96-head coach Ewald Lienen announces 18-man roster for the match against Duisburg:

Enke, Juric, Mertesacker, Zuraw, Großoehmichen, Tarnat, Halfar, Balitsch, Lala, Dabrowski, Sousa, Yankov, Delura, Stajner, Brdaric, Hashemian, Hahne and Montabell.

FC Schalke 04 - Hannover 96
25 : 8 shots
 7 :  6 corners
22 : 12 crosses
51% : 49% possesions
55% : 45% +challenges
  16 : 17 fouls
  4 : 3 offsides

Most shots:
96: H. Balitsch, H. Hahne (2 each)
Schalke: S. Larsen, K. Kuranyi (6 each)

Most setups:
96: J. Stajner (2)
Schalke: Lincoln (7)

Most contacts:
96: S. Cherundolo (75)
Schalke: M. Krstajic (77)

Most won challenges:
96: C. Dabrowski (62%)
Schalke: F. Ernst (75%)

Source: IMP-Fussballdaten

Cologne - Hertha 0:1
Stuttgart - Lautern 1:0

The Reds tried their luck too hard in their match against last year's runner-up for the title, FC Schalke 04. The club from the Ruhr Valley reconciled supporters with a 2-0 (0-0) success against harmless Hannover. In the first half Ewald Lienen's squad were happy to keep the score down due to fantastic keeper Robert Enke and blind luck. Hannover's lucky star sank after the interval, as Lincoln (58min) and Kevin Kuranyi (66min) struck, with Enke even saving Lincoln's penalty (61min).

Three changes to the starting line-up after Tuesday's bleak home defeat against local rival Wolfsburg: Brazilian Vinicius, relieving Dariusz Zuraw as centre-left defender, Hanno Balitsch, taking over from Chavdar Yankov in midfield, and up-and-coming forward Hendrik Hahne, covering for Vahid Hashemian. Host coach Ralf Rangnick reacted to his team's weak past performance by sidelining Hamit Altintop and Uruguay's international Gustavo Antonio Varela, replacing them with another Uruguay international, Dario Rodriguez and Dane Soeren Larsen, with Danish international Christian Poulsen subbing for suspended Bajramovic.

After few minutes of even play, the "Royal Blues" seize initiative and launch an unprecedented assault on Hannover's goal. Attack after attack rolls towards Robert Enke, and the Red's find no means to stem the blue tide. Schalke's central defender Marcelo Bordon fires the first warning shots. Robert Enke scrapes Bordon's free kick from 28 metres off the line (9min), three minutes later a Bordon header goes wide of the left post. Hahne provides some breathing space after Thomas Brdaric's cross, but fails to impress Schalke (16min). From then on Schalke rules the pitch right up to the break. Lincoln shakes off German international Per Mertesacker, is frustrated by brilliant keeper Enke, the ball rebounds to Larsen, who miraculously misses the empty goal from nine metres (17min). Lincoln bends a free kick around the wall, but the ball passes outside the left post by inches (18min). Not a moment goes by without a Schalke opportunity: German international Kevin Kuranyi tests Enke (21min), Larsen's header hits the crossbar two minutes later. Hannover's only opening results from Bordon's blunder letting slip Cherundolo's right cross towards Brdaric at the spot. The Hannover striker cannot control the ball in prime position and trips over it (31min).

Fifteen minutes to the break, and only one team is playing. But Schalke fails to capitalise from Hannover's alarmingly weak performance, and misses out on the best opportunities. Christoph Dabrowski wrestles Larsen to the ground in the box and is more than happy with the referee's lenient "No penalty" decision (33min). Shortly after Robert Enke once again safeguards the flattering in-between result for the Reds. Mladen Krstajic's corner finds Kuranyi, jumping higher than his marker Vinicius, in mid-air, but his header from five metres is deflected by Robert Enke with a world-class reflex (34min), and is lifted onto the crossbar and out. The crossbar saves Hannover from falling behind a third time when Bordon wins an encounter with Hanno Balitsch, his drop-down header jumping over Cherundolo at the left post but only hitting aluminium once again (39min). The Reds survive Schalke's assault unblemished and escape into the break with a goalless draw.

