Werder Bremen lifted the DFB-Pokal and booked their place in the Europa League next season thanks to a narrow win over Bayer Leverkusen.

Mesut Ozil’s deflected strike in the 58th minute was enough to win the game for a dominant Bremen side at Berlin’s Olympiastadion.

Bremen had enough chances to win the game several times over against a lifeless Leverkusen, whose coach Bruno Labbadia goes into showdown talks with his club’s board next week having failed to deliver the expected success this season.

Diego, playing his last game for Bremen before moving to Juventus next season, was given a very warm reception from the fans from northern Germany, who made up the majority inside the sold-out Olympiastadion.

He bowed to them having vowed to leave on a high note by winning the DFB-Pokal.

The early indications were promising for Bremen as Sebastian Prodl brought a decent save out of Rene Adler.

Torsten Frings’ shot was then blocked by Manuel Friedrich when Claudio Pizarro unselfishly played the ball back to the Germany midfielder when perhaps he could have shot himself from inside the area.

Patrick Helmes had Leverkusen’s best chance of the whole game in the 22nd minute when the ball …

Bayern Munich general manager Uli Hoeness has put a price tag on Franck Ribery of “at least 100 million euros” as several clubs continue to be linked with the Frenchman.

Chelsea were reported to be considering making an offer in the region of 50 million euros, but Hoeness insists he would only listen to an offer of double that much, claiming yesterday that you could “get one of his legs at best” for such a sum.

“If I hear that there was an offer for 125 million euros for Kaka, then Ribery has a market value of at least 100 million,” Hoeness told the Bild newspaper. “But I don’t want to talk about a fee we would consider because we want to keep hold of Franck.”

According to Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Ribery will still be a Bayern Munich player next season, no matter what Chelsea or any other club offers.

He told Munich’s Tz newspaper that “only FC Bayern decides what happens, however many millions are offered. We do not want to sell Franck.”…

Werder Bremen were able to confirm Marcelo Moreno Martins as their first new signing for next season after the Bolivian forward passed a medical in the northern Germany city.

The 21-year-old joins on a one-year loan deal from Shakhtar Donetsk, the side who defeated Bremen in the final of the UEFA Cup only last week.

However, it was not there that Bremen noticed his talents since he was an unused substitute for the Ukrainians. According to Bremen’s director of sport Klaus Allofs, the Bolivia international has long since been a target.

“We have been watching him for several years now and wanted to sign him last year, which is why we are delighted that it has worked out now, albeit with a bit of a delay,” he said.

Should Martins impress while on loan in the Bundesliga, Bremen have secured an option to make the move a permanent one on a four-year contract.

After passing the medical tonight, Martins left a quick comment before flying out to link up with his national team for their games against Venezuela and Chile over the next fortnight.

“We were very close (to an agreement) last year, but then I chose Donetsk,” he said …

Bayer Leverkusen and Werder Bremen head into the DFB-Pokal final today looking to salvage some pride from their otherwise disappointing seasons.

Both have failed to live up to their own expectations in the Bundesliga this season, finishing ninth and 10th respectively, and this has increased the pressure on their coaches.

Indeed, leading Leverkusen to DFB-Pokal glory may be the only thing which can keep Bruno Labbadia in his job.

After missing out on a place in Europe following a disappointing league campaign, Labbadia’s future appears now to be hinging on whether or not his side can get the better of Bremen in Berlin.

But reading between the lines of Leverkusen’s director of sport Rudi Voller’s pre-match comments, defeat would not be so dramatic after he gave Labbadia his indirect backing by praising opponents Bremen for the patience they have shown with their coach Thomas Schaaf.

“Werder have been showing in an exemplary fashion for years how you deal with such crises,” Voller said.

“Whenever there has been public criticism of Thomas Schaaf, then there has been 100% backing for the coach from the board.

“We are still convinced of Bruno’s potential and we value the way in which Labbadia lets …

It looks like Nuremberg are going to return to the Bundesliga next season after their 3-0 win at Energie Cottbus in the first leg of Thursday’s promotion play-off.

Ghana striker Isaac Boakye scored twice for Nuremberg, who are now in a commanding position to win promotion. The second leg will be played back at their home ground on Sunday.

The German Football Federation (DFB) started the promotion play-off for the first time this season. It is played between the side that finished third from bottom of the Bundesliga and the team that finished third in the second division.…

AFP

Shanghai – German football needs a bigger presence than Friday’s friendly international in Shanghai to make an impact in China in particular and Asia in general, according to goalkeeping Legend Oliver Kahn. “In Germany they always speak about it as an interesting market. But if you really want to penetrate it it’s not good enough to play a match there, be it Bayern Munich or the national team,” Kahn said.

“It is not that easy.”

Clad in a typical Chinese suit, the “Titan” Kahn knows what he is talking about on the 32-floor terrace of the Hyatt hotel in Shanghai.

Kahn has been immensely famous in Asia ever since his heroics in the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, where he conceded just one goal in Germany’s surprise run to the final which they lost 2-0 to Brazil.

He has made several trips to Asia since then and is currently in China for several weeks until mid-June to tape a 10-part television show with young goalkeeper candidates.

“This is very important to me,” he says.

“I started with 10 candidates, now four are left. The experience is great, the boys want to know so much, they soak …

Germany’s demanding football fans have to be satisfied with a 1-1 tie in Shanghai, on the very first appearance of a German national team in China.

Although the two nations are 95 places apart in the FIFA World Rankings, China had the better chances but were denied by a combination of Germany goalkeeper Robert Enke and poor finishing.

Just five minutes into the game, the hosts shocked Germany by taking the lead. Hao Junmin scored on a shot from short distance, leaving German keeper Robert Enke little chance for a save. Germany responded three minutes later, when Lukas Podolski tied the game on a clever assist by Bastian Schweinsteiger. It was the 33rd goal during Podolski’s international career, letting him share eleventh place in Germany’s all-time goalscorers with 1954 World Champion Fritz Walter.

China continued their aggressive and fast-paced style of football. Led by first-time captain Philipp Lahm, the German team, decimated by injuries and even more cancellations due to the DFB Pokal final this weekend, had no easy pickings against the Chinese. Enke saved a shot by Zhao Xuri (21.). Hannover’s goalkeeper displayed courage and attitude, as he played without bandages despite the head lacerations he had received in …

For this Friday’s international game against China, German coach Joachim Löw sets his trust on his more experienced players. Because of a somewhat depleted roster of 17 players and the fact, that Arne Friedrich was unable to participate in Thursday’s public practice session, Robert Huth of FC Middlesbrough is expected to start in the friendly match. Newcomers such as goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (FC Schalke), Cacau (VfB Stuttgart) and Christian Träsch (VfB Stuttgart) will most likely be on the reserve’s bench first.

Apart from Friedrich, defender Heiko Westermann (Schalke 04) and midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern München) had to rest for at least part of Thursday’s practice session. Westermann had suffered a hit on the heel on Wednesday, while Schweinsteiger’s ailing back forced him to leave Thursday’s session early.

Medical staff are nevertheless optimistic, that Schweinsteiger will be ready-to-go for the match. The decision on Friedrich and Westermann on the other hand will be taken shortly before kick-off.

Earlier, German National Coach Joachim Löw had appointed Mario Gomez and Lukas Podolski to start on the attack, while Robert Enke (Hannover 96) will be the starting goalkeeper, even though the 31-year-old had suffered a painful head laceration during the last league match in …