Injured Bayer Leverkusen striker Patrick Helmes hopes to be back in action in time for Germany's 2010 World Cup campaign.

Helmes, 25, is yet to play at club level this season for Bayer Leverkusen, having suffered a cruciate ligament injury over the summer. Keen to return for both club and country, he admits he hopes to be playing regular football by November.

Helmes admits it will be difficult breaking into the Leverkusen squad, with Klaus Augenthaler's side currently topping the Bundesliga table after a solid start.

"I am feeling great," he told Bild. "If I did not know that I was injured, I could not imagine that I am. I hope to be back in training in mid-November. I know the lads are playing great and I expect to play mainly as a substitute until the end of the first phase of the season. The team have gained 20 points in just eight matches, which is remarkable."

Helmes says his dream is to be fit to play in the World Cup, having been forced to watch his country qualify.

"I watched the game against Russia on Saturday and I'm delighted we qualified for tournament in South Africa," he said. "For me, there remains half a season to prove my skills. Taking part for me is a dream."

Below are some pictures from a past rehab session.

I have been away from the news wires for one day and I find out this happens!??!?

According to our friends at the BBC,

"Liverpool centre-back Sami Hyypia has agreed to join Bayer Leverkusen on a two-year deal at the end of the season.

Hyypia underwent a medical with the German outfit on Monday and will link up with the club in the summer.

The 35-year-old Finn, who has been at Anfield for 10 years, made his debut for the Reds in August 1999 and has since made 317 league appearances.

He was a key player in the side which won the FA Cup, Worthington Cup and Uefa Cup in 2001.

A statement on Liverpool's website read: "Hyypia has earned legendary status at Anfield for the part he has played in the club's many successes over the past decade.

"He will leave Merseyside with the best wishes of every Liverpool supporter.""

All I have to say is that Bayer is getting one helluva player!!

More later, for me, I am off to bed. 'Night

What seemed like an impossible task for the boys from Leverkusen, has been done. Bayern are out of the DFB Cup.

The backdrop to this cup tie gave a hint of what might follow. 50,500 fans came to the LTU Arena to witness this tie of the quarter finals and they have, at the same time, set a record attendance for a Bayer 04 home game. Despite recent setbacks in the Bundesliga, Bruno Labbadia's team soon settled down to the task at hand.

Referee Florian Meyer's whistle for the kick-off was just like lighting the Bayer 04 fireworks. With Lukas Sinkiewicz at the center of defense in place of the injured Manuel Friedrich, the Werkself put Bayern under pressure from the start of the game. Two or three players were always on the spot to chase down the ball or the opposition. Even the superstar Franck Ribery was forced to cover back and launch the ball out of defense to give his side a breather.

Each time they won the ball, Bayer 04 pressed forward relentlessly. Patrick Helmes issued the first warning shot after just four minutes. A minute later, Bayer's leading goalscorer forced Bayern Munich keeper Michael Rensing into making a wonderful save. Bayern only threatened Rene Adler's goal for the first time just before the half-time whistle but the Germany keeper saved brilliantly from Hamit Altintop and Franck Ribery.

With the Bayern squad weaknened due to the fact that Luca Toni and Philipp Lahm were absent and Bastian Schweinsteiger was on the bench, Bayern found it difficult to make headway against a solid Werkself defence. FCB coach Jürgen Klinsmann was forced to admit as much:

“Bayer were lively throughout the tie and they put us under pressure. They did it really well.” Only a goal or two was missing. But that would all change in the second period.

Bayer continued in the same vein after the break and the capacity crowd did not have to wait too long for goals. Lukas Sinkiewicz won the ball in midfield, broke away and put Tranquillo Barnetta through. The Swiss midfielder drilled his shot from the edge of the box into the bottom right of the goal. The crowd erupted and Bayer were let off the leash. Arturo Vidal headed home the second goal from a corner just after the hour mark with Bayern left floundering. (2-0)

And when Patrick Helmes made it 3-0 after Michal Kadlec had brilliantly won the ball on 71 minutes the LTU Arena was already starting to celebrate Bayer's progress to the semi-finals. But Bayern would not be Bayern if they failed to fight back. Within two minutes, Lucio pulled a goal back and Mirsolav Klose finally broke free from the excellent Lukas Sinkiewicz and Henrique to make the score 3-2.

