Well that was quick. The tour of China by Arminia Bielefeld proved to be quite nice to die Blauen, resulting in a win and a draw over Wuhan FC and FC Shenhua Shanghai respectively. Up first was Wuhan FC, who finished 7th in this season's edition of the Chinese Super League. Wuhan (also know as Wuhan Guanggu) has been moderately successful recently, earning promotion to the CSL by winning the Chinese Second division back in 2004. In their first season, Wuhan took the CSL Cup (a now-defunct League Cup for the members of the CSL), which combined with a respectable league finish made them regulars in China's top division.

For the tour, First team coach Frank Geideck sent out a weakened side in comparison to the one who took on Stuttgart on Saturday, and it didn't seem to matter. Bielefeld for all intents and purposes outplayed them, especially defender Nils Fischer (When asked to choose between Marcelo Bordon or Juan in an interview, he chose Fabio Cannovaro!), who netted two goals in the first half and received the Man of the Match award afterward. Ioannis Masmandis finished up the scoring in the 90th minute to give the visitors an 0-3 victory.

The final score of the match... albeit just before full time. (Image: Bielefeldfotos)

The other match for Arminia was against traditional power Shenhua Shanghai, who finished a disappointing 4th in this season's CSL. In an afternoon match that only garnered around 300 fans, both sides put out weakened lineups, yet put on an entertaining 1-1 match. Markus Schuler put Arminia up 0-1 with a header in the 5th minute with a header, but Shanghai leveled in the 32nd minute on a shot after some nice passing. Both sides had chances as the match went on, culminating with a shot off of the post by Masmandis from a free kick. 

Shenhua Shanghai and Arminia Bielefeld captains pose for photo with match officials before Wednesday's match (Image: Bielefeldfotos) 

All in all, a great result for the tour, and an experience to remember.

On a serious note, the club's website is reporting that forward Abdelaziz Ahanfouf, who did not make the trip to China, was involved in an automobile accident (link auf Deutsch) in Borchen, a small community just outside of Paderborn. According to the police report he colldied with a transport truck coming from Holland. According to team doctors, Ahanfouf sustained injuries to his head and ankle, but was responsive at the hospital and was expected to be released either today (Thursday) or Friday. Like the club, die Blauen Blog passes along best wishes to "Aziz" and hopes he has a speedy recovery!

 Abdelaziz Ahanfouf (Image: Bielefeldfotos)

Expect a light-hearted blog entry this weekend with an update of the Virtual Season, as well as some other fluff. Christmas vacation begins Friday afternoon, and Friday evening will consist of me making fun of my younger brother at his birthday party, so a post on Saturday isn't exactly in the works. See you then!