No. 42—German Soccer, Bundeslige—FC Nuremberg vs. FC Bayern Munich: A Good Defensive Game to Watch, but Ended Sloppy

by Soccer Coach Albert M. Luongo

The final score of the Bundeslige game, FC Nuremberg vs. FC Bayern Munich, played on March 29, 2008 was 1 to 1. It was a great spectator game as both teams played a good ground passing game with excellent defense except on both occasions when goals were scored.

Nuremberg dominated this half. At minute 44 Nurenberg’s Zvjezdan Misimovic was unmarked and kicked a long shot from the left side of the goal into the upper right hand corner of the net. This shot just missed the cross bar and the upright. There was no chance for Bayern Munich’s goalkeeper Kahn to save this shot. However, Misimovic should have been marked.

During the middle of second half, Munich seemed to come alive. And at minute 81, substitute Podolski became open in front of the goal. Luca Toni sent a nice pass to unmarked Podolski, who scored making the score 1-1. There was no chance for Nuremberg goalkeeper Blazek to stop this shot.

Discussion
Both teams defenses (see the author's books) kept the score down, but on two occasions (once for each team) a goal was let in due to players caught watching the ball and not marking strikers. At about the last 8 to 10 minutes, the play and players became undone as both teams tried frantically to sent the ball up to the opponents goal--they seemed to have thrown caution to the wind. Had one of these teams played aggressively, yet with care as earlier in the game, they may have scored a winning point. However, it seems that each team ran out of steam, making aggressive offensive play difficult—the probable cause for the lack of each team's energy at the end of the game is not enough endurance training.

All of the above information is the author's opinion. This article in no way is meant to degrade, discredit or defame any team or person. Its sole purpose is to improve the skills of young soccer players, coaches and the game itself.