Hannover start more active into the second half and create their first opportunity through Hahne, who sends a shot into the sky from 17 metres, failing to hit the ball fully (54min) The host team though seize their first opportunity to score th lead. Krstajic on the left crosses to Lincoln, who nets the ball with a header from six metres (58min). Schalke is seeking the decision now, and gets a perfect chance three minutes later. US-boy Steven Cherundolo fouls Lincoln in the box, and the Brazilian-born Italian walks to the spot himself. Robert Enke's reputation as "penalty killer" pays off: he dives down to the right corner of the goal, and saves Bordon's well-aimed, but gentle shot (61min). Five minutes later Levan Kobiashvili's free kick seals Hannover's fate: the Georgian international bends the ball into the box to find Kevin Kuranyi, who helps the ball on with the back of his head and hits Vinicius' shoulder, from where the ball ricochets into the left corner of the goal (66min). The match is as good as over, but Schalke do not relent, but try to raise the score. Neither Kobiashvili (74min), nor Ernst (75min) or Poulsen hit target (78min), Larsen misses Kuranyi's assist from Lincoln's corner kick (82min). Hard to believe, but Hannover create the game's last opening. Substitute Fabian Montabell plays a right cross, Balitsch jumps in but is challenged and only hits the outside goal net (87min).

No reconciliation for Hannover's supporters after "Black Tuesday". Though Robert Enke is back to top form, Hannover allow to be confined to their own half by forceful and impressive Schalke. The final result is flattering for Hannover in view of the host team's numerous opportunities. To get back on track, the Reds need a victory against promoted MSV Duisburg.

STATISTICS

FC Schalke 04: F. Rost - Rafinha, Bordon, Rodriguez, Krstajic - Poulsen - F. Ernst, Kobiashvili - Lincoln - Kuranyi, Larsen - Coach: Rangnick

Hannover 96: Enke - Cherundolo, Mertesacker, Vinicius, Tarnat - Lala - Dabrowski, Balitsch - Stajner - Brdaric, Hahne - Coach: Lienen

Goals: 1-0 Lincoln (58., Header, Assisit Krstajic), 2-0 Kuranyi (66., Header, Assisit Kobiashvili)

Substitutions: 90. Hamit Altintop for Kuranyi, 90+2. Laumann for Lincoln - 68. Hashemian for Tarnat, 68. Delura for Hahne, 83. Montabell for Brdaric

Referee: Sippel

Attendance: 60881

Bookings: Kobiashvili, Poulsen - Dabrowski, Balitsch

Picture: S. Zwing

96-head coach Ewald Lienen announces 18-man roster for the match against Schalke:

Enke, Juric, Cherundolo, Mertesacker, Zuraw, Vinicius, Tarnat, Halfar, Balitsch, Lala, Dabrowski, Yankov, Delura, Stajner, Brdaric, Hashemian, Hahne and Montabell

Steve has updated his website and wrote about the match against Wolfsburg and the following match against Schalke:

30 Minutes of Chaos: "I am not quite sure how to explain the first 30 minutes against Wolfsburg..."

Schalke: "Schalke is a huge opportunity for us to not only win three points..."

http://www.cherundolo.de/

Hertha - Duisburg 3:2
Leverkusen - Cologne 2:1
Lautern - Mainz 0:2
Nuremberg - Schalke 1:1
Stuttgart - Hamburg 1:2

Hannover 96 - Vfl Wolfsburg
15 : 13 shots
 9 :  0 corner kicks
17 : 5 crosses
54% : 46% contacts
41% : 59% +challenges
  20 : 11 fouls
  5 : 3 offsides

Most shots:
96: V. Hashemian (5)
Wolfsburg: D'Alessandro (4)

Most setups:
96: J. Stajner (6)
Wolfsburg: M. Karhan (4)

Most contacts:
96: S. Cherundolo (100)
Wolfsburg: Alex (64)

Most won challenges:
96: P. Mertesacker (88%)
Wolfsburg: K. Hofland (81%)

Source: IMP-Fussballdaten

A catastrophic first half finalises the derby between Hannover and VfL Wolfburg. It is the first home defeat ever for Hannover against the neighbouring rival in Bundesliga history. Two goals for Mike Hanke (10min, 14min), one for Diego Klimowicz (27min) and Andres D`Alessandro respectively (33min) made for a comfortable lead of the away team. Only Thomas Brdaric's two goals (30min and 89 min) gave a glimmer of hope to frustrated but resilient supporters.

