On Thursday, 04.01.2007, Werder Bremen begin their preparations for the second half of the Bundesliga season. On the same day, at 5:45pm the fourth indoor challenge for the "Cup der Öffentlichen Versicherungen Oldenburg" (Oldenburg Insurance Cup) gets underway and will be broadcast live by German sport channel DSF. Werder's Group A will consist of Bundesliga competitors VfL Wolfsburg, who the Green-Whites most recently beat 2:1 at the Weser Stadium to claim top spot over the winter break. The other team in Bremen's group is Polish first division side, currently in sixth place in the league, Lech Polsen.

The Green-Whites are hoping to have a more succesful round in the hall than they did last season despite the fact that the fans favourites will not make the trip but instead stay in Bremen for training. Last year Werder failed to overcome the challenge of the first round against VfL and Oldenburg which lead to them returning to Bremen after the first two lost games.

Head coach Thomas Schaaf will wait until Thursday afternoon to decide exactly how Werder will turn out in the hall: "We'll first go through the fitness test and see if everyone has gotten over the Christmas break in good condition, then we'll pick the team."

A possible semi-final opponent for Werder will be decided in Group B which consists of non-league VfB Oldenburg, third division VfL Osnabruck and Bundesliga side Armenia Bielefeld. Last season Bielefeld made it all the way to the final when they lost 1:4 against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Those hoping to pick up a ticket for the tournament will have to hope for one of the few left over tickets on sale at the Weser-Ems-Halle on the night with the arena all but sold-out.

A detailed game plan:

Group A

Werder Bremen

VfL Wolfsburg

Lech Posen

Group B

VfL Osnabrück

VfB Oldenburg

Arminia Bielefeld

Playing time: 2 x 10 Minuten

Time plan:

First round:

Match 1: VfL Wolfsburg – Lech Posen (17.45)

Match 2: VfL Osnabrück – VfB Oldenburg (18.12)

Match 3: Lech Posen – Werder Bremen (18.39)

Match 4: VfB Oldenburg – Arminia Bielefeld (19.06)

Match 5: Werder Bremen – VfL Wolfsburg (19.33)

Match 6: Arminia Bielefeld – VfL Osnabrück (20.00)

Semi-finals:

Match 7: Winner Group A – Runner-up Group B (20.38)

Match 8: Winner Group B – Runner-up Group A (21.05)

Third place play-off:

Match 9: 2 x 12 Minutes (21.43)

Final:

Match 10: 2 x 12 Minutes (22.14)