Fußballfreunde Deutschland 19. Dezember

The last Deutschfreunde before Christmas will be Fußballfreunde Deutschland, where I will give a German-language roundup of German football as it enters its six-week winter hibernation. The action begins again with the German Cup, and Round 18 of the Bundesliga, in the last week of January.

A film will be presented, one of Deutschland, ein Sommermärchen, Aus der Tiefe des Raumes--mitten ins Netz!, or The Other Final, depending on our mood.

A mood, which will be good...I will bring seasonal Lebkuchen and mandarins to enjoy during the presentation.

Season's Greetings! Alles Gute zu Weihnachten!

Diashow

Breaking news: the draws have been made for the Round of 16 of the Champions League and for the Round 0f 32 in the UEFA Cup:

Champions League:
Sporting Lissabon (Portugal)-Bayern München 25. 02./10. 03.

UEFA-Pokal:
Paris St. Germain (Frankreich)-VfL Wolfsburg
NEC Nijmegen (Niederlande)-Hamburger SV
Werder Bremen-AC Milan (Italien)
Zenit St. Petersburg (Russland)-VfB Stuttgart

Football Friends Germany October 7

Tonight's presentation featured the movie "The Miracle of Bern", the well-known 2003 movie that I will repeat upon request.

After seven weeks of the Bundesliga, Hamburger SV is still on top of the table, with last year's champions in eleventh!

Internationally, Germany is gearing up for two home games in World Cup qualifying the next week: first, at home on Saturday, October 11 to main group rival Russia, then at home to secondary challenger Wales on Wednesday.

The German Cup is finished for the fall and will resume again in the winter without any teams from the 3. Liga or lower.

Five German clubs have reached the UEFA Cup Group Stage (only Borussia Dortmund missed out, and narrowly so), and Bayern München and Werder Bremen are playing tough in Champions League, if not spectacularly (neither team has lost a game through the first two matchdays.)