Hannover remained unchanged to Saturday's Bayern Munich away fixture. Hanno Balitsch returned to the substitute's bench after knee surgery and made his comeback in the second half for Tarnat. German international forward Mike Hanke replaced Argentinean Juan Carlos Menseguez.

Hannover gets off to a good start. Wolfsburg's goalkeeper Simon Jentzsch saves Vahid Hashemian's shot from 12 metres (7min). But only three minutes later Hannover's entire defense suffers from a collective blackout when Miroslav Karhan lobs a ball to the completely unmarked striker Mike Hanke at the right corner of the box. The former Schalke star player doesn't need to be asked and converts from ten metres, tunneling keeper Robert Enke, with Dariusz Zuraw too late to intercept.

Again the Polish defender has his head in the clouds four minutes later when Argentinean midfielder Andres D`Alessandro sends a pass to Mike Hanke, home alone with Robert Enke. Hanke says "Danke" and shoves the ball into the net (14min). The Reds get back into the match, when Altin Lala's long ball finds an out-of-position defender Per Mertesacker, who fires a volley shot at Jentzsch from nine metres that the Wolfsburg keeper only just swerves around the right post (16min).

Hannover's supporters, waiting for the goal to keep hopes alive, are bitterly disappointed 27 minutes into the match. Ghana's international Hans Sarpei runs half the length of the pitch unchallenged and plays a through-ball to Diego Klimowicz, who lobs the ball over Robert Enke from 12 metres (27min). Both linesmen fail to spot Klimowicz' offside position and the two teams are drawn apart further, making Hannover's chances even more slender. Hope returns to the AWD Arena as former Wolfsburg forward Thomas Brdaric heads Jiri Stajner's right cross into the net from five metres (30min), but this short flicker of hope is crushed once again, when Andres D`Alessandro restores the score difference with an oddball goal. It is strange that a player scores a goal after being yellow-carded. After being cautioned for taking a free kick too quickly, the Argentinean midfielder bends his second attempt with enormous spin from close by the right corner flag towards the near post. A surprised Robert Enke boxes the ball into his own goal (33min), the first real mistake the extraordinary keeper has made playing for 96.

After the interval 96 head coach Ewald Lienen put all his eggs into one basket and send on young forward Hendrik Hahne for weak Chavdar Yankov. But the first opportunity was with the away squad: Argentinean national Facundo Quiroga's free kick from 22 metres passes just wide of the left post (48min). 96 up the pressure to console the supporter's mood. Brdaric is about to add to his score after 56 minutes, but shoots over the crossbar from tight angle. A hectic situtation develops after 67 minutes, when Jentzsch cannot control Stajner's sharp left cross, but Vahid Hashemian's rebound shot is blocked by Wolfsburg defender Kevin Hofland. In the following Wolfsburg attack it is on Klimowicz to raise the score, but Enke fights off the ball, and the shot off the rebound goes amiss. The Reds play aggressively, but are short of creating opportunites. Wolfsburg's answer is substitute midfielder Cedric Makiadi, who takes D`Alessandro's pass volley from 14 metres and forces Enke to a spectacular save (80min). A minute short of the final whistle the Reds score the match's consolation goal. Midfield substitute Hanno Balitsch stabs the ball at the Wolfsburg goal with such force that Jentzsch can only parry the ball. No trouble for Brdaric to finish off with his third goal this season. Substitute defender Vinicius could have caught up with leading Wolfsburg, when jentzsch once again can only parry his 25-metre rocket of a shot.

Half an hour of microsleep phases in Hannover's defense were sufficient to decide this fixture for Wolfsburg. It was the first home defeat against the neighbouring club, who came to impress with deadly efficiency. Some statistics: Hannover has suffered 1000 goals against in Bundesliga history after this match. After the desolate performance in the first half Lienen's squad at least managed one consolatory goal in the second.

