03.02.2009

News from Der Club over the past month

Christmas festivities were soon forgotten as 1.FCN returned to training and several friendly fixtures before the 2.Bundesliga resumed at the end of January. With players moving and contracts being extended, it was by no means a quiet month.

In his monthly round-up of the news from ‘Der Club’ Jon Goulding also reports on the 1.FCN victory in a mini-tournament in Turkey.

Masmanidis moves on

No sooner had the players returned to training than it was announced that midfielder Ioannis Masmanidis would be leaving for Cypriot side Apollon Limassol. In his short spell in Nuremberg the player made 11 appearances and scored one goal. Good luck on your new adventure Ioannis.

New players welcomed

1.FCN welcomed three U19 German internationals into the squad at the beginning of the year. Stefan Reinartz and Marcel Risse joined from Leverkusen and Dennis Diekmeier made the move from Werder Bremen. Not only will the players hope to gain valuable first team experience but they also show Michael Oenning’s faith in young talent. Welcome to 1.FCN to all three.

Club wins cup

While at their winter training camp in Belek, Turkey, 1.FCN took part in the Antalya Cup. On Friday 9^th January they brushed aside host team Sakaryaspor courtesy of goals from Chhunly Pagenburg and Daniel Gygax.

The final pitched Der Club against Dutch team SC Heerenven. In a tight encounter Angelos Charisteas cancelled out a Heerenven goal just before the break, after which there were no more goals. The ensuing penalty shootout was won 3-1 courtesy of penalty conversions from Dennis Diekmeier, Peer Kluge and Marek Mintal, supported by two saves from Raphael Schaefer.

Victory over Russian champions

A good 3-1 victory over Russian top dogs Ruban Kazan was, “Reward for long, hard work,” according to coach Michael Oenning. His pleasure will have come form the fact that his team were playing a formidable opponent in the form of the 2008 champions of Russia. Despite falling a goal behind in the early stages of the game, Mario Breska, Marek Mintal and Javier Pinola sealed the win.

A fourth victory

Another 3-1 victory provided 1.FCN with their fourth ‘friendly’ success of January. Czech team Viktoria Pilsen were vanquished through two goals from Isaac Boakye and one from Angelos Charisteas.

First defeat of the year

The final warm-up game saw defeat at the hands of Bundesliga side Karlsruhe. Reunited with former team mate Marco Engelhardt who started in midfield for the home team, it was Der Club who took an early lead through Mike Frantz. However, Karlsruhe turned their deficit into a 3-1 lead which was only narrowed late on with Marcel Risse’s first goal for 1.FCN. Despite the 3-2 defeat Michael Oenning was happy with the intensity with which his team had played.

Pagenburg switches to Erfurt

Striker Chhunly Pagenburg moved to Rot-Weiß Erfurt for an undisclosed fee. Despite having being on the edge of the first team for some time (and following a season on loan at 1860 Munich) the 22 year old has found it difficult to break into the starting 11, only making 17 appearances with two goals. Everyone at Der Club wishes him well at the 3.Bundesliga team.

First point of the back-round of the season

A scarf was the most popular garment in Augsburg’s Rosenau Stadium as FC Augsburg and 1.FCN squared-up to get the second half of the season underway on Friday 30^th January.

In the first half the hosts sat deep, allowing Der Club to make a few chances. Isaac Boakye forced a save from home goalkeeper Sven Neuhaus and Angelos Charisteas headed just over the bar. A cross from Dennis Diekmeier provided a chance for Mike Frantz but his connection with the ball was not clean enough to cause much worry for Neuhaus. However, when a Peer Kluge free-kick found the head of Charisteas, Neuhaus was a relieved man when the ball was headed straight at him. For his part, the Greek forward had done well to stretch for the ball and direct it goalwards in the first place. At the other end of the pitch Raphael Scheafer was far less busy.

Early in the second half a foul on Dennis Diekmeier saw him taken from the pitch in some pain with his ankle wrapped in ice. As the game went back and forth, Diekmeier’s replacement Dominic Reinhardt was himself injured. Then in the 64^th minute, Pascal Bieler was unlucky to see his shot rebound off the inside of the post.

As the game moved into the final stages, neither goalkeeper was really troubled and the draw was deserved by both sides.

Contract extensions for Oenning and Frantz

As January drew to a close a message of faith was handed to two key figures at 1.FCN in the form of extensions to their contracts. Coach Michael Oenning now has a contract with Der Club until 30.06.11 and young rising star Mike Frantz has signed until 30.06.13. It is hoped by everyone that the young coach and young striker can play a major role in returning 1.FCN to the Bundesliga and the glories of the past.