Good Prospects For Schweinsteiger Recovery

The icing on the cake of a very satisfactory annual general meeting two days ago was the news of Bastian Schweinsteiger’s successful ankle surgery. “Bastian has just texted Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. The operation’s gone very well,” FCB president Uli Hoeneß announced shortly before the end of the event. “It’s all looking a lot better than we feared.”

Surgeons Prof Ulrich Stöckle and Prof Hans Zwipp have now issued a firm prognosis for the player’s recovery. The medics are confident Schweinsteiger will be fully fit again by the time of the winter training camp in early January at the latest.

Schweinsteiger underwent corrective surgery on Wednesday to fix long-term and persistent problems with his right ankle. During the operation, surgeons removed extra-articular (located away from the ankle joint itself) ossification caused by a previous round of surgery.

Six Bayern Stars Nominated for the World Player of the Year

The footballing world has paid a huge compliment to Bayern and six of their stars with the nomination of Philipp Lahm, Thomas Müller, Manuel Neuer, Franck Ribéry, Arjen Robben and Bastian Schweinsteiger for the World Player of the Year award. The longlist of 23 candidates announced by FIFA on Tuesday includes half-a-dozen of the key figures from last season’s treble winners. The supremo who masterminded the historic campaign, Jupp Heynckes, is on the shortlist for Coach of the Year 2013.

Among the players, the shortlist of three will be announced in early December. The final vote is taken among the captains and coaches of the world’s men’s international teams, and a panel of international media representatives selected by leading magazine France Football. The winner of the vote will be announced on 13 January 2014 at the FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala in Zurich Kongresshaus.

The last German player to win the prestigious award was Lothar Matthäus in 1991. Argentina and Barcelona striker Lionel Messi has topped the vote for the last four years in a row. Bayern’s Franck Ribéry could be poised to interrupt that streak, as he was named UEFA Best Player in Europe in August ahead of Messi and rates as one of the top favourites for the World Player vote.

Six Bayern stars were initially nominated for the award in 2012, but only Manuel Neuer made it into the final 23.

World Player 2013 long list of 23:

Gareth Bale (Wales)
Edinson Cavani (Uruguay)
Radamel Falcao (Colombia)
Eden Hazard (Belgium)
Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden)
Andrés Iniesta (Spain)
Philipp Lahm (Germany)
Robert Lewandowski (Poland)
Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Thomas Müller (Germany)
Manuel Neuer (Germany)
Neymar (Brazil)
Mesut Özil (Germany)
Andrea Pirlo (Italy)
Franck Ribéry (France)
Arjen Robben (Netherlands)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany)
Luis Suárez (Uruguay)
Thiago Silva (Brazil)
Yaya Touré (Cote d’Ivoire)
Robin Van Persie (Netherlands)
Xavi (Spain)

Cap ke 100 buat Bastian Schweinsteiger,

Bastian Schweinsteiger, who earned his 100th senior international cap in the meeting with the Scandinavians and was presented with a bouquet, a medal and a ceremonial cap by DFB President Wolfgang Niersbach and General Secretary Helmut Sandrock prior to kick-off.

Bastian Schweinsteiger, telah mendapat Cap ke 100 bersama pasukan kebangsaan Jerman ketika menentang pasukan Sweden awal pagi waktu Malaysia. Beliau menerima kalungan bunga, medal dan majlis peringatan dari President Bola Sepak Jermen, Wolfgang Niersbach dan Setiausaha Agong, Helmut Sandrock sebelum sepak mula berlangsung.

Reaction to Schalke v Bayern

Pep Guardiola: “That was our best Bundesliga performance of the season so far. We totally dominated one of the strongest teams in Germany. We did very well. I’m satisfied and proud of this performance and my players.”

Bastian Schweinsteiger: “We took it very seriously from the start, our mentality was right. We were determined to take all three points. It’s not easy to come here and win, so we’re doubly delighted about doing just that. We were definitely very good at times.”

Jérôme Boateng: “We’re improving with every game. We dominated possession and our passing was excellent.”

Kevin-Prince Boateng (Schalke): “It’s hard to beat a team as good as Bayern. We made too many errors, and Bayern will always exploit that. Their passing and positional play is outstanding. It’s hard to get into the game. We had our chances, but you never win if you don’t take your chances.”