Hannover 96: Enke - Cherundolo, Mertesacker, Zuraw, Tarnat - Lala, Dabrowski - Yankov, Stajner - Hashemian, Brdaric

VfL Wolfsburg: Jentzsch - Alex, Quiroga, Hofland, Neziri - Sarpei - Karhan, Tskitishvili - d'Alessandro - Hanke, Klimowicz

Goals: 0:1 Hanke (10., Karhan), 0:2 Hanke (14., d'Alessandro), 0:3 Klimowicz (27., Sarpei), 1:3 Brdaric (30., Stajner), 1:4 d'Alessandro (33.), 2:4 Brdaric (89., Hahne)

96-player of the match: Thomas Brdaric

Referee: Schmidt
Attendance: 31517
Bookings: Tarnat, Brdaric - d'Alessandro

96-head coach Ewald Lienen announces 18-man roster for the match against Wolfsburg:

Enke, Juric, Cherundolo, Mertesacker, Zuraw, Vinicius, Großöhmichen, Tarnat, Halfar, Dietwald, Lala, Dabrowski, Yankov, Stajner, Brdaric, Hashemian, Hahne and Montabell

Duisburg 1-3 Leverkusen
Schalke 0-0 Berlin

Hannover 96 drops down to the 9th in the standings.

FC Bayern Munich - Hannover 96
11 : 13 shots
 3 :  3 corner kicks
11 : 11 crosses
51% : 49% contacts
48% : 52% +challenges
  14 : 12 fouls
  4 : 2 offsides

Most shots:
96: J. Stajner (4)
Munich: B. Schweinsteiger (3)

Most setups:
96: M. Tarnat (5)
Munich: Z. Roberto (3)

Most contacts:
96: M. Tarnat (101)
Munich: M. Demichelis (89)

Most won challenges:
96: P. Mertesacker (85%)
Munich: V. Ismael (71%)

Source: IMP-Fussballdaten

Bayern Munich have won 1-0 against Hannover 96 through an early goal from Martin Demichelis in the 10th minute (picture). The Reds lost their first match this season after 4 unbeaten matches in a row while Munich set a new Bundesliga record with their 14th consecutive win.

96-head coach Ewald Lienen sent exactly the same team on the field which won the last home game against Frankfurt 2-0. Bayern Munich had to do without international star Michael Ballack as well without Claudio Pizarro due to injury with Ali Karimi and José Paolo Guerrero replacing them.

After a harmless wide shot from German international Thomas Brdaric, it happened what should have been prevented, an early lead through Munich. French international Willy Sagnol sent in a floated free-kick when Martin Demichelis headed home from a short distance for Munich just after 10 minutes of play. German Christoph Dabrowski was out of position to let that goal happen.

In the following The Reds created number of chances but without any success infront of Oliver Kahn's goal. It was Bayern's Guerrero who got the opportunity to increase the 1-0 lead. The Peruan forward unleashed a shot from 16 meters over the bar (close miss) in the 30th.

Five minutes later US-defender Steven Cherundolo has beaten three Bayern defenders and crossed from the right wing into the centre of the box that allowed Iranian international Hashemian a header over the bar (35th). The home side had tested Robert Enke in the last minutes of the first half with a shot from Karimi (18 meters), but Enke did a great save.

After the break Hannover The Reds have shown their will not leaving the points in Munich. A Cherundolo cross from the right wing was met by Jiri Stajner who headed at the far post into the side netting (50th). At this time it was the best 96-opportunity to equalize which resulted in domination of play.

The homeside were waiting on counter attacks like in the 61st minute when Dutch Roy Makay passed to substitute Sebastian Schweinsteiger who shot from 30 meters, saved by Enke.

96-substitute Hendrik Hahne (for Hashemian) sent in a brilliant hard pass straight the 77th when Thomas Brdaric took a run into the centre. Brdaric' shot missed the goal and he jumped over the outrushing Kahn and finally went down. A booking or dismissal? Referee Wagner didn't blow the whistle.

In the last minutes of play Hannover created tow more opportunities through Dabrowski (85th) and Stajner (86th) without success.

Final result 1-0.

Hannover 96 didn't convert their chances and would have earned at least one poinst against a weak performance from Bayern Munich. While Munich set a new Bundesliga record with their 14th consecutive win, 96 dropped down to the 8th in the standings with their first defeat of the season. Next Tuesday Hannover will host Vfl Wolfsburg during "English weeks".

