FC Energie Cottbus

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Narrow victories, but they're getting wins at least. Not bad.

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Cottbus will play against Chemnitzer FC in a friendly tomorrow, July 28, 15.00h.

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Bundesliga side FC Energie Cottbus have won their final friendly ahead of the DFB Cup 2-0 against Oberliga side Chemnitzer FC.

Petrick Sander's team had the upper hand over the complete 90 minutes.

Rivic (6) and Skela (87) scored for the Red-Whites in front of 1,642 fans.

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Thanks to goalkeeper Daniel Masuch, Energie Cottbus have been knocked out of the DFB Cup by Rot-Weiss Essen.

The 30 year old keeper saved twice in the shootout to clinch a 6:5 victory for RWE. The game ended 2:2(1:1, 0: 1)after extra time.

Rangelow forced penalty shootout

The ex-Essen striker Francis Kioyo (9.) put Cottbus into the lead in front of a crowd of 8.429. Rafael Kazior equalised in the 47th minute. Sercan Güvenisik (103.) put the hosts into the lead before Dimitar Rangelow (112.) forced a penalty shootout.

Cottbus player Stiven Rivic saw red in the 120th minute for two bookable offences. Masuch saved twice from Mariusz Kukielka and Szoltan Szelesi.

It was the third time in a row that the teams had met each other in the first round of the DFB Cup. Cottbus won the first meeting and RWE now the past two.

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FC Energie Cottbus' first eleven will be led by a midfielder next season. Head coach Petrik Sander chose a long-serving player.

Timo Rost is new Energie skipper, Sander announced in a team meeting on Tuesday.

"A great honour"

The 28-year-old will follow in the footsteps of Kevin McKenna who joined 1. FC Köln.

"I'm delighted that Petrik Sander has shown faith in me. The skipper's armband is a great honour for me, and also an obligation", said Rost, who plays for Cottbus since 2002.

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Surviving against the odds last season, unfashionable but gutsy Energie Cottbus are once again swimming against the financial tide. Brian A. O'Driscoll continues his team-by-team Bundesliga preview.

Tipped by almost everybody to drop back into the zweite liga at the start of last season, Petrik Sander's Energie Cottbus instead finished with their highest ever top-flight points tally and their first division status intact.

That achievement was recognised in the close season when Kicker Sportmagazin voted Sander one of the top three coaches of the season.

Now, the task starts all over again – and this time Sander must do it without his two most influential players. Vlad Munteanu and Sergiu Radu formed a deadly partnership last season. Between them, they scored 25 goals. Given that Cottbus only scored 38 all season, their departures to Wolfsburg mean Sander is right back at square one.

To ease the pain, Cottbus spent €1.1 million on Dennis Sorensen, a 26-year-old Dane. However, it's clear that the club is happier to cash in on its assets rather than consolidating them. Radu and Munteanu feted €4.5 million between them. Somebody somewhere is making a profit.

Other departures include skipper Kevin McKenna to zweite liga Köln and Daniel Gunkel to Mainz. Incoming are the unheralded Kristian Ipsa from Varteks, Christian Bassila from Larissa, and his erstwhile clubmate Efstathios Aloneftis.

One former constant that looks set to give way this season is eccentric goalkeeper Tomislav Piplica. The Bosnian showman is under serious pressure from former Hertha BSC custodian Gerhard Tremmel and may not start the campaign as first choice.


Energie Cottbus

Coach: Petrik Sander

Stadium: Stadion der Freundschaft (22,746)

Ticket Prices: Seats €16 - €34; Standing €10 - €13

Major Signings: Kristian Ipsa (Varteks Varazdin, €500,000), Denni Sorensen (FC Midtylland, €1.1m), Ovidiu Burca (Nacional Bucharest, €200,000), Christian Bassila (Larissa, €250,000), Stanislav Angelov (Levski Sofia, €180,000), Efstathios Aloneftis (Larissa. Free)

Major Departures: Vlad Munteanu (VfL Wolfsburg, €2.25), Sergiu Radu (VfL Wolfsburg, €2.25m), Kevin McKenna (1. FC Köln, €500,000), Daniel Gunkel (Mainz, €250,000)

Probable Line-Up: Tremmel; Cvitanovic, Mitreski, Ipsa, Angelov; Kukielka, Bassila, Rost; Aloneftis, Rangelov, Sorensen


Last Season

Position: 13th

Top Scorer: Sergiu Radu, 14

Most Assists: Vlad Munteanu, 8

Most Fouled: Francis Kioyo, 79

Biggest Fouler: Mariusz Kukielka, 83


Pedigree

German Champions: -

Bundesliga Champions: -

Last Five Seasons: 13th, -, -, -, 18th


Prognosis

Cottbus defied logic last season, flying as high as seventh in the table with only five matches remaining. However, their inability to adequately replace their key players is likely to do for them this season. Petrik Sander is a talented coach, but he has been dealt a poor hand here. Relegation looks a certainty, but they'll make a fight of it.

Prediction: 16th

Goal.com - Germany - Bundesliga Team-By-Team Preview: Energie Cottbus

[Oliver_Kahn]

Bayer Leverkusen 0 - 0 Energie Cottbus

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After being knocked out in the first round of the Cup by FC. St. Pauli, Leverkusen proved unable to win in their first Bundesliga appearance.

Facing Energie Cottbus, Leverkusen could only muster a 0-0 draw. Coach Michael Skibbe will have to continue to wait for his 50th victory as a Bundesliga coach, as his squad struggled to make headway against a strong performance from Cottbus goalie Tomislav Piplica.

