Many teams used the lull in the league action due to the Euro 2008 qualifying games to play preparation games in order to keep their game instincts sharp. So did Bohemians, who were invited to Wolfsburg for a friendly against the local Bundesliga team. “Wölfe”, coached by the former international star Felix Magath, are currently in the 11th place in the 18-team Bundesliga. Since the home team is also fond of green-and-white colours, Bohemians had to play in black-and-gold uniforms.
Bohemians started the game timidly and their experienced opponent did not hesitate to take advantage of it. Wolfsburg scored the first goal already in the 7th minute of the game and added the second goal just before the half time.
Bohemians were a much improved team in the second half, trading attack for attack with Wolfsburg and it paid off. Hašek made it close by scoring on a shot from the 16-yard line after a nice pass from Bartek. Both teams then created more scoring chances - Ordoš hit the crossbar at one end, at the other end Sňozík had to be at his very best to prevent more damage. With a few minutes to go the home team managed to add one more goal.
The game was very useful from Bohemians point of view. They proved to themselves that they can compete with most teams provided that the effort is there. Bohemka’s midfield is getting set. It is interesting that all four starting midfielders (Moravec, Nikl, Hašek, Bartek) are products of the Bohemians youth system. What’s more, with the exception of Nikl (31), the midfield is very young - Moravec and Hašek turned 20 this year while Bartek is only 19. And waiting for his chance is even younger, 18-year old Morávek.
Bohemka’s coaching staff experimented on defense in the second half, playing Nikl and Pávek in the center. It’s a pity that Nikl had to leave the game early in the second half with a suspected muscle strain. Despite that the experiment seemed to provide coaches with a viable alternative to the established defense duo Rada, Lukáš.
Some Bohemka fans travelled 500 km to cheer their beloved team. They got a helping hand from fans of the German team St.Pauli (2.Bundesliga) that deserve special thanks.
For those of you who have mastered Göthe’s language, you can enjoy the original match report posted on VfL Wolsburg web site: http://www.vflwolfsburg.de/50453+M569f6bb645c.html
Date and Time: November 16, 2007 at 6 pm
Stadium: Volkswagen Arena (Wolfsburg)
Goals: 7. Boakye, 41. Radu, 85. Gentner - 49. Hašek
VfL Wolfsburg: Lenz - Schäfer (46. Makiadi), Costa, Madlung, Riether (46. Quiroga) - Munteanu (46. Thiam), Gentner, Baier, Laas - Boakye (46. Niang), Radu
Bohemians 1905: Sňozík - Růžička, Rada (46. Pávek), Lukáš (46. Adam), Kunášek - Moravec (80. Marek), Nikl (64. Kotyza), Hašek, Bartek - Ordoš, Matůš (46. Škoda)
