Arminia Bielefeld

[Oliver_Kahn]

He was so shit as a Bayern player

[Oliver_Kahn]

South African international goalkeeper Rowen Fernandez could be set for a move to the Bundesliga.

Arminia Bielefeld have confirmed that they are interested in signing the Kaizer Chiefs star in the summer.

Bielefeld’s goalkeeping coach Thomas Schlieck has already taken a look at Fernandez and advised his club to make an offer for South Africa’s current No.1 keeper.

“He is almost a complete keeper and is absolutely outstanding in opening up the game from the back,” Schlieck told Kicker.

Bielefeld, who have already guaranteed Bundesliga status for next season, are keen to find a long-time successor for veteran shot-stopper Matthias Hain and have now turned their attention to the 29-year-old as a potential summer recruit.

Bielefeld’s German coach Ernst Middendorp, who left Kaizer Chiefs earlier this season in order to rescue his former club from relegation, is known to be a big fan of Fernandez.

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[Oliver_Kahn]

Schalke 2 - 1 Arminia Bielefeld

12' [1 - 0] Lincoln
16' [2 - 0] H. Altintop
90' [2 - 1] R. Kucera

[Oliver_Kahn]

Leonidas Kampantais will join Bundesliga side Arminia Bielefeld from AEK Athens in the summer.


The 25-year-old striker has signed a two-year contract valid for the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga.

Free transfer

He joins Bielefeld on a free transfer when his contract expires in the summer.

Kampantais has scored eight goals in 21 matches for AEK this season.

"The Greek league is better than most people think. He was a regular and has scored and created a lot of goals, especially in the last six months", Arminia head coach Ernst Middendorp says.

[Oliver_Kahn]

DSC Arminia Bielefeld have rewarded coach Ernst Middendorp with a new contract until summer 2009 after a successful end to the Bundesliga campaign.

Record wanted
When Middendorp took over in March, Arminia were second from bottom and being firmly tipped for relegation. Nine rounds later, the club had secured a 12th-place finish in the 18-team division, their best result since returning to the German top division in 2004. "We want to break our record of five seasons in Germany's top flight together with Ernst Middendorp and become an integral part of the Bundesliga," said club president Hans-Hermann Schwick.

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[Oliver_Kahn]

South African international and a prospect from the 2. Bundesliga.


Rowen Fernandez joins Bielefeld from Kaizer Chiefs, the former club of head coach Ernst Middendorp.

The 29-year-old puts pen to paper under a three-year deal that is valid for both Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga.

Two-year contract for Aigner

Midfielder Stefan Aigner will sign a two-year contract valid for both professional leagues.

The 19-year-old scored five goals in 28 2. Bundesliga matches for Wacker Burghausen this season, and created four more.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Bundesliga side DSC Arminia Bielefeld have signed Oliver Kirch.


The 25-year-old, who has played 22 Bundesliga matches for Borussia Mönchengladbach, signs a two-year contract valid for Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga.

[Trim]

Arminia Bielefeld have handed Frank Eulberg a contract as assistant coach.

Frank Eulberg already works for Arminia as a scout since April, and he has now signed a two-year contract as assistant coach and coordinator for youth and reserves.

With Middendorp in South Africa

"I'm delighted to work for Arminia Bielefeld and play a part in helping to secure our Bundesliga status next season", the 44-year old said.

Eulberg is a football coach for 17 years and has worked alongside Middendorp at Kaizer Chiefs in South Africa.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Monday morning saw Arminia Bielefeld kick off their pre-season programme. 25 players were back on the ball during the first session.


The 2007/2008 Bundesliga season may well be a few weeks away, but Arminia Bielefeld are already gearing up for another challenging season in the top flight.

Head coach Ernst Middendorop got to train with the majority of players on Monday, but some prominent players were absent. Sibusiso Zuma, Marcio Borges, Fatmir Vata and Finn Holsing were all no-shows on Monday. Holsing's absence was due to negotiations with another club.

New signings on the ball

The first training session of the close season lasted some 60 minutes, and it gave Arminia's latest signings the opportunity to show Middendorp what they are capable of.