Statistics

FC Bayern Munich: Kahn - Sagnol, Lucio, Ismael, Hargreaves (46. Schweinsteiger) - Demichelis - Deisler (76. Salihmidzic), Zé Roberto - Karimi (70. Scholl) - Guerrero, Makaay

Hannover 96: Enke - Cherundolo, Mertesacker, Zuraw (86. Halfar), Tarnat - Lala, Dabrowski - Yankov (67. Vinicius), Stajner - Hashemian (67. Hahne), Brdaric

Goals: 1:0 Demichelis (9., Sagnol)

Bookings: R. Enke (80th)
Referee: Wagner (Kriftel)
Attendance: 66000 (sold out)

96-player of the match: Jiri Stajner

Picture: S. Zwing

96-head coach Ewald Lienen announces 18-man roster for the match against Munich:

Enke, Juric, Cherundolo, Mertesacker, Zuraw, Vinicius, Großöhmichen, Tarnat, Halfar, Dietwald, Lala, Dabrowski, Yankov, Stajner, Brdaric, Hashemian, Hahne and Montabell

Tomorrow on Tuesday, September 13th, Steve will be taking part of the new Hannover 96-DVD presentation at the Galeria Kaufhof near the Marketchurch downtown Hannover, 17:00 CET. There will be a presentation of his new charitable organization, Kinderherz Hannover e.V. (research for children heart defects), as well. Come and be a member or spare a donation!

http://www.kinderherz-hannover.de

Steve has updated his website and told about his first match for Hannover 96 this season:

"A victory at home is always nice. It was great to be back on the field again and I was happy to help the team to keep a clean sheet..."

http://www.cherundolo.de/

Dortmund 2 - 1 Cologne
Hertha 3 - 0 Wolfsburg

Hannover 96 drops down to the 6th in the standings.

Hannover 96 2-0 Eintracht Frankfurt
13 : 16 shots
 1 :  6 corner kicks
8 : 17 crosses
50% : 50% contacts
47% : 53% +challenges
  17 : 15 fouls
  4 : 4 offsides

Most shots:
96: C. Yankov, J. Stajner, T. Brdaric (3 each)
Frankfurt: A. Meier (4)

Most setups:
96: V. Hashemian (4)
Frankfurt: A. Meier, B. Koehler (3 each)

Most contacts:
96: M. Tarnat (78)
Frankfurt: C. Spycher (90)

Most won challenges:
96: P. Mertesacker (69%)
Frankfurt: M. Rehmer (70%)

Source: IMP-Fussballdaten

The Reds remain undefeated this season in their fourth match and steer home a clear 2:0 (1:0) victory against league climber Eintracht Frankfurt. Strong Czech international Jiri Stajner gives Hannover the lead after 32min (picture), with Bulgarian transfer Chavdar Yankov putting the seal on a glorious victory with his first goal for Hannover in the second half (63min).

US-boy Steven Cherundolo returned to his regular position as right defender after a long-term injury break, replacing Hanno Balitsch, who is recovering from surgery. The away team from Frankfurt had to do without regular goalkeeper Markus Pröll, and sent Oka Nikolov between the goalposts. Jermaine Jones was fit to play after shinbone-surgery.

The Frankfurt league climber started in attack mode and was seeking quick success. South-Korean international Du-Ri Cha intercepts Spycher's left cross, but the striker's effort is deflected to a corner. Greek international Ioannis Amanatidis misses a Rehmer header by inches only ten minutes into the match. Two minutes later, the Reds, slowly waking up, rise to the challenge. German international Thomas Brdaric takes aim and places a 10 yard header right into Nikolov's arms. Another six minutes, and Nikolov deflects Vahid Hashemian's angled shot, with Chavdar Yankov grabbing the rebound but failing to get past Frankfurt's flawless Macedonian goalie.

Another three minutes, and Nikolov again frustrates advancing Vahid Hashemian, who picks up Stajner's clever pass, shakes off a Frankfurt tackle, but shows nerves in the one-to-one situation with Nikolov, who peels the ball off the Iranian forward's foot. But the message being clear, Hannover pushes forward to the lead. Yankov fools two markers with a clever deception, but his distance effort is again denied by Nikolov (24min). But after a good half hour into the match Hannover finally gets the better of Frankfurt's keeper. Hashemian sends a hard, precise cross from the right into the box and finds Jiri Stajner spot on, who stabs the ball into the left corner of the net with his right foot. The Red's deserved lead is almost equalised when Swiss international Christoph Spycher's low left cross reaches none of his strikers, but fellow defender Patrick Ochs lurking in the background, whose shot is saved by alert Robert Enke in Hannover's goal (40min). Just before the half-time whistle the young and inexperienced wing defender Ochs fails to convert Cha's through ball, losing his cool facing Robert Enke, and sending his shot wide over the crossbar (45min).

