Twelve months have flown by – with highs and lows, celebrations and disappointments, departures and reunions. 2009 was like no other year. It’s not easy to keep everything straight. That’s why WERDER.DE has put together a Green-White flashback for the end of the year. Werder 2009 from A to Z – to remember and smile. Today: Part 7 - and final part: X – Z:

X – Roman numeral ten: Thomas Schaaf was hardly in his office as head coach for two months when he appeared at another press conference on 14 July 1999, welcoming to Werder Bremen for a second time his old friend Klaus Allofs as new sports director. Both were players with Werder when they won the German Cup, the European Cup Winners Cup and the German Bundesliga crown from 1991 to 1993. And in 2009, the duo celebrated the past ten years with Bremen. One of the first acquisitions for Allofs and Schaaf was the then 20-year-old Peruvian Claudio Pizarro, which remains one of numerous top-notch finds for the Bremen leaders. The now-53-year-old Allofs and Schaaf needed less than five years to form a team that won the German Bundesliga title and the German Cup in 2004. The team played in the Champions League the next five years while later reaching the UEFA Cup final and winning another German Cup. But they also built a team that plays one of the most - if not the most - attractive styles of football in the Bundesliga.

Y - Youngsters: It was anything but a normal orientation course to top off an unforgettable year. While the Bundesliga had national team duty break in mid-November, two Werder talents from the summer's U17 European championship winning team were given the chance to practice with Schaaf's training group. Florian Trinks and Lennart Thy from Werder's U19 team were given the reward of the workouts. "It's a nice thing for both of us. I was so happy about it. But you could see how big the speed difference is," said Trinks after the session. Florian Trinks and Lennart Thy are two Werder talents who need to be remembered.

Z - Zentral Stadium: The Green-White team plus team officials, eight fans and nearly 4,000 kilometres away. Werder were awaiting truly a small adventure on 26 August when they boarded a plane for Asia to play against FK Aktobe at Zentral Stadium. After a 6-3 first leg victory, Schaaf's team won 2-0 with two goals by Claudio Pizarro.