Leonidas Kampantais (signed from AEK Athens), Stefan Aigner (Wacker Burghausen), Oliver Kirch (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Rowen Fernandez (Kaizer Chiefs, South Africa) and Daniel Riemer (Arminia's U-23 team) all put in 100% during the practice session.

Team undergoes lactate tests

The official pre-season start is this coming Thursday, but until then , the squad wil be split up into small groups. There, the players will undergo more training programmes and medical check-ups, including lactate tests

No trial players were present at the training session, but Ernst Middendorp believes one or two hopefuls will have the chance to prove their qualities later in the week.

[Trim]

Arminia Bielefeld forward Sibusiso Zuma missed his team's return to training ahead of the new season after running into trouble with the police in his native South Africa.

The 31-year-old is alleged to have fired gunshots into the air in order to drive away unwanted guests from a party and is likely to be charged by the police over the incident. Authorities are said to be unwilling to let him leave the country and return to Germany.

Brazilian centre back Marcio Borges was another to fail to return to training, and the Bundesliga club said they had received no reason for his absence.

More pleasingly for coach Ernst Middendorp, new signings Leonidas Kampantais, Oliver Kirch, Stefan Aigner and Rowen Fernandez all took part in the squad's first training session.

Bundesliga - Zuma misses training after gun incident - Yahoo! Eurosport UK

[Oliver_Kahn]

Arminia Bielefeld has signed André Mijatovic from SpVgg Greuther Fürth. He receives a three-year contract until June 30, 2010.


DSC Arminia Bielefeld has signed defender André Mijatovic from second league side Spvgg Greuther Fürth. He receives a three-year contract until June 30, 2010, valid for the first and second Bundesliga.

The 27-year old Croatian (born on December 3, 1979 in Rijeka) competed in a total of 60 games for Spvgg Greuther Fürth in the 2. Bundesliga and netted seven goals for them.

Jersey: Number 16

Mijatovic racked up international appearances for his previous clubs Dinamo Zagreb (2003 to 2005) und NK Rijeka (until 2003). He scored four times in his 18 European Cup games. He won the Croatian Cup with Dinamo Zagreb in 2004.

At Arminia Bielefeld, Mijatovic will wear the number 16 jersey.

[Trim]

Coach Ernst Middendorp's return saved Arminia Bielefeld from relegation. bundesliga.de takes a look back in pictures..

Arminia Bielfeld's "annis horribilis" ended happily after all! The first half of the season saw Arminia tinkering with an UEFA Cup spot, but a series of eleven games without a win dropped them into the Bundesliga relegation zone.

"The Coach of the Century" returns

Thomas von Heesen quit as coach after the 21st round loss to FC Bayern München. But his replacement Frank Geideck couldn't change things either.

In the middle of March of this year Ernst Middendorp, who'd been voted the "Coach ofthe Century" by the Arminia fans, took up the job once again.

Arminia gets a Happy Ending

Middendorp who'd been coach in Bielefeld from 1988 to 1990 and from 1994 to 1998 made several significant changes in the team.

And with five wins in nine games, Middendorp turned the club's fortunes around and helped assure that Arminia will be playing Bundesliga football next season.

bundesliga.de reviewed the season with the happy ending and offers the best pictures of Arminia Bielefeld's year! Enjoy the slide show!

Bielefeld's season in pictures

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Bundesliga side DSC Arminia Bielefeld came out on top in a friendly against Bad Oeynhausen.

Artur Wichniarek opened the scoring with a quick-fire hat-trick (6, 9, 27) before Leonidas Kampantais (40) made it 4-0 at half-time.

Christian Eigler (59) and Sibusiso Zuma (73, 79) made it 7-0.

Due to a thunderstorm with heavy rain the final whistle was blown after Zuma's second strike.

Arminia line-up 1st half: Fernandez - Korzynietz, Mijatovic, Langkamp, Rau . Kirch, Marx, Ndjeng, Tesche - Wichniarek, Kampantais

Arminia line-up 2nd half: Fernandez - Rodenberg, Bollmann, Gabriel, Schuler - Aigner (50. Tesche), Fischer, Masmanidis, Kobylik - Zuma, Eigler

[Trim]

Friendly

FT Arminia Bielefeld 0 - 1 Groclin Dyskobolia

28' [0 - 1] A. Sikora

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Poor, very poor!