All quiet on the Western front, seemed both teams' motto for the second half after the break. Hannover retreated, and Frankfurt forgot attacking. It is Frankfurt's Benjamin Huggel to shake both teams' complacency: young German international defender Per Mertesacker only just manages to divert the midfielder's effort. The match was in danger to swing Frankfurt's way when Hannover out of the blue extended the lead. Busy-bee Thomas Brdaric gains possession and addresses a through-ball to Stajner, who picks up speed and forwards the ball to completely unmarked Chavdar Yankov just in time. Chak doesn't need a lot of asking and puts the ball away from 14 yards, celebrating his first goal for Hannover (63min). A minute later Thommy Brdaric's eight-yarder from tight left angle goes wide of the right post. Frankfurt fights impending defeat, but lacks final determination: Alexander Meier's drop-header after a corner (67min) and substitution Markus Weissenberger's free kick (73min) miss target, and Robert Enke holds on to Hannover's victory with an immaculate save against Weissenberger one-to-one from 10 yards (74min). Young gun substitution Hendrik Hahne fires a great cross from the right wing towards Stajner, whose header from the far post is aimed too high (76min). Two more home side attempts do not change the final result: Dabrowski has trouble to control the ball from Stajner's pass in a one-to-one with Nikolov (84min), and two minutes later substituted Brazilian Vinicius is about to clinch the victory for Hannover after Hashemian's splendid run through Frankfurt's defenses, but misses goal unmarked from 12 yards.

Hannover establish themselves in the upper third of the table with the season's first three-pointer. League climber Frankfurt fought hard and left the outcome vague for the better part of the match. An excellent Jiri Stajner and hard-nosed finishing secure a three point winner for the Reds. The away team were frustrated by their own nerves and fantastic 96-keeper Robert Enke.

STATISTICS

Hannover 96: Enke - Cherundolo, Mertesacker, Zuraw, Tarnat - Lala, Dabrowski - Yankov (85.), Stajner (88. Halfar) - Hashemian, Brdaric (76. Hahne)

Eintracht Frankfurt: Nikolov - Ochs, Rehmer (61. Chris), Vasoski, Spycher - Huggel, Jones (69. Weissenberger) - Meier - D.-R. Cha (63. Lexa) Köhler, Amanatidis

Goals: 1:0 Stajner (32., Hashemian), 2:0 Yankov (63., Stajner)

Cautions: Zuraw , Lala / Ochs
Attendance: 35.166
Referee: Dr. Markus Merk (Otterbach)
Picture: O. Vosshage

96-head coach Ewald Lienen announces 18-man roster for the match against Frankfurt:

Enke, Juric, Cherundolo, Mertesacker, Zuraw, Vinicius, Großoehmichen, Tarnat, Halfar, Dietwald, Lala, Dabrowski, Yankov, Stajner, Brdaric, Hashemian, Hahne and Montabell

Germany 4 - 2 South Africa (Per Mertesacker)
A Lukas Podolski hat-trick helped Germany to bounce back from their 2-0 weekend defeat by Slovakia. The 1. FC Cologne striker Lukas Podolski was outstanding all evening in this Bremen friendly, also setting up Tim Borowski for the other goal early in the second half. A young Germany side took control immediately at the Weserstadion, earning their reward after 12 minutes when Werder Bremen striker Miroslav Klose released Podolski to beat Hans Vonk with a delicate chip.

Bulgaria 3 - 2 Iceland (Chavdar Yankov)
Bulgaria pulled off their best comeback for more than a decade to defeat Iceland in Sofia. Neither side can qualify for the FIFA World Cup from Group 7, but there was still pride - and future seeding - to play for. Iceland seemed set for three creditable points when they stormed into a swift 2-0 lead, only for Dimitar Berbatov to change the game on a day where he became the third-highest Bulgaria goalscorer.

The draw was made for the second round of the German FA Cup. Hannover 96 has been drawn away to the Alemania Aachen, who play their football in the 2nd Bundesliga division. The date for the cup clash will be either on October 25th or 26th.






