The Werder players could give themselves an early Christmas present against Hansa Rostock. The "Half-Season" championship! This would surely be a deserved "Thank you" to the fans who took the pilgrimage to the Weser-Stadium in such great numbers so far this season.

It would be a very special and rare Christmas present. The Green-Whites from Bremen have only managed this "Half-Season" coup on four previous occasions, the last time occuring 13 years ago. After 17 match days of the 1990/1991 season, Werder topped the table with ten wins, four draws and three losses ahead of FC Bayern Munich and 1. FC Kaiserslautern. "The best part of it is that it can really make Christmas for every player. To go into the winter break on top installs pride and motivates everyone", remembers Uwe Harttgen, who experienced this part of the success in the early 90´s. But, he is also cautious and understands that noone in the current team should over value the situation. "Should the lads win against Hansa Rostock, that would mean they have 39 points which is a very strong preliminary result after 17 games, but they shouldn't get carried away. They should neither be too euphoric about this result nor should they fear falling off after the winter break".

Harttgen is speaking from experience because 13 years ago Bremen missed the opportunity to grind their "Half-Season" championship to a finish, in the end only achieving third place. But, the Doctor of Psycology, who today works in Bremen Assessment Centre, is attentive of this positive example. After all, following four "Half-Season" championships, Bremen took the title quite convincingly from two of them. In the 1987/1988 season, Bremen never gave up the top spot once and only once slipped down to second place once after the winter break during the 1964/1965 season before regaining their leading position for the remainder of the season.

The best part of this statistic is the course of events. After the "Golden" mid-season of 1964/1965 came the failed attempt in 1985/1986 when Otto Rehhagels' side were caught on the last day of the season and only managed second place. After the "Half-Season" champions became title champions in 1987/1988 there followed another unsuccessful challenge in 1990/1991. So, statistically speaking, a win against Hansa Rostock on Tuesday night is worth more than just the "Half-Season" championship, then, following suite, the Werder fans can prepare themselves for a spring high. "Three-times-lucky" for Bremen. Total support against Hansa Rostock on Tuesday can be considered the duty of all in Green-White.