DFB president Reinhard Grindel, Germany coach Joachim Löw and manager Oliver Bierhoff attended the event held at the Kremlin concert hall.
Back in Leverkusen, Bernd Leno, Julian Brandt, Benny Henrichs and Jonathan Tah took particular attention of Germany's opponents in the group stage. The Bayer 04 quartet are currently in the extended Germany squad heading for Russia to defend their title. Leno (6 international caps), Brandt (13) and Henrichs (3) played in the World Cup qualifiers. Tah (3) last played for his country in a 0-0 draw in a friendly against Italy in November 2016. Bayer 04 striker Kevin Volland must also have high hopes making it to the World Cup finals.
The first group match could see the Werkself pros meet up with a former team-mate in Chicharito. Germany kick off their title defence against Mexico on Sunday 17 June at the Luzhniki Park in Moscow. The second group game follows on 23 June with the Löw eleven taking on Sweden in Sochi before the final group encounter against South Korea in Kazan on 27 June. Former Werkself winger Heung-Min Son is sure to be in their squad.
Admir Mehmedi, Tin Jedvaj, Lucas Alario and Wendell are also in with a shout of playing at the World Cup. Mehmedi, who has won 56 caps for Switzerland to date, played for his country at the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016. Switzerland are in Group E along with Brazil, who may have Bayer 04 defender Wendell in their squad . Up to now, he has made seven appearances for the Brazil U23s and he could see his dream of playing at the World Cup for the Selecao come true. The other two teams in the group are Costa Rica and Serbia.
Tin Jedvaj, who has eight caps for Croatia to date, and was at the European Championships in France, will do all he can to be in the squad going to Russia. He could face Leverkusen team-mate Lucas Alario as Croatia are also in Group D. Alario has made two full international appearances for the two-time World Cup winners. The other group opponents for Croatia and Argentina are Iceland and Nigeria.
32 teams are taking part in the World Cup in Russia in eight groups. The tournament starts on 14 June 2018 with the opening game between hosts Russia and Saudi Arabia and ends on 15 July 2018. The final will be played at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
All the fixtures are available here: http://calovo.de/wm2018
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month.
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Kasper Hjulmand has led the Werkself back to winning ways and is back in the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League with Bayer 04 after the 3-0 win against Villarreal on Wednesday evening. In an interview with the Werkself magazine at the BayArena in the team meeting room, directly opposite the dressing room, he provided some special insights for the current issue, which was published in January. A conversation with the 53-year-old coach about values, attitudes and personal experiences as well as interests outside of football.
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The thrilling 3-1 win for Bayer 04 against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Hinrunde is a fond memory for Alejandro Grimaldo, with his brace from free kicks, and coach Kasper Hjulmand, who was in the dugout under the Cross for the first time. Now comes the return fixture in the metropolis on the River Main and after going out of the DFB Pokal and the Champions League, the full focus at Eintracht, currently managed by two interim coaches, is now on the Bundesliga. For their part, the Werkself will do everything in their power to continue the longest winning run against a Bundesliga club. The matchday news.
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Bayer 04 have ended Artem Stepanov’s loan deal at Nürnberg and agreed a new loan to Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Ukrainian striker did not play as much as hoped for at the Bundesliga 2 club and will now continue his development in the Eredivisie for the rest of 2025/26.
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The draw for the knockout play-offs of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League was made on Friday, 30 January and saw Bayer 04 paired with Olympiacos. It’s a reunion with the Greek side following the Werkself’s 2-0 loss in Athens on Matchday 7 of the league phase.
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