CanadianSwede Posted March 16, 2008 Share Posted March 16, 2008 ^ Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank Posted March 16, 2008 Share Posted March 16, 2008 Hi JPG75, how long you gonna stay here in Germany?? On Thursday FCK with Josh will meet Offenbach at Kaiserslautern... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lomonty Posted March 16, 2008 Share Posted March 16, 2008 quote: Rob Friend scores to make it 1-0 in the 2nd half for Borussia over St. Pauli. 1-0 final. Does anyone else see Friend maturing the same way Luca Toni did? I may be stretching this cause he's a nat but Toni toiled in lower leagues until his late 20's when foot skill finally caught up to his height and athletisism. It'll be interesting to see what Rob's future is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted March 16, 2008 Share Posted March 16, 2008 quote:Originally posted by frank Hi JPG75, how long you gonna stay here in Germany?? On Thursday FCK with Josh will meet Offenbach at Kaiserslautern... We're leaving for Paris in the morning and will be in France for the next 3 nights, then we drive back to Essen for Thursday night. I was thinking about going to the Koln match next weekend, but i'm leaning against it since my dad and his g/f have plans to do some day trips through the Rhein valley and want me to go. She's kind enough to let me stay here so i'm not going to push it (though i could rent a car, but i don't want to seem rude). Anyways, my awesome plans of getting to the game early were shot to hell when we hit a bottleneck on Hwy 52 as we neared Hwy 61. It's a 50km trip and took us 20 minutes to get within 10km of the stadium and from there it took us an hour to slowly crawl into the parking lot with literally 10,000 other cars. Turns out Borussia Park is in the middle of nowhere!! Once inside i took some pics and a video of the stadium that i will eventaully post on youtube and canucks-abroad along with a match report of some kind. The stadium seats about 50K (Bochum is only 30K) and the fans are loud as hell. Friend should have had a goal early on, but the ref whistled him for a phantom foul on the keeper. Both went up for it; Friend got his head on it, the keeper got his hands on it, but the ball bounced up and it was Friend that corralled it when it came down and shot it into the open net. The goal was a header from a free kick near the midfield line, you could see immediately it was well struck and was heading for the back post except no one on St. Pauli figured that out. Some of his Gladbach teammates ran to the near post to clear out the space and the St. Pauli goalie stood there and Rob was a few yards wide open and got his noggin' on it. Noticed after the goal that one of the fans behind the net was waving a Canadian flag (could be an ex-pat since i noticed that from the youtube clip of his last goal), and on the videotron they shoot a pic of Rob with this quasi-SteveO from Jackass double thumbs-up with a grin. But he wasn't done, a few minutes later he sent Neuville in alone but he shot right at the goalie. He held the ball well throughout and made alot of accurate passes, also his touch was excellent all game. At one point he made a run and a long ball was hit to him and he did a 180 to receive and as soon as his first touch stuck to his foot he completed the spin on the go and nearly got away from the last defender. After the game the Gladbach players go to the supporters end and take a bow and then the player of the match (#5 Gohouri the CB who had a shut down game for Gladbach) gets the mic and starts a chant and the fans respond and the players join in and then clap in appreciation of the fans. It's a fun thing to see in an age of entitlement in pro sports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FCH Posted March 16, 2008 Share Posted March 16, 2008 Rob Friend had the honour of leading the chant on a few occasions already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 quote:originally quoted by jpg75 We're leaving for Paris in the morning and will be in France for the next 3 nights, then we drive back to Essen for Thursday night It looks like you´re lucky charm for your compatriots here in Germany. So we could need you here in K´town too for thursady;) I asked, as I then had tried to get tickets for you, but I understand that you don´t want to see your father rude. Although from Paris to K´town it´s only 350km. So in case you can convince him, just let me know:D I hope, you injoyed it here and will enjoy the rest of your trip, have a great time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 Friend now has 15 goals on the season, has moved into 2nd place in the goal scoring list and 8th overall in league striker (Kicker) ratings. He also made the B2 team of the week for the 3rd time this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaucho Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 Highlights versus St. Pauli. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4soYmigKXA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 quote:Originally posted by Lomonty Does anyone else see Friend maturing the same way Luca Toni did? I may be stretching this cause he's a nat but Toni toiled in lower leagues until his late 20's when foot skill finally caught up to his height and athletisism. It'll be interesting to see what Rob's future is I am impressed by how nicely balanced he is between physical strength, speed and game intelligence (seems to be in the right position, moves well off the ball), tall but light-footed, plus poise on the ball, looks to the goal when in close. Just saying this on the basis of extended highlights seen over the year, like these here. But the guy does seem to have room to get even better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 Tonight starts the 25 gameday of League 2 with the following games Augsburg - Paderborn, with David Hoilett on the bench for Paderborn FC St. Pauli - Osnarbrück, Jonathan Bourgault doesn´t even make the bench, so I dont understand why they did not release him for the U23 qualifiying FCK - Offenbach, with Josh Simpson starting and Patrice Bernier on the bench. Rob Friend and Borussia Mönchengladbach will play on monday at Aachen in the Niederrheinderby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 David Hoillet starts