The legendary Bremerhaven Werder Bremen stadium, the Weser Stadium, built way back in 1924, that is almost a hundred years ago. Over the decades, the white-and-green arena has undergone numerous renovations (the last one being in 2010), but there are still stands from the previous century, including the central stand where today's media box is located.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

The German national team has not played in Bremen for 12 years, so the German Football Association decided to pay tribute to the Bremer people for such a long wait by scheduling a special match here — the 1000th game for the national team. Another important point highlighted by DFB is that the opponent in this anniversary match, the Ukrainian national team, was invited with an emphasis on supporting our country's fight for liberation.

Photo by Oleksandr Glyvinskyi

From the first days of the war, a large blue-and-yellow flag with the inscription "STOP WAR" has been displayed on the facade of the Weser Stadium (the same inscription was present on the front glass of the club's bus as of February 25, 2022). In the city center, enormous Ukrainian flags dominate one against another — on both the old and new town halls. So it would not be an exaggeration to say that you feel support for Ukrainians practically at every step in Bremen.

Photo by Oleksandr Glyvinskyi

Common Germans often approach players and representatives of the Ukrainian national team, saying "We wish you good luck in tomorrow's match against Germany!" When asked about their own team, they respond, "We support our team always, but we also wish Ukraine good luck tomorrow." The same words were heard from the president of the German Football Association who brought blue-and-yellow players to the Weser Stadium.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

In an atmosphere of support from organizers, Ukrainians conducted pre-match training on the pitch of the Werder Bremen football center, and it was the same today during the pre-match practice. It lasted exactly one hour, and all 26 players present in the main team camp participated. The grass at the Bremer stadium is truly in perfect condition. Even though some stands are a hundred years old, they are well-maintained and painted in white-and-green colors.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

Today, the national team players started their practice with a warm-up routine proposed by fitness trainer Javier Luruenya Lobos. After that, Serhiy Rebrov and his assistants Vincente Gomez and Alberto Bosch conducted the main part of the training aimed at finalizing tactical preparations over three days. The training was quite intense and game-oriented. Tomorrow it will be known who exactly from the starting lineup will begin the match against Germany. However, already now one can say that all players are highly motivated under their new coach.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

Regarding the fans, all 35 thousand tickets for the match have been sold out, so a full house is expected. There will be many Ukrainians among the spectators and blue-and-yellow colors are sure to dominate in several sectors.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

Squad of the Ukrainian National Team

Goalkeepers: Georgiy Bushchan («Dynamo» Kyiv), Anatoliy Trubin («Shakhtar» Donetsk), Andriy Lunin («Real Madrid», Spain).

Defenders: Mykola Matviyenko, Valeriy Bondar, Yurym Konoval (all — «Shakhtar» Donetsk), Oleksandr Tymchyk («Dynamo» Kyiv), Oleksandr Svatosh (SK «Dnipro-1» Dnipropetrovsk), Vitaliy Mykolenko («Everton» Liverpool, England), Illia Zabarnyi («Bournemouth», England), Eduard Sobolev («Strasbourg», France), Serhiy Krivtsov («Inter Miami», USA).

Midfielders: Taras Stepanenko, Oleksandr Zubkov, Georgiy Sudakov (all — «Shakhtar» Donetsk), Serhiy Sydorchuk, Vitaliy Buyalskiy (both — «Dynamo» Kyiv), Oleksandr Pichalunko (SK «Dnipro-1» Dnipropetrovsk), Andriy Yarmolenko («Al-Ain», UAE), Ruslan Malinovskiy («Olympique Marseille», France), Viktor Tsygankov («Girona», Spain), Mykhailo Mudryk («Chelsea» London, England), Danylo Ignatenko («Bordeaux», France), Vladyslav Kochergin («Rakow» Czestochowa, Poland).

Forwards: Artem Dovbyk (SK «Dnipro-1» Dnipropetrovsk), Vladyslav Vannat («Dynamo» Kyiv), Nazariy Rusin («Zorya» Luhansk).

Oleksandr Glyvinskyi, press secretary of the national team