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Canucks in Germany Update


Guest Ed

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The German leagues will be back in full swing this weekend now that the internationals are out of the way.

In the Bundesliga 2, league leaders VfL Bochum have a good test of their form as they visit 4th place Eintracht Braunschweig on Sunday. Daniel Imhof is expected to start again in midfield.

Coach Sander of Energie Cottbus has been working on his attacking formation over the break. Look for Kevin McKenna to join the Romanian Radu and Kioyo from Cameroon up front in a 3 striker formation on Sunday as Energie Cottbus host a weak SpVgg Unterhaching team. Kevin is quoted in Kicker today as saying they do not want a repeat of their result against SC Karlsruhe (disappointing loss) and will have to fight 100% to ensure they do not go away empty handed from Sunday's game.

Tam Nsaliwa looks to be on the bench as FC Saarbruecken pray for good fortune and a 2nd win on Sunday as they are away to the Foxes (SC Freiburg) on Sunday as well. Tam has his work cut out for him with Saarbruecken as they have brought in a few players for looks and signed a very experienced defender from Cameroon over the 2 week break.

The Regional League North sees FC St. Pauli away to Holstein Kiel on Saturday with Johnny Sulentic expected to start in midfield for the 4th placed team from Hamburg.

In the Regional League South, it looks like Nik Ledgerwood was crucified for his tactical foul several weeks ago. In addition to the sending off in that game, he will be serving the last of his 3 game suspension in 1860 Muenchen's amateur game against VfR Aalen on Saturday. Nik did go 90 minutes yesterday in a local Cup competition as the 1860 Muenchen amateurs took on the amateur side of their bitter rivals Bayern Munich. A goal down early in the 2nd half, they stormed back with 4 straight, winning in the end 4-2. They will now face an unlikely amateur Munich team (from the Kreisliga -- 9th division?) in the final later this month.

The Maycoll Canizales watch is back on. Will look for him in Hannover 96's amateur tilt in the Oberliga Nord this Sunday.

On the youth side, Amir Haroon has been playing with the A2 Jugend (U18) team with Energie Cottbus this season and Robert Kerek is also playing U18 with SC Freiburg (not the U19's, who are in the national Bundesliga U19 league, South/Southwest division).

Also, as noted yesterday, Kent O'Connor is with 1860 U19's but has yet to make an appearance this season. I am not sure if he is even in Munich as he had a bad knee injury last spring.

Marinko Maras is with FC Kaiserslautern's U17 team. He is 2nd from the right front row according to the FCK website caption. Not a heck of a lot of internet news on FCK's U17's I'm afraid.

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The 1860 Muenchen website said Nik was suspended for 3 games but I guess they included the league game the card was issued in, as Nik was on the field today. Not a good outing though, as they were down 2-0 early in the 2nd half when Nik was subbed out for an attacker. Final score 4-1 for visitors VfR Aalen in the Regional League South.

An equally miserable day in the Regional League North as Johnny Sulentic was subbed out to start the 2nd half (down 4-0) as FC St. Pauli went down 4-1 to hosts Holstein Kiel, who storm to the top of the table.

Off topic for Canucks, Paul Stalteri's old team Werder Bremen move into 1st place in the Bundesliga as they destroy FC Nurnberg and Bayern Munich are held to a 1-1 draw in Gelsenkirchen vs FC Schalke 04.

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Kevin McKenna, playing in a 3 striker formation, doesn't score but Radu and Kioyo bag one each in a reported very strong offensive display as Energie Cottbus delight their home fans and take the lead in the Bundesliga 2 with a 2-0 win over SpVgg Unterhaching.

They are level with VfL Bochum on points but ahead on goal difference.

Daniel Imhof came off mid 2nd half in VfL Bochum's scoreless draw away to Eintracht Braunschweig.

Tam Nsaliwa was a late sub in midfield as 1.FC Saarbruecken dropped a 3-1 decision to SC Freiburg today and are back on the bottom of the table on goal difference.

Maycoll Canizales was supposed to start in today's big 4-0 win for the Hannover 96 amateurs in the Oberliga Nord which pushes them to 2nd place (more when available).

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yanks-abroad.com is reporting that McKenna set up one of the goals. "McKenna jumped to head the ball down to his right for Francis Kioyo to nod past goalkeeper Philipp Heerwagen and make it 1-0." I think he has already scored 5 goals this season. The win puts Cottbus in 1st place, in the drivers seat for promotion back to the bundesliga. A side note, the captain of the team is US international Gregg Berhalter. I expect to see Berhalter in the US world cup squad as he played very well in 2002 and has done well for himself in Germany.

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Bundesliga 2 sees 2nd place VfL Bochum host 3rd place SC Freiburg tomorrow with Daniel Imhof expected to start.

