Surprise Recall For Nowotny?
Posted by Pete in Bundesliga, World Cup | 21 April 2006
It's that time of year again. The guessing game about who'll end up in the World Cup squads has begun. And while two enterprising students from Freiburg have started an online petition (121,000 signatures and counting) to get Mehmet Scholl back in the squad, Jürgen has played a real wildcard and invited Jens Nowotny to take part in the last fitness test before he announces his squad on May 15th.
Jens had a truly absymal game the last time he played for the Nationalelf (against the Czechs in Portugal) and wasn't considered for any of the friendlies since. Nevertheless, since recovering from his fourth cruciate ligament injury he's put in some good performances for Bayer this season. It's an odd decision though, if you go back to the Christian Wörns debacle from a weeks back. Chopping and changing your back line (even the substitutes) with little time left can only play into your critics' crosshairs. I'm pretty sure that a few Bild Zeitung hacks are already rubbing their hands in glee should Jürgen's plan backfire.
Overall, the last few weeks haven't been too kind to Bayern's World Cup hopefuls. What with Kahn being relegated to the bench, Klinsmann's indifference to Mehmet's recent form, Roy Makaay is also out of the Dutch squad. Much like Oli, Roy Makaay has lost out to another Premiership stalwart, Ruud Van Nistelrooy. 14 league goals just ain't enough Roy. But for these three, as well as the rest of the Bayern squad, the season could get worse. With Hamburg playing tomorrow and Bayern on Sunday, the gap between the two could narrow to one point, at least for 24 hours. They may only be playing Mainz, but with Ismael banned for the last three games of the season and the likelihood of Bremen breathing down their necks, if Bayern were to buckle under pressure before the season is out it'll be this Sunday.