“That was the only small blemish in an otherwise perfect performance,”

enthused Bayer 04 director of sport Rudi Völler said. The tie suddenly turned into a real cup battle. Bayer needed a couple of minutes to pull themselves together. During this phase of the game Adler made brilliant reflex saves from Ribery and Klose to keep Leverkusen on course for a semi-final spot. But Labbadia's side did not shirk the task at hand.

The hosts produced a number of promising counter-attacks. Bayern keeper Rensing had to risk everything to keep Kießling out on 83 minutes. But he was left stranded in added time. Substitute Angelos Charisteas chased down Martin Demichelis on the halfway line, won the ball and set up Kießling to seal the 4-2 win in injury time to the great relief of the Bayer fans.

“I think we've seen an outstanding cup game with a deserved winner. We didn't let Bayern off the hook for most of the game,”

explained a very happy Patrick Helmes.

And Bayer coach Labbadia showed pride in his team's performance:

“I'm very happy for the team. They've put in a great effort and have earned their just reward.”

Bayer 04 are in the semi-final of the DFB Cup for the seventh time in the club's history. Leverkusen have won the Cup once, back in 1993. The possible opponents on 21 or 22 April are Hamburg SV, Werder Bremen or 1. FSV Mainz 05, who shockingly beat Schalke. Just one more win and the dream of a cup final appearance on May 30 at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin will come true.

Helmes stated:

“And we want to get there, most of us have never had the chance to play in a cup final. But tonight everybody has had the chance to experience great quarter-final night and it will be talked about long into the future."

Ok, so sorry for being gone so long....damn internet... Anyway, I really hope to start keeping this updated...even if that means blogging from school. :S Anyway, let me introduce to the latest fella to enter the hunky brotherhood. :D

 May I present to you....Patrick Helmes! :D

Patrick Helmes (born 1 March 1984 in Cologne, West Germany) is a German football striker who plays for Bayer Leverkusen. Until September 2007 he was captain of 1. FC Köln.

As a youth player, Helmes was active in local clubs in Freudenberg, Westphalia and Siegen. He joined 1. FC Köln in 1997, at the age of 13. However, he was regarded as too unstable and sent away in 2000. He subsequently went back to Sportfreunde Siegen, where he had already spent some time as a youth player. In 2004/05, he scored 21 goals for his team in the third division, which made him top scorer of the league, helping his team to promotion to the second division.

He then joined his old club Köln again, where he made his Bundesliga debut in 2005 and scored his first goal in his second game, against rivals Bayer Leverkusen. After his club was promoted to the second division, Helmes became one of the most important players for his side, scoring 7 times in his first 5 games of the season and keeping Köln at the top of the table. However, he scored the last of those goals with a broken foot. The injury kept him out of the squad for the following 4 months, during which his team performed extremely poorly and lost all chances to return to the first division.

Patrick did not hide his intention of joining another team. Even though he confirmed that he will join Bayer Leverkusen in 2008–09 season, Köln coach Christoph Daum still named him captain of the squad in summer 2007. He was later replaced as captain, but nevertheless had a good second half of the season, for which kicker sportsmagazine named him best striker of Germany's second division, ahead of Oliver Neuville, Chinedu Obasi and Demba Ba.

Helmes appears to be a prototype of the typically cheerful Rhinelander. Patrick has landed on his feet at his new employer: This is, of course, true on the pitch but also off it as well thanks to his outgoing character. The Germany striker always has a quip ready, is up for all sorts of gags and provides that essential element of relaxation even at the most hectic of moments. But the 24-year-old definitely knows how to deal with pressure which made partly be due to the rather tricky season at 1 FC Köln last term.

Once news leaked had out about his impending move to Bayer 04 the situation become difficult with the Cologne fans at first: “ I only had away games at that point.” But Helmes came out of this situation stronger and his eleven goals in an outstanding second half of the season helped Köln back into the top flight of German football. “I have been a Cologne fan from when I was a child and I will always be a fan. But equally I am convinced that Bayer 04 are the right club for me,” reports Patrick.

