Lars Bender joins his twin brother Sven (Borussia Dortmund) and SC Freiburg’s Nils Petersen as one of three players over the age of 23. Julian Brandt, who just failed to make the final squad for Euro 2016, is an almost certain first choice in the Germany line-up. “Neither of us are getting any younger so it’s great to be playing together in a big tournament like that. It’s a brilliant story for us because you only normally only get a chance like that once as a player,” said Lars Bender commenting on being selected along with his twin brother Sven. The pair won the Under-19 European Championships in 2008.
Germany’s group matches in Rio are against Mexico (4 August), South Korea (7 August) and Fiji (10 August). The Germany Olympic squad have a three-day training camp in Frankfurt from 28 July before setting off for Brazil on 30 July.
It is clearly not an ideal situation for Roger Schmidt to be without Bender and Brandt in the run-up to the new season. However, it is not an insurmountable issue for the Werkself head coach. “Of course, Lars is our captain but it is probably his final opportunity to take part in an event like that. Lars knows how we play inside out so it won’t be a problem for either of us. The tournament will be good for Julian. And both will be back for the start of the Bundesliga ,” added Schmidt.
Schreier and Hörster lead the way
The last German goalscorer at the Olympic Games was a Bayer 04 player. Christian Schreier netted the third goal in a 3-0 win against Italy in the third-place play-off in Seoul in 1988. Thomas Hörster and Schreier, the two Werkself pros, returned from South Korea with bronze medals. Bender and Brandt are now in the hunt for medals.
After Jens Nowotny was officially named a Bayer 04 honorary captain last weekend, the long-standing Werkself player is part of the Leverkusen delegation on the trophy tour to New York City next week from 11 to 14 September. In an interview with bayer04.de, the 50-year-old talked about his expectations ahead of the trip to the metropolis on the East Coast of the USA.
Show moreThe German Football League (DFL) has confirmed the dates and kick-off times for matchdays 6 to 12 of the 2024/25 Bundesliga season. Full details of the Bayer 04 fixtures.
Show moreMarkus Rehm, a long jumper at TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, won the gold medal for the fourth time in succession at the Paralympics on Wednesday.
Show moreThe fixture details for the second round of the DFB Pokal 2024/25 have been confirmed. The home tie for Bayer 04 against second division SV 07 Elversberg is on Tuesday, 29 October with the kick off at 18.00 CET (live on Sky). That was announced by the German Football Association (DFB) on Thursday.
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