A Cdn derby of sorts on Sunday with Energie Cottbus looking to stay in first place as they hea west to take on 1.FC Saarbruecken in the Saar valley. Kevin McKenna will definitely start; in what position remains to be seen. Tam Nsaliwa is unlikely to start.

In the Regional League North, 1. FC St. Pauli take on VfL Osnabrueck on Saturday. Kicker does not have Sulentic starting. Don't know about that.

Nik Ledgerwood and 1860 Muenchen reserves are away to SC Pfullendorf in the Regional League South tomorrow.

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Daniel Imhof scores the 4th goal on a header (his first Bundeliga 2 goal I believe) in a 4-0 thrashing by VfL Bochum of SC Freiburg to (temporarily at least) move into 1st place.

Nik Ledgerwood and 1860 Muenchen reserves draw 1-1 with SC Pfullendorf; no game report as yet.

Update: Nik is a late sub out from midfield with a 1-0 lead for his side. SC Pfullendorf score 4 minutes later; the coach talked about losing the win post-game.

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Another huge outing for Kevin McKenna as Energie Cottbus ride his hattrick to a 3-1 win over FC Saarbruecken. He now leads the Bundesliga 2 in scoring with 8 goals in 10 games and his club is just behind leaders VfL Bochum on goal difference.

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Don't know what's going on at Cottbus, but what ever it is it must fit Big Kev like-a-glove.

I'm going to guess the Cottbus suits are pretty pleased with what they've invested to get McKenna back to Cottbus, which is squat.

Also going to guess that as the season gets on the man is going to be getting some special attention. It's going to become very hard to keep this up. But in the mean time...

Ha! This rocks!

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quote:Originally posted by loyola

I'm very impress with Mckenna scoring almost every week in a pretty good league. How would you compare the level of the Bundesliga 2 with the Scandinavian leagues? I'm just curious!

I have no idea as I don't watch any Scandinavian leagues. I would say that the Bundesliga 2 is slightly higher than MLS overall, if that means anything to you.

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quote:Originally posted by Ed

I have no idea as I don't watch any Scandinavian leagues. I would say that the Bundesliga 2 is slightly higher than MLS overall, if that means anything to you.

I've read from some fans on bigsoccer that the Norwegian league is slightly better than MLS(and not everyone agree) and that the Sweedish league would be like the MLS.

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In German 'FA Cup' action today (DFB Pokal),

Daniel Imhof is subbed off in the 56th minute for VfL Bochum as they are upset by Regional League North team FC St Pauli. Johnny Sulentic comes off the bench for FC St. Pauli in the 80th minute in the 4:0 win.

Tam Nsaliwa is subbed into midfield in the 60th minute with FC Saarbruecken team up 1-0 over SpVgg Unterhaching. The Munich side tie it up the 75th minute, Hadji is ejected for Saarbrucken and with only 10 men, Saarbruecken go down with a goal in extra time losing 2-1.

Canada's hopes for further rounds rest with Big Kev, on tap tomorrow as Energie Cottbus visit Bundesliga 1 side Arminia Bielefeld.

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In German 'FA Cup' action today (DFB Pokal),

Daniel Imhof is subbed off in the 56th minute for VfL Bochum as they are upset by Regional League North team FC St Pauli. Johnny Sulentic comes off the bench for FC St. Pauli in the 80th minute in the 4:0 win.

Tam Nsaliwa is subbed into midfield in the 60th minute with FC Saarbruecken team up 1-0 over SpVgg Unterhaching. The Munich side tie it up the 75th minute, Hadji is ejected for Saarbrucken and with only 10 men, Saarbruecken go down with a goal in extra time losing 2-1.

Canada's hopes for further rounds rest with Big Kev, on tap tomorrow as Energie Cottbus visit Bundesliga 1 side Arminia Bielefeld.

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Some Canucks in action today in Germany:

In a top of the table battle, SC Paderborn 07 come back to earn a 1-1 tie against VfL Bochum in Bochum. Daniel Imhof comes off with 2 minutes to go as Bochum stay in first and Paderborn climb to 3rd.

Energie Cottbus, with Kevin McKenna starting up front, can move into first place with a win Sunday in Freiburg. Cottbus lost Wednesday and are out of the German FA cup.

Also in the Bundesliga 2, a bottom of the table clash sees 1.FC Saarbruecken lose 3-1 away to LR Ahlen and the Saarland club remain firmly rooted in last place, Tam Nsaliwa coming into midfield into the 2nd half.

In the Regional League South, a Munich derby for Nik Ledgerwood and he goes 90 minutes in a 2-2 draw between 1860 Muenchen reserves and their counterparts with Bayern Munich.

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Energie Cottbus miss the chance to go clear on top as they are dumped 4-1 by SC Freiburg, with Kevin McKenna up front.

Maycoll Canizales subs into midfield in the 62nd minute as Hannover 96 reserves lose 1-0 away to ASV Bergedorf 85 in the Oberliga North.

