GENERAL NEWS
07/25/2011

Fan-and-family day enjoys a goal festival!

The final friendly of 1899 Hoffenheim's pre-season preparations was literally a family affair and fans and family were invited to enjoy a Matchday experience when Holger Stanislawski's side took on Racing Santander. The Sinsheim side emerged victorious in the 3-2 win against the Spanish first division team.

Stanislawski stuck with the 4-2-3-1 formation as Sven Schipplock replaced Vedad Ibisevic up front, with Obasi, Babel and Salihovic playing in behind the striker. Weis and Rudy took the defensive midfield slots, while Compper and Vorsah partnered up in the centre of defence with Beck and Johnson either side. Meanwhile, Sigurdsson, Ibertsberger, Jaissle, Braafheid, Vukcevic and Gulde were all ruled out with injury.

Two set-pieces, two goals

Ahead of the big autograph session, the 1899 squad had to execute on the field for Holger Stanislawski and the fans. The 18,000 fans in attendance inside the Rhein-Neckar-Arena didn't have to wait long for their sides first chance as the ever-impressive Johnson set up Salihovic who forced a good save out of Fernandez inside five minutes. The visitors broke the deadlock though ten minutes later when a long-range set-piece found an unmarked Borja Garcia to glance home for the lead (15'). The Spanish side stayed compact in their 4-4-2 formation , but it was 1899's turn to profit from a dead ball situation. Beck whipped the ball in and with Vorsah causing all sorts of problems for the Santander defence, Compper poked the ball home for the equaliser (21'). Highlights were hard to come by despite the Kraichgau outfit dominating possession and while a long distance Rudy effort whistled just by the post, Luque tested Starke down the other end for the only other highlights of a slow paced first half.

Goals galore after the break

Stanislawski made four changes during the break as Compper, Weis, Babel and Schipplock were replaced by Simunic, Mlapa, Ibisevic and Firmino. Hoffenheim started the second half with real purpose, but the Spanish side were often fouling the 1899 players in and around their penalty area. Unfortunately, Salihovic was just missing the last dip and twist on the ball to find the back of the net with his efforts. Just after the hour mark Ibisevic had the fans screaming “goal”, but didn't connect with the ball at all and fluffed his lines. Stanislawski made more changes as Prince Tagoe, Jukka Raitala and Franco Zuculini came into the match in place of Beck, Obasi and Salihovic. These three changes made an instant impact as the Finnish youngster showed great composure breaking down the wing and providing an inviting ball for Tagoe to head home for 2-1, sending the fans wild (72'). Hoffenheim continued to dictate the pace of the game and they made it count when Firmino played a dream pass to Mlapa. There was a distinct element of luck as the Ghanaian's shot took a deflection off of two different defenders before falling into the back of the net, but it was 3-1 to the home side (81'). Santander did manage a second consolation goal when Javier Martinez's pulled one back with a delightful lob to make it 3-2 to 1899 Hoffenheim in their final pre-season friendly.

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