for SC Paderborn, scoreless at the half. He had an early chance. Jonathan Bourgault is indeed on the bench as FC St Pauli take an early 1-0 lead. Josh Simpson starts for K'town, Patrice Bernier has really fallen out of favour with the new regime, on the bench again. They are behind to their guests, 1-0 at the half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 Simpson out in the 58th minute, with FC Kaiserslautern still down 1-0. Disappointing game from him. Hoillet still on the field with SC Paderborn as they look to earn their FIRST away win of the season, up 1-0 with 30 minutes to go. Paderborn hang on for the win. The 17 yr old must have been doing something right as he goes 90 minutes. FC St Pauli get a late go ahead goal and hang on for a 2-1 win. FC Kaiserslautern earn a 1-1 draw. The Beast is set to start as FC Ingolstadt 04 take on Sportfreunde Siegen in the Regional League South (starts at 2:30 PM EDT). Live ticker at Sportfreunde site indicates Gerba on the bench. No sign of Alex Elliott. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 The Beast is on, into the 2nd half, with his team up 1-0 on the hosts. B2 here we come! Has a good shot on net from 18 m, saved. Draws a yellow card a few minutes later. Gotta love the BEAST. Game over. FC Ingolstadt has yet to lose in 2008 and move into 1st place ahead of VfB Stuttgart amateurs. Still some teams close with game(s) in hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 quote:Originally posted by frank It looks like you´re lucky charm for your compatriots here in Germany. So we could need you here in K´town too for thursady;) I asked, as I then had tried to get tickets for you, but I understand that you don´t want to see your father rude. Although from Paris to K´town it´s only 350km. So in case you can convince him, just let me know:D I hope, you injoyed it here and will enjoy the rest of your trip, have a great time Thanks for the offer Frank! I'm having a great time so far. Just got back to Essen from Dieppe today and we're leaving for the Rhein in the morning. I somehow have to stay up to watch the Canada-US game with a few beers in me and then wake up tomorrow morning on 3 hours sleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Ingolstadt extended their winning streak to 4 after the winter break. Ali Gerba came in after 69 minutes. quote:originally quoted by JPG75 I somehow have to stay up to watch the Canada-US game with a few beers in me and then wake up tomorrow morning on 3 hours sleep. Probaly you needed some more beers, when I see that Canada lost 3-0. It´s a pitty that always the US is the obstacle for your country. Enjoy the rest of your trip. You hadn´t seen to much from Josh, as Ed already mentioned quote:originally qouted by ED Simpson out in the 58th minute, with FC Kaiserslautern still down 1-0.Disappointing game from him. It was one of his worst games in the red jersey. He played without any self confidence, allthough he played on the left wing, his favorite position. For me it looks like he doesn´t feel comfortable with the new coach. He needs to improve to help the team. Or it was only because he needed more match practice after his 4 games ban. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaucho Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 There is an article on Friend in German titled "Sportsdirector Ziege "Friend is unbuyable". Ziege used to be a player on Germany's national team. The article talks about how Friend's 15 goals are already more than their best player from 2001 when they last got promoted to the top division. Several teams are interested in Friend, including some top division teams in England and Hamburg which is close to earning a spot in next year's Champion's League. Ziege goes on to say those teams can go away with their bundles of money, that Friend in under contract until 2010 and that they would be stupid to sell him. Friend says he feels very good where he is and has no thoughts of going elsewhere. His focus at the moment lies only with Borussia. He has 10 matches left ahead of them and at this moment in time has his full concentration. A couple of his teammates and coach also say some flattering things about him. http://www.express.de/servlet/Satellite?pagename=express/index&pageid=1150843002656&rubrik=214&articleid=1205772536673 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villus Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 quote:Originally posted by Gaucho There is an article on Friend in German titled "Sportsdirector Ziege "Friend is unbuyable". Ziege used to be a player on Germany's national team. The article talks about how Friend's 15 goals are already more than their best player from 2001 when they last got promoted to the top division. Several teams are interested in Friend, including some top division teams in England and Hamburg which is close to earning a spot in next year's Champion's League. Ziege goes on to say those teams can go away with their bundles of money, that Friend in under contract until 2010 and that they would be stupid to sell him. Friend says he feels very good where he is and has no thoughts of going elsewhere. His focus at the moment lies only with Borussia. He has 10 matches left ahead of them and at this moment in time has his full concentration. A couple of his teammates and coach also say some flattering things about him. http://www.express.de/servlet/Satellite?pagename=express/index&pageid=1150843002656&rubrik=214&articleid=1205772536673 Wow this is awesome, I did'nt expect him to get this amount of goals and praise this year. Thats awesome that some bigger clubs are looking at him, and as others have said he still has room to get even better. With WCQ coming on this is exactly what we need a Striker on form who is playing with confidence and has the full package, good in the air, good holding up the ball, passes well has speed and is scoring a lot of goals. If anyone thinks that he is'nt our starting CF added with how well the team plays with him in that position they need to cut down on the booze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaucho Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 An interview from Bundlesiga website. I am struggling through it with my poor German and am pressed for time, but someone else can perhaps translate parts