Helmes has learned to deal with problems in a relaxed manner. Being left out of the EURO 2008 squad just before the start of the tournament? “Of course, I would have liked to be part of it but now I’m working towards the 2010 World Cup.” The ligament injury he picked up his first training session at Leverkusen? “Obviously that was annoying but not the end of the world.” Playing the second half of this season in Düsseldorf? “That doesn’t really matter as all football pitches are more or less the same and the grass is always green. And our fans will be with us in Düsseldorf.” The burden of carrying a ten million Euro price tag according to Rudi Völler? “I’m happy about that as I see it as a great compliment.”

Helmes is naturally looking to help get Leverkusen back into Europe. “Everybody knows that Bayer 04 should be on the European stage,” he declares. But Patrick is keeping his cards close to his chest on the number of goals he expects to score for his new club. “There are no set targets,” he explains, “they’re not a good idea as you’re likely to end up missing them.”

Helmes father is Uwe Helmes, a former professional football player who later managed Siegen, among others. As of 2008, he is working as a scout for Leverkusen.

Helmes' nickname is Moppel, a German diminutive for pug, often used to describe a chubby kid.

(Thanks to Wikipedia and Bayer 04. de for the info.)

Hoffenheim thought that they would have an easy time playing Bayer Leverkusen on this Friday the 13th, but luck was not with them.

Bayer, who was coming off a loss this past weekend against VfB Stuttgart, won against Hoffenheim 4:1.

The scoring started just like Bayer's match last weekend, in the 3' minute. German international Patrick Helmes opened the scoring for the visiting team. Helmes put in a great low cross that was put into the box by Renato Augusto. This was his 14th goal of the season, but he would not stop there. In the 12' Simon Rolfes (pictured) put the visiting team ahead 2-0. This match was all but over though. Just after the half-hour mark, Hoffenheim won a penality due to Bayer 'keeper Rene Adler pulling down Demba Ba inside the box. Sejad Salihovic took the penality for the home team and he converted. Hoffenheim were down 2:1 going into halftime, but Helmes quashed the momentum brought on by the home team. In the extra time before halftime, Bayer restored their two-goal cushion, Michal Kadlec playing Tranquillo Barnetta down the left from a free kick and Helmes slamming home the resultant cross for his second of the game.

Three minutes into the second half, Leverkusen made sure that the match was done. Gonzalo Castro headed in a corner to make the match all over. (4-1)

Shocked, Hoffenheim never found it back into the match. Helmes was close to getting the hattrick in the 71', but Stefan Kießling put in the ball that was inches past Helmes.

This result puts FC Bayern Munich in the perfect position to gain first place for the first time this season. Bayern play the other team that is in contention for first place Hertha BSC on Saturday. Will the Bayern fans benefit from the day of love? We will have to see.

Yes, I realize that it is still Friday here, but I am so bored, that I am posting ahead of time! :D Anyway, let me present to you the newest hunk to be added to the hunky brotherhood!

He looks so cute here, and to think, these are the official team photos for Bayer! *drools* :D  

May I present to you Simon Rolfes!! Sorry Stephanie, I will have to do Serdar on Sunday! Simon here was born on January 21, 1987. He is 21 years old and currently plays for Bayer Leverkusen. He started his senior career with Werder Bremen, where he played for their academy. At Bremen, he made 100 apps and put the ball in the net 18 times. He plays defensive midfielder and wears #6 for both club and country. He spent a season on loan at SSV Reutlingen from 2002 to 2003, making 13 appearances. In 2004 he moved to Alemannia Aachen and played 28 times in his one season there. In 2005, Bayer Leverkusen signed him and since then he has made 113 appearances and scored 19 goals. He made his international debut on March 28th, 2007 against Denmark. He was also part of the Euro 2008 Runner-up team. He has already proved to be a very vital asset for both club and country. For more on Simon and his hunkyness, please visit his official website.

Sooooo sorry that this is late. I have been partying the night away at my 17th birthday party! :) Anyway, here you all go! :)

 1) Who was the top scorer in the Bundesliga last season?

 2) Name the last 5 World Cup winners

 3) Who is this cute little goober?

 4) Name the last English team that won the UEFA Cup

 5) Name the ironic sponser of a former Bundesliga team that is an oxymoron.

Answers at the end of the weekend. :)