By Rich

​Felix Wiedwald is a 29-year-old goalkeeper for Eintracht Frankfurt. Wiedwald was born on March 15, 1990 in Thedinghausen, West Germany, and spent his youth career playing for TSV Achim from 1997 to 1999, and SV Werder Bremen from 1999 to 2009. His senior career continued at Bremen, where he made his professional debut on September 26, 2009 in a 2-2 away game at FC Carl Zeiss Jena, and was Werder Bremen II’s first-choice keeper. His career continued at MSV Duisburg from 2011 to 2013, Eintracht Frankfurt from 2013 to 2015, SV Werder Bremen from 2015 to 2017, Leeds United from 2017 to 2018, and Eintracht Frankfurt since 2018, which included playing on loan at Duisburg from January to May 2019. Wiedwald also made 1 appearance for Germany’s U20 squad in 2009.

By Rich

​Recent Dortmund signing Erling Haaland became on Friday the first Bundesliga player to score 5 goals in his first 2 matches, helping to drive Borussia Dortmund to a 5:1 victory over visiting 1. FC Köln. Dortmund took the lead early in the match with a goal from Raphael Guerreiro just over 1 minute in, and he was followed by Marco Reus in the 29th minute and Jadon Sancho in the 48th minute. Köln narrowed the lead to 3:1 at the 64th minute, when Schalke loanee Mark Uth finally found the net, but 2 final goals from Haaland, in the 77th and 87th minute, sealed the victory for Dortmund. Haaland has only played 59 minutes for Dortmund, giving him an average of 1 goal every 12 minutes. Reus’ goal means he is now 26th in all-time Bundesliga scoring, with 126 goals, tying him with Martin Max, the father of Augsburg defender Philipp Max. The win momentarily moves Dortmund into 3rd place in the table, tied with Bayern at 36 points. The key match to watch on Saturday will be that between Bayern and visiting Schalke, who are separated by just 3 points in the table. Bayern will welcome the return of Joshua Kimmich from suspension, but may not field Spain international Alvaro Odriozola, who is a recent loan from Real Madrid and has only trained with the team for a few days. Schalke are now doing far better than last season, already having accumulated the same number of points from the entirety of last season, but have only beaten Bayern 1 time at the Allianz Arena. Schalke expect the return of Amine Harit, who had a thigh problem last week, but Benito Raman is fighting the flu and goalkeeper Alexander Nübel, who will join Bayern this summer, remains suspended. If Robert Lewandowski manages to score a goal in this match, he would tie Gerd Müller’s all-time record of 21 goals after 19 matchdays. Leipzig’s Timo Werner, however, could also tie that record if he scores against Eintracht Frankfurt, and it was against Frankfurt that Werner scored his 1st Bundesliga goal, for VfB Stuttgart in September 2013. If Leipzig should win against Eintracht, it would be their first victory in the Commerzbank-Arena: to date, they have drawn 2 matches and lost 1 match there. Looking ahead to Sunday, SV Werder Bremen and Fortuna Düsseldorf will both look to escape the relegation zone, when they play against Hoffenheim and Leverkusen respectively.

By Rich

Gian-Luca Waldschmidt is a 23-year-old forward for Sport-Club Freiburg. Waldschmidt was born on May 19, 1996 in Siegen, Germany, and spent his youth career playing for SSV Oranien Frohnhausen from 2001 to 2007, SSC Juno Burg from 2007 to 2009, TSG Wieseck from 2009 to 2010, and Eintracht Frankfurt from 2010 to 2014. Waldschmidt signed his first professional contract on April 25, 2014, a three-year deal that saw him promoted to Eintracht’s senior squad, where he made 15 appearances until 2016. Waldschmidt then spent two years at Hamburger SV, where he scored 2 goals in 35 appearances, and signed for his current club in May 2018. Waldschmidt has also played for Germany’s U16, U17, U18, U19, U21, and senior squads, scoring 17 goals in 30 appearances between 2011 and 2019. Waldschmidt is the son of Wolfgang Waldschmidt, who made 14 appearances for SV Darmstadt 98 in the 1983-4 2. Bundesliga season.