2005/2006 FA Cup second round draw:

Bundesliga vs. Bundesliga
Werder Bremen - VfL Wolfsburg
Eintracht Frankfurt - FC Schalke 04
Hamburger SV - Bayer Leverkusen
Hertha BSC - Borussia M'gladbach

Bundesliga vs. 2nd Bundesliga
1860 Munich - MSV Duisburg
1. FC Nürnberg - Dynamo Dresden
Arminia Bielefeld - Energie Cottbus
Hansa Rostock - VfB Stuttgart
Alem. Aachen - Hannover 96
Erzgebirge Aue - Bayern Munich

2nd Bundesliga vs. 2nd Bundesliga
SpVgg Unterhaching - 1. FC Saarbrücken Kickers
Offenbach - Karlsruher SC
SC Freiburg - Eintracht Braunschweig

Bundesliga vs. Regionalliga
VfL Osnabrück - FSV Mainz 05
RW Erfurt - 1. FC Kaiserslautern

2nd Bundesliga vs. Regionalliga
FC St. Pauli - VfL Bochum

Albania 2-1 Kazakhstan
Albania with 96-midfielder Altin Lala claimed their second consecutive win at home as they beat FIFA World Cup qualifying Group 2's basement team Kazakhstan in Tirana to hang on to their slim hopes of making it to Germany next summer.

Sweden 3-0 Bulgaria
Three second-half goals ensured Sweden bolstered their FIFA World Cup qualifying Group 8 campaign - while virtually ending Bulgaria's and Chavdar Yankov's hopes.

Slovakia 2-0 Germany
The German National including Per Mertesacker lost an international friendly in Slovakia 0-2 on Saturday. Miroslav Karhan from Bundesligst VfL Wolfsburg scored the goals for the host. Marcell Jansen and Lukas Sinkiewicz gave their debut in the German team.

96 won a friendly match 14-0 against TSG Ahlten on Friday evening. Ahlten who play their football in the Bezirksklasse were the winner of a local newspaper's campaign (Neue Presse) "get 96".

A crowd of 2,400 saw Thomas Brdaric (picture) Hashemian, Dabrowski, Schulz, Lipke, Weck and Steven Cherundolo score the goals for the Reds.

Hannover 96: Juric - Cherundolo (67. Mehlich), Zuraw (45. Großöhmichen), Vinicius (67. Schinner), Tarnat (67. Lipke) - Dietwald (45. Schiermeister), Dabrowski (45. Weck), Stajner (45 Halfar) - Hahne (67. Schulz), Brdaric (67. Christiansen), Hashemian (45. Montabell)

Goals: 0:1 Hashemian (8.), 0:2 Brdaric (22.), 0:3 Brdaric (31.), 0:4 Dabrowski (32.), 0:5 Brdaric (49.), 0:6 Brdaric (51.), 0:7 Brdaric (52.), 0:8 Brdaric (60.), 0:9 Brdaric (64.), 0:10 Cherundolo (66.), 0:11 own goal (72.), 0:12 Schulz (80.), 0:13 Lipke (86.), 0:14 Weck (90.)

Spectators: 2,400

The German Football League (DFL), has announced the exact dates and kick off times of the Bundesliga rounds five to nine. 96 has been given one of the less popular Sunday games (round 9 away to Cologne) and one Tuesday evening match (round 6 home against VfL Wolfsburg). Read below for an overview of the new dates: 2005/2006 - First legs series (kick-off times preliminary):

09/17/05 Sat	FC Bayern Munich - Hannover 96	15:30 CET
09/20/05 Tue	Hannover 96 - VfL Wolfsburg	20:00 CET
09/24/05 Sat	FC Schalke 04 - Hannover 96	15:30 CET
10/01/05 Sat	Hannover 96 - MSV Duisburg	15:30 CET
10/16/05 Sun	1. FC Cologne - Hannover 96	17:30 CET

The upcoming fixtures can be seen here.

The 24-year old midfielder Hanno Balitsch had a surgery on Wednesday due to knee injury. The Germany Under-21 international has been struggling with the injury for some time and chose the international break as the ideal time to go under the knife. Hanno is beginning with rehab. The defensive midfielder will be out of action for at least three weeks.

Balitsch were replacing injured US defender Steven Cherundolo right back. Steve's comeback will be today in a friendly against TSG Ahlten, 6:00 pm. 96-coach Ewald Lienen will send Steve on the field for roundabout 60 minutes. Yesterday he scored one goal at practice.

Another comeback at practice: the Dane Thomas Christiansen. After suffering a shinbone fracture he has been seen back at practice. "Setting a comeback date is too early after pausing three month. I have to be patiened". so the TORero. "It's getting better, if my body gives the right answere, then I'm back again". Yesterday at practice he even shot two goals.