Oberliga Niederrhein, Round 14:
"Gewogen und zu leicht gefunden." That pretty much sums things up.
WSV was simply beaten by a much better team, and really can't complain
about very much and the prospect of yet another year in the 4th division.
A large crowd of over 2,000 showed up in Köln's Franz-Kremer-Stadion
to watch the top of the table clash between WSV and under-23 squad of the
Bundesligist. Many Wuppis made the trip down, only to be bitterly
disappointed.
From the opening whistle, the youngsters dominated, with WSV running
around haplessly like a chicken with it's head cut off. Clearly Köln
has some decent talent in it's youth program, and some are certain to be
making appearances in the top club before too long. One of those was the
outstanding Geovanni Federico, who started things off with a nice free
kick that floated over to Schäfer, who booted in after only some 5
minutes of play.
WSV held on grimly, but was then delivered a crushing blow as Kuchem, one
of 9 foreigners in Köln's starting lineup, scored shortly before
halftime.
The 2nd half however saw a differnet picture. What obviously was said in
the locker room during the break had an effect. WSV attacked furiously,
putting Köln under severe pressure. However, their defense was solid,
especially around GK Slava Sokolov. By the time WSV's Thomas Euler scored
to bring back WSV, the Lions had obviously expended too much energy, and
were out of gas. So it was left to Federico to run through the WSV defense
and ram home a couple more to leave no doubt in the youngters dominance.
For WSV, this effectively serves notice that they are probably going
nowhere again this season. Although only 4 points back, they were clearly
shown their limits. Or does it?
If I could offer some positive, it is the fact that they are only 4 pts
back. And certainly this Köln team could logically be broken up as
players get called up to the big club. However, it is clear they will need
to regroup and start kicking some serious ass before the winterbreak.
November 18, 2001
WSV overpowered by superior team
1.FC Köln U23: Sokolov - Nessou, Schäfer, D.Ndjeng (42. Ende), Kaba - Federico, Ouedraogo, Niedrig, Kuchem (65. M.Ndjeng) - Celikovic (82. Kutz), Steegmann Wuppertaler SV: Heese - Klemmer, Kurt, Steup, Bayertz - Walbröhl (60. Rietz), Euler, Hyza, Tavarez - Kohout (72. Goumai), Kipre (82. Kelle) Scoring: 1:0 Schäfer (5.), 2:0 Kuchem (44.), 2:1 Euler (78.), 3:1 Federico (83.), 4:1 Federico (87.) Attendance: 2.200