If you don’t follow German football on a regular basis, you might be surprised to see Wolfsburg in the UEFA Champions League this year. Before last season’s surprise run, Wolfsburg was mostly known for being the global headquarters of Volkswagen. Not only have they never played a big role in the Bundesliga, they weren’t on anyone’s list as title contender for much of last season. The Bundesliga already had its surprise team of the season at the halfway point, when newcomers Hoffenheim were on top of the table after 17 games. Bayern Munich was supposed to be their only serious contender.
But when both Hoffenheim and Bayern dramatically collapsed, the latter firing their coach Juergen Klinsmann shortly before the end of the season, Wolfsburg appeared out of nowhere to take the lead. While it is true that many things had to come together for them to win the Meisterschaft, it would be wrong to assume that it was just luck.
Have you ever wondered why Bosnia-Herzegovina is in second place in Group 5 of the European qualification for the 2010 World Cup? Okay, you probably have better things to do with your life, especially if you’re not Bosnian… or Herzegovinese (which is even more unlikely). But the answer to that question actually partly explains the mystery of Wolfsburg’s success. It is mostly related to two names: Edin Dzeko and Zvjezdan Misimovic. Yes, Zvjezdan! When your first name starts with three consonants, you know that either your parents were drunk when they filled out your birth certificate or you were born somewhere in the Balkans…
When Wolfsburg beat Stuttgart 2-0 in the opening game of this year’s Bundesliga season on Friday night, it was Misimovic who opened the score with a beautiful shot from about 18 meters into the top corner. Misimovic is Wolfsburg’s attacking midfielder and playmaker. In Bosnia’s national team he occupies much the same role, playing a crucial part in their two upset wins over Belgium last April. Alright, it was Belgium… but they used to be good!
As far as Edin Dzeko is concerned, his goal scoring record speaks for itself: 26 goals in the Bundesliga last season, 7 goals in 6 qualifying matches for Bosnia-Herzegovina. Together these guys make up 2/3 of Wolfsburg’s attack, with Misimovic playing behind the two strikers.
But Wolfsburg wouldn’t be champions, if their attack wasn’t completed by last year’s Bundesliga top scorer and player of the year, the man whose name sounds like bad street art: Grafite! (Edinaldo Batista Líbano is not that much better though, so I understand his choice)
Whenever you come even close to beating Gerd Mueller’s record for goals per minutes played in a Bundesliga season, more people should know about you. Brazil’s national team, of course, doesn’t even need him to win the World Cup next year. Plus, they have seen him play for a decade in Brazil. He even won the FIFA World Club Championship with Sao Paulo in 2005, but nobody cares about that competition in Europe. So to most people it was a big surprise when he scored 28 goals last season and was part of the most successful scoring duo in Bundesliga history (54 goals between him and Dzeko).
Grafite’s most memorable goal of the season was scored against Bayern Munich, out of all teams. Don’t try this at home, or if you absolutely have to, only if you’re leading 4-1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSuiI9WY2uY
In the plausible case that your German is less than fluent and you are struck by the random mention of the name JayJay Okocha, the commentator is referring to his goal for Frankfurt against Karlsruhe, surely one of the best in Bundesliga history, and conceptually similar to this one. For now, Grafite’s piece of art was voted goal of the year by whatever authority determines these things in Germany.
Considering that Wolfsburg was able to keep their Brazilo-Bosnian attacking combo, the team seems entirely capable of surprising Germany once again, and maybe even Europe. It appears less likely that Bosnia-Herzegovina will beat Brazil in the World Cup next year. But stranger things have happened…
