from Joselu in the 62 miunte and an acrobatic save from Jaroslav Drobny, Hamburg looked the more likely to score. A second golden opportunity to score went begging for Hamburg in the 67th minute through Rudnev and the Hamburg number 10, Pierre-Michael Lasogga turns and appeals to the Hamburg fans to up the volume. Which they duly did, only for 30 seconds later the same player to attempt to cross the ball and for him to, in golfing terms, shank the ball a mile wide. He turned around apolgised to his team mates and ran off to try again.

80 minutes gone and Hamburg were still looking like the team more likely to score but just lacked a decent ball in the final third. The Hannover fans sensing time was running out, raised their voice trying to push the team over the finish line. The minutes ticked by and knowing 3 points were in the bag the Nordcurve attempts to get a mexican wave started, and on the third or fourth atttempt, they succeeded. North stand to West then south and over past the business seats of the East stand, everyone got involved for 3 rounds of a mexican wave.

Final Whistle! All over a big cheer for the lads well done and I feel that if we can keep Joselu fit this could be a nice season.

So 2 home games down for Hannover 96 and there are only two teams with a 100% home record, us and…..Bayern Munich. Excellent start to the season and bring on the next visitors to the HDI fortress, FC Köln on the 24th September at 20:00. Auf gehts Hannover!

Hannover 96 2 -0 Hamburg

1-0 Andreasen 13 mins, 2-0 Sobiech 24 mins

Hannover 96 Vs Schalke 04 (Game Day 1)

New Shirt, New Sponsor, New Season….New Optimisim??

After 104 days the Bundesliga is back for the 52nd season! There was the little thing about the FIFA world cup to tide us all over during that time so this football summer was a little more bearable than others.

12 months ago Hannover opened their season, coincidently also against Schalke. The feeling 12 months ago was distinctly different, we were playing Euorpa League football for the second consecutive season and had a real feeling that we could beat anyone. Mirko Slomka had Mame Diouf and Ya Konan scoring goals for fun and Huszti providing assists like there was no tomorrow! Despite not playing the best that day we were helped by an early sending off for Schalke and went on to win the game by 2 goals (Hustzi and Diouf) to 1 (Szalai)….and also by 10 men to Schalkes 9 men. Belief was high for the coming season. Alas, a managerial change during the christmas break and a couple of loan signings saw us secure another season in the Bundesliga and finish a respectable (if not disappointing) 10th place.

This summer Hannover have been busy “wheeling and dealing” with 9 new players coming in and 5 players returning from loan. However, the main talking points are who has left. Mame Diouf gone to Stoke, Ya Konan gone to Al-Ittihad, Huszti gone to Changchun Yatai and not to forget Captain America, Steven Cherundolo retiring after 15 years at the club. Can we cope without these players? Who will be our playmaker? Who will score all the goals?? These questions and many many more will be answered over the next 9 months and 34 game days.

The atmosphere walking through Hannover heading to the stadium was in stark contrast to 12 months ago. The belief seemed to not be there, there was no overt shouting and singing on the streets and in the buses and trains. Fans making their way to the stadium not sure what to feel; fear…joy…anxiety…trepidation at playing one of the perennial “big boys” in German football, or all of the above.

Entering the stadium 20 mins before kick off and the we were greeted to a sea of Blue and White. The Schalke travelling support was immense, they had taken up their allotted allocation and about 4 times more. The whole south-west corner was drenched in blue that extended into the west stand and there were blue shirts dotted through the stadium. Looking at the team sheet for Schalke and the fear started to grow, world cup winners and experienced internationals everywhere. The joy that I had coming back “home” to the HDI arena after 104 days started to turn to trepidation.

Despite all the new signings, there was only 4 changes from the team that ended last season with the 3-2 win against Freiburg. If new club captain Lars Stindl was fit, that number would only be 3. People were wondering if new signing Joselu can take the place of Diouf, Ya Konan or Huszti, personally I was hoping he would take over from all 3 but only time will tell.

The game kicked off and upper section of the North stand seemed to be a bit empty. The Ultras, in protest of the board, are boycotting the professional team and starting to support the U23’s instead. The normally loud, singing, atmosphere-inducing Ultras were gone, instead some empty seats and like an orchestra without the conductor the normally vocal home support was overshadowed by the thousands of Schalke supporters who were signing and shouting and boy were they singing and shouting. Now my trepidation is turing to fear.

The first half was a tight affair with only a few set pieces for Hannover looking like only way for Hannover to get on the scoresheet. With no real open chances I started to focus on the two new arrivals I had high hopes for, Joselu and Mikko Albornoz. While Albornoz was relatively ineffective there were some glimpses of Joselu and what he is capable of. I liked what I saw, nice movement, few tricks up his sleeve. His link up play was smooth and he seemed to be on the same wavelength as his teammates and in 36th minute some nice play between Edgar Prib and Joselu saw the latter free on the edge of the box to take his first shot in anger as a “Red”. This time he pulled his shot wide. Still we had no organising singing from the home fans. Shortly before half time a superb turn and shot from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar brought out a wonderful save from our world champion goalkeeper, Zieler. That was the only shot that troubled either goalkeeper in the first 45 mins. So 0-0 going in at the break and that was probably a fair result.

They say that football is a game of two halves and how true that is after the mostly dull 0-0 opening 45 mins, it only took 90 seconds to break the deadlock. Some slow defending let Schalke free down the left and clinically show Hannover how to play simple football leaving Zieler no chance and the simpliest of tap-ins for Huntelaar. Now my fear is turning to anxiety “How many will they get now? Has the flood gates just opened?” The home support which was quiet before got even quieter and the Schalke fans turned up the volume on their chants. I was starting to think I was watching an away match. Now Schalke are on top and looking to extend their advantage and are pushing hard for a second. Something has to change. 60 mins and Korkut makes a change. One debutant for another Albornoz who has probably played better games, comes off and on comes Hiroshi Kiyotake. What a change! Kiyotake is like a dog with a bone and his energy and determination has an effect. Bittencourt, had an excellent game, regains possesion beats his defender for pace and delivers an exquisit ball for Edgar Prib who does excellently to steer the ball into the bottom right hand corner.

1-1 and game on…and still no singing.

3 minutes later Edgar Prib turns provider and is allowed to advance nearly half the pitch before laying the ball off to Joselu and from outside the box…BANG!…. GOAL! 2-1. The stadium erupts not quite beliveing what has just happened from 1 down to 2-1 up in a matter of minutes. My seat is in a directly line with the flight of the ball and the minute he hit it….I was out of my seat jumping up and down. Now the home support was singing. My trepidation had turned into belief then immense joy in the space of 3 minutes.

My personal man of the match must go to Prib for his contribution today but honorable mentions must go to Bittencourt and Kiyotake.

“Football is a funny old game that is not played on paper” and it is days like this that I thank God it isn’t. 3 points, unbeaten at home…bring on the Europa League! “Auf gehts Hannover!” and bring on the next visitors to the HDI Arena and it’s a big one… friendly derby Vs HSV (Hamburg)

Hannover 96 2 -1 Schalke 04

0-1 Huntelaar 47 mins, 1-1 Prib 67 mins, 2-1 Joselu 70 mins