“We want to play fine, attractive football with plenty of goals,” defined Matthias Mink, trainer of SC Fortuna Köln, on the course of action his club will be taking, and in doing so, he presented a philosophy which strongly calls to mind the very attack-minded direction of Werder Bremen – just one of the many similarities between the opposing sides who will clash in a friendly on Thursday, 17.07.2008 at 6:30pm on the ‘Sportplatz an der Mühle’, on the island of Norderney.

Bundesliga and Champions League participation reminiscent of their role model from Bremen are quite a way off for Fortuna. The historic club from Cologne, for whom goalkeeper Green-Whites keeper Tim Wiese and co-trainer Wolfgang Rolff have also played in the past, were represented in Germany’s second division for 26 consecutive seasons before their slip into third flight football in 2000. Since 2005/2006, the newly organised Red and Whites had been kicking around in the non-league ‘Verbandsliga-Mittelrhein’ but last season celebrated promotion to the ‘NRW-Liga’, albeit rather unconventionally. The champions, VfL Leverkusen, were denied promotion by the sporting tribunal because of delays in submitting documents necessary for the licensing process. SC profited from the decision and can kick-off this season in Germany’s fifth league division – the first promotion for Fortuna in some 35 years. It has been a confidence booster for the team from the south of the city of Cologne who will face Werder Bremen after what has been an energy sapping pre-season programme for the Green-Whites. For SC it is the chance to cause something of an upset.

Thomas Schaaf sees the sporting comparison with the Cologne side as a chance for his team to test their strength as part of their pre-season preparations: “We are paying little regard to the friendly against Fortuna Köln. This is an exercise in energy building as an element of our programme and the game is just a part of that. I hope that we are able to transfer that onto the pitch,” commented the Werder coach, who is hoping to see some fresh impulses being set: “It’s a chance for us to get back into playing mode. We now want to see the things we have spoken about in training being used practically. It’s also a part of our fitness programme, going 90 minutes against an opponent that we don’t know. In training you always find yourself seeing the same faces and you know then what to expect. That’s different in a friendly game like this and everyone has to be prepared for that.”