Energie coach Petrik Sander had elected to start the 38 year-old Bosnian just days before the season's start after a "close fought" battle with challenger Gerhard Tremmel. Piplica's performance more than justified the decision.

Defence holds

The match kicked off in a sold-out BayArena filled with 22,500 spectators. Cottbus stalled Leverkusen's attack by forming a ten-player defensive front 30 meters in front of their goal.

The hosts pushed with their offence but killed good chances with mental mistakes and, after seizing on opportunities, came up short again and again against Piplica.

The keeper began his performance with a save in the 7th Minute against Theofanis Gekas, who got free in front of the goal. The Greek looked fatigued for most of the match and was substituted out in the 74th minute of his first Bundesliga appearance for Bayer.

Gresko and Barnetta also come up short

After Gekas failed to connect, Vratislav Gresko (19th min.) and Tranquillo Barnetta (22nd min.) also fell to Piplica, before Bayer's Rene Adler put a brilliant end to Cottbus's only opportunity from Francis Kioyo (27th min.).

After the half, most of the action occured on Cottbus's side of the pitch. Playing without ex-national player Paul Freier, Lukas Sinkiewicz and Carsten Ramelow as well as Routinier Sergej Barbarez , Bayer became less and less inspired while Piplica continued to step up to save the match for Energie.

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Match highlights

TalkSoccer Media Player

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Energie Cottbus coach Petrik Sander and president Ulrich Lepsch have buried the hatchet just in time ahead of Sunday's first Bundesliga home game against Bochum.

The duo had fallen out after failing to reach an agreement over an early contract extension for the popular coach. Skipper Timo Rost referred to the pair refusing to speak to each other as "kindergarten".

A constructive meeting has now reunited the coach and his boss.

"We have sorted out a few issues which he had to sort out," Lepsch stated - much to the delight of Rost.

"I'm confident things will calm down now and we can shift all our attention to the relegation race," Rost said.

Next up for Cottbus, who battled out a goalless draw at Bayer Leverkusen last weekend, is the first home game of the campaign against Bochum.

Cottbus will count on the support of the fans after the stadium's capacity was boosted with the addition of a new stand.

Goalkeeper Tomislav Piplica is expected to start despite suffering minor concussion in training this week.

Vragel da Silva remains out due to a league suspension, while Bulgaria international Stanislav Angelov looks set to make his debut for Energie on the right wing.

"We must not expect any wonders from him," Sander said, trying to play down the high expectations.

Bochum are looking to continue their good form after coming from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw against Werder Bremen.

"We are travelling to Cottbus with a lot of confidence," coach Marcel Koller stated.

"It is always our aim to win three points. It will be important for us to remain patient and make the most of the few chances we get."

Koller is not expected to make any significant line-up changes after the strong display against Bremen.

Sportinglife.com

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Szelesi verlässt Energie Cottbus - Wechsel nach Straßburg

Der ungarische Fußball-Profi Zoltan Szelesi
verlässt Bundesligist Energie Cottbus und wird in der kommenden Woche
einen Vertrag beim französischen Erstligisten Racing Straßburg
unterschreiben. Dies gab Energie-Manager Steffen Heidrich am Freitag
bekannt. Die Höhe der Ablösesumme ist nicht bekannt.

Der 25 Jahre alte Abwehrspieler war 2004 nach Cottbus gekommen und
bestritt 22 Bundesliga-Partien für die Lausitzer. Der zuletzt leicht
angeschlagene Szelesi gehört nicht mehr zum Aufgebot für das erste
Saison-Heimspiel am Sonntag gegen den VfL Bochum. Dort wird der
bulgarische Neuzugang Stanislaw Angelow sein Debüt für den FC Energie
geben, nachdem der Transferstreit mit seinem bisherigen Club Lewski
Sofia beigelegt ist.

Transfermarkt.de

The hungarian RB Zoltan Szelesi has left Cottbus and will join French side Racing Strasbourg.

After the summer transfers, he lost his starting place.

He played 22 BL matches for Cottbus.

The transfer fee is yet undisclosed.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Energie Cottbus 1 - 2 Bochum
15' [0 - 1]T. Bechmann
42' [0 - 2]T. Bechmann
49' [1 - 2]E. Skela

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VfL Bochum snatch three valuable away points. Cottbus were the better team but lacked the killer instinct in front of goal.

Bochum can celebrate their first win of the season thanks to striker Tommy Bechmann. The Dane scored both goals in a narrow 2-1 win for the West Germans thus giving Bochum their fifth consecutive away win.

Bochum, who last week drew 2-2 at Bremen remain unbeaten. Cottbus, on the other hand, were brought back to earth after their hard-earned drew at Leverkusen last week.

Bechmann wonder goal

The visitors went 1-0 up after 14 minutes through a spectacular goal by Bechmann who hammered the ball in from 33 yards. Cottbus should have equalised in the 25th minute when a long cross from Skela found Kukielka at the far post who headed the ball across the 6-yard box to Rost who failed to make proper contact thus spoiling an excellent opportunity.

Bochum extended their league shortly before the break (42), and again it was Bechmann who was on target after latching on to a through-ball from Dennis Grote. With three goals on his account Bechmann is now also leading the Bundesliga goalscorer table.

Unlucky Cottbus

But Cottbus refused to lie down and got one back shortly after half-time when Skela fired a ball into the top left corner from 26 yards (49).

In the dying minutes of the match Cottbus pushed for the equaliser but were twice denied by the woodwork. First Baumgart´s shot hit the post (88), and in injury time Shao headed against the upright after a cross from Skela.

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Cottbus were the better team but lacked the killer instinct in front of goal.

Shame.

I'm glad to see Ervin Skela on the scorer sheet.
I feel sorry for him that he lost.