Hannover to provide tough test
On Thursday, FC Copenhagen face Hannover 96 in the third game of the UEFA Europa League group stage. Both clubs will be looking for all three points to aid their chances of qualification to the knockout stage.
by Joe Short
The club was initially named Hannovercher Fußball-Club 1896, but in 1913 a variety of sports clubs in Hanover gathered together, at which point Hannoverscher Sportverein 1896 was formed. To aid modern ease, Hannover 96 is widely accepted as the club name.
Hannover 96 maintained a low status during the forming years of the club’s history, moving quietly up the ranks and various regional tournaments in Germany, but in 1938 the club won their first German championship. At that time the championship was decided by a final: where Hannover beat favourites FC Schalke 3-3 and 4-3 respectively.
After World War II the club was disbanded by the Allied forces, but was restored at the end of 1945, and found success in the following years. This success culminated in 1953/54, where the club earned their second league title, beating FC Kaiserslautern 5-1 in the final.
Since then there has not been much activity in Hannover’s trophy cabinet, although the club did manage to claim the German Cup in 1991/92. After extra time, a penalty shootout was enough to overcome VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach 4-3.
After the Cup triumph of 1992 all went downhill for Hannover, and in 1996 they were relegated to the third tier of German football. This was to be their lowest ebb, and in the 2001/02 season they won the Second Bundesliga and moved up into the top division.
Hannover have been in the Bundesliga for ten consecutive seasons now, although a few times they have flirted with the relegation zone. Last season was their best finish in recent years – fourth place – only surpassed by champions Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich.
Hannover 96 this season
Thursday's opponents have had a reasonable start to this season and are currently seventh in the Bundesliga with 15 points from nine matches. Were Hannover to have won their match last weekend, they would have been second.
Former FCK manager Ståle Solbakken and his FC Cologne side beat Hannover 2-0 at the weekend, thanks to Lukas Podolski scoring in both halves. It may be an omen that FCK-related teams can beat Hannover, as the only other club to overturn the German side this season has been VfB Stuttgart, the side William Kvist joined at the start of the season.
From their first nine Bundesliga matches, the club has scored 11 goals, with Norwegian Mohammed Abdellaoue netting six times in the Bundesliga this season.
Besides Abdellaoue, five other players have each scored once. Hannover also have the former AGF player Leon Andreasen in the squad, but he has not yet been in action this season.
Hannover qualified for the UEFA Europa League by defeating Spanish side Sevilla. The first showdown in Hanover finished 2-1, while the return match ended 1-1. Both their games in the group stage have harvested points, first a 0-0 draw at home to Standard Liege and a 2-1 win away in Vorskla Poltava. Hanover's two goals were scored by Abdellaoue and Christian Pander.
The city of Hannover
The city is the capital of the German state of Lower Saxony and looks over the river Leine. Hanover, with its 522,000 inhabitants, is one of Germany's 15 largest cities, and since 1947 has been a great trade hub.
Hanover, like many other cities, stages its own Oktoberfest. This event is so great that it is the world's second largest Oktoberfest, surpassed only by Munich.
The match against Copenhagen, to be staged at Hannover’s home the AWD-Arena, could well be full come Thursday evening. The stadium hosted five games of the FIFA 2006 World Cup, including France’s memorable 3-1 win over Spain in the last 16 knockout round.
