Happy Boxing Day folks! The holidays means days where I have nothing to do but play FIFA 08, so the Virtual Season got some work put into it. Now, in our last episode,  Arminia had just lost a home match against Werder Bremen which denied them the top spot in the Bundesliga, going into a stretch of matches which could make or break their season: at Bayern, home to high-flying Hansa Rostock, at slumbering Schalke, and home against Hamburger SV. If they could survive this stretch, they could be heading into the transfer window looking to fill gaps for a title run; if not, they could be drug into a dogfight for a UEFA Cup. Sure, it would be a remarkable season nonetheless, but a title would sure look nice in the trophy room.

Match #11: Bayern Munich 6-6 Arminia Bielefeld 

Scoring: Bayern Munich: Altintop (12'), Toni (44'), Ribery (60'), Klose (63'), Schlaudraff (72'), Schweinsteiger (78'); Arminia Bielefeld: Masmandis (20'), Zuma (48'), Marx (56'), Eigler (66', 90' [Penalty]), Leonidas (84') 

What Happened: Simply the best Bundesliga match of the season, and perhaps in the past several seasons. Arminia came out with all guns blazing, putting Bayern under serious pressure until Bayern finally got a break, which they capitalized on with a goal by Hamit Altintop. Undeterred, Arminia struck back on a great volley by Ioannis Masmandis in the 20th minute. Right before injury time Luca Toni ran right through the Arminia back line to give the German Giants a 2-1 lead at the half. On the opening kick off of the second half, Sibusiso Zuma went right through the Bayern defence himself and drew level at 2-2. Thorben Marx then gave them the lead with a fantastic volley that Oliver Kahn could merely wave at as it passed him by. Almost immediately after Bayern struck twice with Franck Ribery and Miroslav Klose giving them the lead. Substitute Christian Eigler drew Arminia level at 4-4 immediately after with a wonder goal of his own after stealing a poor pass by the Bayern back line. The scoreline once again proved to be short lived as Jan Schaudraff did his own fly-by of the Arminia back four, followed 6 minutes later by a free kick by Bastian Schweinsteiger. In an act of desperation the Arminia manager brought on Leonidas and changed formations to a 4-2-4, which put Bayern right back on the back foot. Despite this Bayern almost made it 7-4 when a poor clearance by goalkeeper Rowen Fernandez found Klose, who easily rounded Fernandez. However his shot flew high to the chagrin of over 70,000 supporters at the Allianz. On the ensuing Goal kick Fernandez found a wide open Leonidas Kampantis, who went in one-on-one and made it a single goal deficit. Arminia almost drew level twice after hitting the post, but their opportunity came in injury time when Christian Eigler was brought down in the area by Lucio, who was not amused by the decision. Eigler slotted home the penalty to put both sides level to end the match.

*phew*

Match #12: Arminia Bielefeld 3-2 Hansa Rostock

Scoring: Arminia Bielefeld: Leonidas (8', 16'), Eigler (64'); Hansa Rostock: Kern (45', 70')

Sendings off: Arminia Bielefeld: None; Hansa Rostock: Orestes (68' [Professional Foul])

What happened: Arminia started right where they left off with a quick goal by Leonidas Kampantis in the 8th minute, and a backs-to-the-wall defencive stand 7 minutes later where Jonas Kamper cleared the ball off of the line. Two quick passes later Leonidas made it 2-0 with a nice shot. Hansa tried to match blow for blow with Arminia, but couldn't match their pace. Kern made it 2-1 right before halftime to make the match interesting. Christian Eigler made it 3-1 in the 64th minute, and almost made it 4-1 whenOrestes Alves brought him down on the edge of the penalty area, earning him a straight red card. Siyabonga Nkosi hit the post with the resulting free kick, and Kern took the rebound all the way down the pitch to make it 3-2. Despite this Rostock did not threaten again as the woodwork proved to be Arminia's toughest opponent.

Match #13: Schalke 04 2-2 Arminia Bielefeld

Scoring: Schalke 04: Kuryani (55'), Altintop (76'); Arminia Bielefeld: Nkosi (45', 81')

What happened: Unlike other previous matches, Schalke kept Arminia on the back foot for most of the first half, but despite this could not get more than 2 shots on goal. Arminia struggled to get forward from midfield, and finally succeeded in injury time, where they forced a corner which resulted in Siyabonga Nkosi heading in the kick from Artur Wichniarek to give Arminia the 0-1 lead at the half. Schalke drew level in the 55th minute and then took a 2-1 lead in the 76th minute, putting Arminia's back to the wall like at Bayern. Nkosi responded with an incredible free kick goal in the 81st minute to draw level, but Schalke held the midfield to hold onto the draw.

Match #14: Arminia Bielefeld 2-1 Hamburger SV

Scoring: Arminia Bielefeld: Zuma (29', 44'); Hamburger SV: Chopu-Moting (57')

What happened:  It is becoming apparent that, despite Arminia's goal scoring pace for this season that they are in dire need of a clinical finisher up front, along with three new defenders. Arminia could have easily won the match 4-1 or 5-1 if not for poor final moves and shooting  on the strikers' part. Sibusiso Zuma scored both of Arminia's goals in the first half with great individual efforts, but Hamburg stayed in the match mainly because of shocking misses by the Arminia strikers. HSV pulled a goal back in the 57th minute but rarely threatened after that.

With the win Arminia moved 5 points clear at the top going into their DFB-Pokal match at Erzgebirge Aue. Here's what the table looks like:

For the stats geeks, here's the Top 10 for goal scorers, assistmen, and clean sheets for goalkeepers 

Top goal scorers:

Top Assistmen:

Top Clean Sheets for Goalkeepers:

One last thing, check out the English page for Arminia on the Bundesliga's website for a review of the first half of the season, both good and bad. See you on Saturday! 

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!