By Thomas Meinders, PV Correspondent,Germany.
A last minute goal by German international Piotr Trochowski results in the fifth rank in the Bundesliga and thereby the qualification for the new Europa League.
After a tumultuous round with up and down German football club Hamburger SV passed Borussia Dortmund in the additional time of the last game. The success of the northern-German club is not also a success story of African football(soccer).
Eight players are African citizens, another three have at least African ancestry. Especially Guy Demel and Jonathan Pitroipa, who are of central importance for the team.
Defensive allrounder Demel(photo), who was part of the 2006 Ivory Coast World Cup Squad made 40 appearances in competitive matches. Pitroipa, who is a Burkina-Faso international, started as a substitute in his first Bundesliga-season, but became a regular soon after.
When Pitroipa was being transferred from second-league-club SC Freiburg in the pre-season, Collin Benjamin joined the Hamburger SV as early as December 2001. At the beginning of every season, Benjamin is thought of as a substitute but in the end he always makes his appearances - 35 in this season’s games.
Cameroon’s Timothée Atouba missed almost the whole season because of several injuries. Since his compatriot Marcel Ndjeng didn’t get many games, the other mid-season transfer Mickael Tavares from Cape Verde played a reliable second half of the campaign.
Egypt’s keeper Khalid Sinouh and Nigerian youngster Macaulay Chrisantus made no appearances for the first team. The German youth-internationals Jérome Boateng, Dennis Aogo and Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting are all of African origin too. Boateng is from Ghana, Aogo from Nigeria and Choupo-Moting from Cameroon.
All told, the HSV would has had the chance to play a game with only African players. But that’s the past. Atouba and Sinouh won’t get a new contract, Choupo-Moting is going to be transferred on loan to a second-league-club and Christantus moved to Karlsruher SC. Still, there are seven African players left to update the African success story in German football.
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