By J-P Gencey
jp@canucks-abroad.com

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of vacationing in Germany and was able to take in first hand two games featuring some Canucks Abroad.

On Saturday March 15th Vfl Bochum and Daniel Imhof hosted Vfb Stuttgart at the RewirPowerStadion. Imhof played well and never backed down in a spirited 1-1 draw that at times got very physical. He won some challenges, distributed the ball well and made himself available constantly for teammates.

In the 10th minute he sent a beautiful through ball down the right wing to Tomasz Zdebel that led to a shot from inside the box, unfortunately the rebound landed at the feet of an offside Stanislav Sestak and an apparent goal was called off.

Christoph Dabrowski got Bochum on the scoreboard in the 20th minute for a well deserved lead. Stuttgart started to claw their way back in the game and Imhof ended up on the wrong end of a few strong challenges; including one where he wrenched his knee but kept playing.

After the stroke of halftime Stuttgart quickly equalized when Thomas Hitzlsperger found space in the box and his shot slid under Bochum keeper Jan Lastuvka.

Later in the half Imhof sent a shot wide and high over the net. He also committed a number of fouls as Stuttgart pushed for the win at the end of the match. He was called for a questionable foul in injury time just moments after being elbowed in the forehead. He came off and had the training staff tend to a cut above his eyebrow.

In all, it was a fun match to watch. The beer was decent - if you’re ever at a game in Germany make sure you take back the plastic they give you since you pay a deposit on it, I didn’t know this. The bratwurst on a bun was interesting – the bun is too small for the weiner (insert joke here), and apparently it’s like this everywhere in Germany. The halftime entertainment was quasi-legal; teenaged, female dance troupe being whistled at by middle-aged men. And I tried to get Daniels attention from my 4th row seat, but alas he was intent on hitting the showers quickly. Oh well.

Writers note: I forgot to bring my camera to the Bochum-Stuttgart match, but I didn’t make the same mistake twice!!

On Sunday March 16th Borussia Moenchengladbach played host to St. Pauli at Borussia Park in Moenchengladbach, Germany. It was a battle of teams each featuring a Canadian as Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault watched from the bench as Rob Friend was an absolute beast in this game. The 1-0 scoreline in favour of Moenchengladbach was flattering to St. Pauli.

http://www.youtube.com/v/1ZuZS7UYzZk

The stadium was rocking as over 48,800 fervent supporters awaited their 1st place team to lay the smackdown on mid-table St. Pauli. We made it in with 10 minutes to spare as traffic around the stadium is incredibly awful.

Rob Friend almost scored within 10 minutes of the opening whistle as he won an aerial battle with St. Pauli keeper Patrik Borger and buried the loose ball. The goal was unfortunately called back for a foul Friend had committed on a defender prior to going up against the goalie.

A few minutes later a cross from the right flank by Rosler was met by the head of a wide open Rob Friend and he sent it screaming a foot over the cross bar with half the net empty just yards away.

Moenchengladbach dominated throughout and finally in the 2nd half put the screws to St. Pauli with a forceful header from Friend off an Oliver Neuville free kick in the 63rd minute. With his teammates making runs to the near post Rob found himself open at the back post and drove the ball into the back of the net from about 8 yards out.

The chances to equalize for St. Pauli were far and few between and Moenchengladbach were unlucky to not extend their lead. Neuville was sent in alone on Borger thanks to a threaded through ball courtesy of Friend.

After the match the Moenchengladbach players thanked their supporters in customary fashion. The man of the match as selected by the club - in this case Stephen Gahouri - leads the fans through a chant. There seems to be a really positive relationship between the fans and the team at Moenchengladbach. The fan following for the club is huge and almost cult-like, as evidenced by the attendance figures for the Bundesliga 2 club. With retail and commercial development efforts in the works around Borussia Park, the club should have adequate money to field a winner for the foreseeable future.