of it. Btw, the title of the interview is "In Canada, I learned never to give up". http://www.bundesliga.de/de/liga2/news/2007/index.php?f=90362.php&fla=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FCH Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 I'll give it a try. Headline says :In Canada I learned to never give up. Q: Congratulations on your goal against St. Pauli. It made the third victory in a row possible for BMG. Was this your most important goal this season. A:It was the only goal in this game so it is more important than a 3:0 or 4:0. But I'm not sure if it was the most important one this season. Q:This goal was your fifth goal in those last four games. You seem to be in good form. A:That's right it is going good at the moment but not only for me. The whole team is doing well and as a striker I profit from it. Q:How are you getting along with Oliver Neuville on the field and off? A:We get along great and complement each other on the field. Even though we are different players it works out well. End of part one. More later on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FCH Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 I had to pick up my son from University and will now translate the last part of the interview. Q: Before the St. Pauli game the coach said that the team has found itself. What did he mean by that and why did the team began the second half of the season so slow? A:It was the same at the beginning of the season. We had to find our rhythm and stability. Now with three wins in a row we gained our confidence back. Q: A few days ago the coach commented about you: He has exceeded our expectations. Rob can play two games and still doesn't want to leave the pitch. What kind of expactations did you have when you came to Deutschland? A: I knew that nobody would know anything about me but I knew what I can do and what I can bring to the team. I didn't think about failure at all. Q: You can't get enough of soccer? A:It is true that when I'm on the field I always give 100%. Emotions are part of it and as a young athlete in Canada you learn to never give up. That's how I play and maybe that's what the coach meant. Q:You were born in Rosetown in the province of Sasketchewan but you grew up in BC. Despite the fact that hockey and football are dominating there how did you become a soccer player? A: As a teenager I used to play hockey but somehow I made the transition to soccer. I don't know why. If I would have known that I would become a professionel athlete maybe I would have stayed with hockey. Laughs. No seriously everything went as it was supposed to be. Q: Everybody talks about your soccer skills right now but how good are you on skates? A: As I said I played hockey quiet a bit. That's part of life in Canada. Q: Canada is not known as a soccer nation.How do you see the chance of qualifying for the next WC? A:Not too bad. We closed the gap to teams like Mexico and the USA and perhaps one day we will qualify. Q:You played for two university teams in the US and got drafted by the Chicago Fire. Instead you decided to move to Europe. Why? A:If you want to improve as a soccer player you have to go to Europe. I also had offers from Norway and I haven't regreted the move at all Q: At the beginning of the season you talked about scoring 15 goals. Mission accomplished. What's next? A: The journalist's kept asking so I just threw a number at them. But I'm happy that I reached this number and hopefully can add a few more. I will translate the rest tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 quote:originally posted by FCH I will tanslate the rest tomorrow. I hope you don´t mind, when I try to translate the rest;) BL: Next oponent will be Aachen. The hosts got 8 goals against them in the last 2 games at the Tivoli. Now the best tackle comes, what are you intend to do? RF: Like every game we also want to win this. It´s not gonna be easy but we´re looking forward to this derby. BL:After that game there are the top teams comming, Köln, Fürth, Freiburg. Are these the deciding games for the promotion? RF: These games are as important as the games with Offenbach, Koblenz or Wehen. If we go on playing like we do, we will get the necesarry points BL: A final question, What do you think if wou hear names like Bayern Munich, HSV or Werder Bremen RF: I would like to play against them, preferably next year in the Bundesliga Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonovision Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 With Monchengladbach playing on Monday this week, we shouldn't expect Rob Friend to play more than a half against Estonia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 McKenna went the full 90 as a centre forward today for Koln who won 2-1 against Wehen Wiesbaden. He assisted on the Koln winner, receiving the ball at the top of the area and toeing a cutter into the box for his man to slot under the sprawling goalie of SVWW. Unfortunately he then was cautioned for a foul in the box that was called a penalty and gave Wisebaden a chance to tie the game. The kick was converted for the tying goal, but one of the Wiesbaden players left early and the kick was retaken and this time saved by Mondragon. Big Kev then made up for it later with a flick on header to Vucicevic that he ran onto before being dragged down by the last defender who got red carded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 Missed some stuff lately. Riley O'Neill and SV Wilhelmshaven are still atop the Oberliga Nord table, with a win Thursday over FC St Pauli amateurs 1-0 (Riley goes 90 minutes, no sign of JBB) and a big win today 7-2 over Eintracht Nordhorn, Riley out at the 63 minute mark, his team up 5-2. Jonathan Bourgault played 90 minutes in the back line today for FC St Pauli amateurs in a 1-0 win over BV Cloppenburg. SC Bonner (Maycoll Canizales) draw the Alemannia Aachen amateurs 1-1 today in the Oberliga NordRhein, no word on goalscorers yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 Rob Friend gets his 3rd yellow card of the season in the 1st minute vs Alemannia Aachen (throwing elbows around apparently). Aachen scored 2 minutes later and hold on to the 1-0 lead early in the 2nd half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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