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In Bundesliga 2 action this weekend, Kevin McKenna and Energie Cottbus put a 3 game home winning streak on the line against 2nd from bottom LR Ahlen tomorrow. Cottbus are just a point behind the leaders despite their loss to SC Freiburg last weekend and Kevin McKenna leads the league in goals with 8 already on the season. He may start in defence tomorrow.

Leaders VfL Bochum are away to Sportfreunde Siegen on Saturday looking to keep the overall lead with Daniel Imhof in midfield.

FC Saarbruecken host Hansa Rostock on Saturday, with Tam on the bench. Tough season for Tam so far. Not much respect from the coach of his club side.

Nik Ledgerwood and 1860 Muenchen reserves are away to Stuttgarter Kickers Saturday in the Regional League South.

Also Saturday, Johnny Sulentic and FC St Pauli host RW Essen in the Regional League North.

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Scoreless draw at home for Energie Cottbus which would have to be considered a big disappointment. Now down to 3rd in the title race, pipped for 2nd by 1860 Muenchen (who won today) on goal diff.

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Nik Ledgerwood plays 90, picking up a yellow, in 2-0 loss for his club 1860 Muenchen to Stuttgarter Kickers in the Regional League South.

Johnny Sulentic comes on for the last 3 minutes in a 3-0 St. Pauli win over RW Essen.

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Surprisingly VfL Bochum get hammered 3-0 by Sportfreunde Siegen with Daniel Imhof in midfield. VfL Bochum remain on top of the Bundesliga 2 on goal difference, tied on points with 1860 Muenchen and Energie Cottbus.

Tam Nsaliwa comes on to start the 2nd half and FC Saarbruecken score once but it's not enough as they drop a 2-1 decision to Hansa Rostock.

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This probably won't have any affect on Maycoll Canizales, but Hannover have canned coach Ewald Lienen, repacing him with Basil Fawlty (aka Peter Neururer), who coached VfL Bochum for several seasons.

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Nice article on Kevin McKenna from the Energy Cottbus site. My German's getting rusty and my vocabulary worse, so I've taken some liberty. Pardon the mistakes. Looks real good though for Cheeta's Big Kev.

It's not rare for a defender to control the penalty area, but it's unusual if it's in the opposition end. Kevin McKenna right now is the best. Unlike the defenders in the Bundesliga who have earned that reputation like Lucio and Daniel van Buyten, the Canadian who plays for Bundesliga 2 club FC Energie isn't restricted to occasional attacks; he's acquired a taste for starting as a striker - and with his versatility has become a bad dream for the opposing ranks.

Right now he is the secret weapon that trainer Petrik Sander produced when he needed a replacement for suspended Francis Kioyo. McKenna scored three in the 4:2 win over Siegen, and another in the 5:1 game against Aachen. After that he played up front with Kioyo still out - and pushed his tally on the season from 6 goals to eight in the 3:1 win over Saarbruecken.

Goals have sparked interest

With his unusual versatility, the 25-year-old has for weeks caught the attention of the Bundesliga. 'I've had inquiries', says the Canadian international. He is under contract in Cottbus until 2007. Thanks to his goals, Energie dreams of the return to the higher league. 'It doesn't matter who scores. The main thing is that we score.', he says.

The North American has returned to the hot seat just this summer after three years in Scotland with Heart of Midlothian. He had begun his career back in Europe as an 18 year-old and had been brought in under trainer Eduard Geyer for two Bundesliga games as well as three Bundesliga 2 games.

Under a player exchange program involving Cottbus and Canadian kids from Calgary, McKenna crossed the Atlantic as a teenager. Trained to be a striker, he convinced the amateur team to try him in defense where they needed a player who could play strong in the air. The English-Canadian Owen Hargreaves also came out of that Calgary exchange. Hargreaves meanwhile is a bit more English playing on the national team and Bayern Munich.

McKenna however remained hanging around in Cottbus. And fell in love. His girlfriend Claudia, from a Lausitzer athletic family, is expecting a baby in February and McKenna plans on getting married this summer. Claudine was once the German cycling champion. Her father Hans-Joachim Hartnick, twice Olympian, world team champion, winner at the Peace Games and East German road racing champion gave her that talent in the cradle. 'Kevin's and my views met, and we clicked immediately', says Claudine.

Also successful against Germany

From his statistics from his time in Scotland, McKenna's scoring touch isn't just a flash in the pan. For the Hearts out of Edinburgh, he scored 23 times in approximately three seasons. And he was in and out of the lineup. He got some attention before a wide German audience two years ago in the Germany vs Canada (4:1) international in Wolfsburg. In that game, he gave the Maple Leafs under Holger Osieck the early 1:0 lead. But the World Cup 2006 takes place to be sure without Canada and without McKenna.

Yet that's not going to bother the confident McKenna, he still has his best years ahead of him - at least as a defender.. /Martin Haas/Christoph Leuchtenberg

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