August, 2005 - Nr. 8
Excitement at fever pitch ahead of Bundesliga kick-off
TWIG - Bayern Munich have set their sights on bagging a record 20th Bundesliga title — their sixth in eight years — as Germany’s top-flight soccer league kicks off a new season against the backdrop of a rising tide of anticipation ahead of the 2006 soccer World Cup in Germany.
As ever, Bayern are overwhelming favorites to win the title — but teams such as Schalke 04 and Werder Bremen are poised to mount a challenge to the Bavarians’ perennial dominance of a league that rivals England’s Premiership in terms of fan support.
With almost 400,000 season tickets already sold, this year’s Bundesliga attendance is expected to top last year’s record tally of 11.6 million fans, league officials say.
For many of those fans, the focus will be squarely on Bayern as they begin their title defence against Borussia Moenchengladbach on Friday at the new Allianz Arena in Munich.
With its steeply banked seating and the dazzling color effects of its dramatic illuminated façade, the stadium is one of 12 across Germany to be built or refurbished for next year’s hotly-anticipated World Cup.
The excitement of that event, the world’s second-largest sporting event behind the Olympics, is rubbing off on this year’s domestic competition, say observers.
"It won’t be a season like any other because the World Cup is coming up," former Germany coach Rudi Voeller told dpa news agency. "It will be different for the players and for the fans who want to get ready for the big event at home. The Bundesliga will profit from all this."
After the traditional Friday curtain raiser, the remaining 16 teams in the league will face off on Saturday and Sunday.
Among them are last year’s runners-up Schalke 04, who, aiming to offset the loss of goalgetting forward Ailton, have signed Germany striker Kevin Kuranyi.
The most spectacular signing of the off-season belonged to mid-table Hamburg, though, with the acquisition of Dutch international Rafael van der Vaart from Ajax Amsterdam for more than 5 million Eur.
In another high-profile transfer, Denmark striker Jon Dahl
Tomasson will join VfB Stuttgart while Germany forward Lukas Podolski will
return to the top division with promoted Cologne, raising hopes that the
upcoming season will feature more goals than ever before.
Republished with permission from "The Week in Germany"
Links:
