Borussia Mönchengladbach

[Oliver_Kahn]

Full name: Borussia VfL 1900 Mönchengladbach e.V.

Nickname(s):
- Die Fohlen (the Foals)

Founded: 1 August 1900

Stadium: Borussia-Park, Mönchengladbach (Capacity 54,067)

Club's official webiste: Borussia Mönchengladbach

Chairman: Rolf Königs
Manager: Jos Luhukay
League: Bundesliga

Honours:

German Champions:
1970, 1971, 1975, 1976, 1977

2. Bundesliga:
2008

German Cup:
1960, 1973, 1995

UEFA Cup:
1975, 1979

[Oliver_Kahn]

Mönchengladbach goalkeeper Casey Keller is a formidable foe on the pitch, but an easy-going guy off it. bundesliga.de caught up with him.


Since arriving at Borussia Mönchengaldbach, US international goalkeeper Casey Keller has quickly become a cult player in the eyes of the club's faithful. The veteran met up with bundesliga.de, and explained his roots, his view on the World Cup and his passion for German football.

Question: casey, you've played in England, Spain and Germany. As a goalie, does it make any difference to play in these countries?

Casey Keller: "A shot is a shot to be honest. It doesn´t matter if Ronaldinho sticks it into the upper corner oder Alan Shearer or Maakay. It doesn´t matter - its still a goal. You just have to see what is in front of you. The only difference in England is they put a lot more pressure on their goalkeepers. I found that both in Spain and in Germany it's a more comfortable position."

Question: Had you heard about Borussia Mönchengladbach before arriving in Germany?

Keller: "Of course. There was one show called "Soccer Made in Germany", you know? In the 70's when i was a kid and obviously with the tremdendous success that Borussia had in the 70's they were shown quite a bit. My cousin actually sent me an e-mail after I signed for Borussia and mentioned this. He said: "Remember when Borussia when "Soccer Made in Germany" was on the air?" and so on."

Question: Let´s talk about yours hands. The company for goalkeeper gloves was very suprised when they got to know the size you wanted. Apparently, they're much bigger than the biggest size they have.

Keller: "That´s so not true! I think what it is is a little different cut than some of them make. It's a little wider, it's not neccessarily any bigger. I mean its just that the glove is actually cut to my hand. I have good size hands, don´t get me wrong. But I don´t have some sort of freak show hands or anything."

Question: What was special about the World Cup in Germany? Do you think the atmosphere is still here in the country?

Keller: "I think the big thing that made it special in this last World Cup for us as Americans was the pure support that we had as a country. When we played Italy, our fans were in the majority. When we played Ghana, our fans were in the majority. It was a great feeling as an American to come to a World Cup in Europe and have that much fan support. If we play Mexico in a qualifying game in LA we´re playing away from home."

Question: What will you always remember thinking of Germany and the Bundesliga?

Keller: "What I will always remember is: I´ve played at the Bernabeau, I´ve played at the Noucamp, Old Trafford and all these places, but the atmosphere at Borussia-Park blows them all away. That's something I will always remember and my wife will remember and I´m happy that my kids are older now. They will always remember because once again, the English think that they have this monopoly on fan presence at games. I think the Germans beat 'em."

[Oliver_Kahn]

A Top 3 goalkeeper in Germany.
Certainlly the best American goalkeeper in the last years.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Former Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Kasey Keller has said that the fans in the Bundesliga are better than their English counterparts

The veteran American, who now plays for Borussia Moenchengladbach, has also played in Spain, but he says nothing compares to playing at his current home.

"I've played at the Bernabeu, Camp Nou, Old Trafford and all these places, but the atmosphere at Borussia Park blows them all away," he told bundesliga.de.

"The English think they have this monopoly on that kind of fan presence at games, but I think the Germans beat them."

The 36-year-old started his European career way back in 1992 with Millwall, and he admits he is now starting to get the itch to return back to America.

"I feel I've a lot to give the game at home," he said.

"I've certainly enjoyed the experiences gained in Europe, but at some stage I'd like to move my family back home."

http://www.eurosport.com/football/bu...to979653.shtml

[Oliver_Kahn]

Bad news for Borussia Mönchengladbach and Jupp Heynckes.


The "Foals" are likely to be without defender Filip Daems for 3 to four months. The 27-year old Belgian has to under go an operation un his right heel.

Heynckes sorry

The operation will be carried out by a specialist in Löwen, Belgium later this week.

"This of course is really unfortunate as Filip would have been an ideal replacement for the injured Marcell Jansen in the left back position", said Gladbach´s coach Jupp Heynckes.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Gladbach were 1-0 down but Neuville scored at the 84th min to draw the game.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Mönchengladbach have paid a high price for the 1-1 draw at Hamburg SV. No less than three key players suffered injuries.


The prevailing mood at the Borussia Park ought really to be one of satisfaction after the first away point of the season. But it has been overshadowed by injuries to three players, two of them serious.

Keller had to be substituted

On the one hand there is the injury to Kasey Keller. The US goalkeeper risked life and limb defending a whipped-in cross in the 20th minute and collided with Hamburg playmaker Raphael van der Vaart in doing so.

Despite the pain he was initially able to carry on, but had to be replaced by Christofer Heimeroth twelve minutes later. Keller sustained heavy bruising to the cervical spine and right shoulder and will have a scan tomorrow to ensure there is no joint injury.

[TO DEVILS]

They are going to enjoy their break in the league (january 07) to have a small practice and relaxing time in Algarve, Portugal.

In portuguese...

http://www.maisfutebol.iol.pt/notici...60&div_id=1484

[Oliver_Kahn]

Great choice.
I'm sure Ze Antonio is glad.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Gladbach continue not winning, this time they lost 1-0 to Hannover at home

[Oliver_Kahn]

The frustration about the home defeat against Hanover was still seizable at Gladbach's training ground. Peer Kluge answered a few questions.


Question: Peer Kluge, the team meeting after training was longer than usual. What came up for discussion?

Peer Kluge: We spoke about the Hanover match and about our current situation. We know that the next weeks are very important for us. We don't want to winter on a relegation place.

Question: A lot was said before the match, too. Why couldn't you show on the pitch what you intended to?

Kluge: The string of defeats didn't go past us without a trace. You can sense on the pitch that we're insecure and we're missing confidence. We are able to transform the head coach's ideas in training. But we don't get it right in a match.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Kluge is yet to have a good performance

[Oliver_Kahn]

On 25 May 2007 it will be 30 years to the day that Borussia took on Liverpool in the European Cup final.


To mark the anniversary, fans of both Gladbach and Liverpool would like to see a friendly between the two clubs.

On 25 May 1977 Borussia went down 3-1 to Liverpool in the European Cup final. But for many Gladbach fans the game remains one of the biggest occasions in the club's history, even though they tasted defeat.

Two more meetings

The two clubs also met in the 1973 UEFA Cup final and the European Cup semi-final in 1978, and a feeling of friendly respect for the English club emerged among Borussia's support despite the two defeats.

When the Hillsborough disaster claimed the lives of many Liverpool supporters in 1989, Borussia fans immediately set about collecting money in support of the bereaved families, a response that received a lot of attention in Liverpool and led to a friendship developing between the two sets of supporters...

[Oliver_Kahn]

Tobias Levels has made the step up to the Bundesliga. bundesliga.de introduce the Borussia Mönchengladbach player.


Tönisvorst at the Lower Rhine is just 30 kilometres away from the Dutch border.

It's no wonder that German and Dutch people live next to each other in that area.

Dutch passport

A Dutch passport is nothing special in Tönisvorst. Tobias Levels owns one, too. He was born on November 22nd, 1986.

Borussia Mönchengladbach's young hopeful grew up in the district St. Tönis and learned to kick a ball at SV St. Tönis.

Joined Borussia in 1999

KFC Uerdingen 05 then attracted the talented player to the Grotenburg-Stadion. In July 1999, Levels joined Mönchengladbach's U15 team.

Levels came through the ranks at Borussia. He was rewarded with a call-up to Borussia reserves and was one of the key players for the team that were crowned Oberliga champions.

"Great development"

"The boy has made a great development and plays consistently well", reserves coach Horst Wohlers said in the winter break of the 2005-06 season. Levels was rewarded with a trip to the professional team's training camp in sunny Spain.

"You can already see that the boy has a future", said Horst Köppel, Borussia head coach back then.

DFB Cup debut

Levels made an impression on new head coach Jupp Heynckes, too. He took part in pre-season and made his first match for the first team in the DFB Cup 1st round match against SV Roßbach/Wied.

19 days later, he made his Bundesliga debut when he came on as a substitute in Borussia's away match in Bremen.

Full debut against Wolfsburg

On October 14th, Levels was rewarded with his full debut. And boy was he delighted after the 3-1 win over Wolfsburg. "Bundesliga, that's just great. You get to play against people you only know from the TV", Levels said.

Levels has become a regular in Heynckes' team - a young, energetic defensive player with his future ahead of him.

No interview

And even if his parents are Dutch and his passport tells the same story, Levels thinks of himself as a German.

That was most obvious when a Dutch TV station sent a team to the Borussia Park to interview Levels.

The interview never came about. After all, Levels doesn't even speak Dutch.