Werder Bremen have reinforced their defensive ranks by signing highly regarded Serbian international Dusko Tosič for an undisclosed fee from FC Sochaux-Montbeliard.
The 22 year old, who can play at centre half or right back, signed a 4 year contract with the Bundesliga club only 5 days before Thomas Schaaf's team start their campaign against VfL Bochum 1848.
Tosič will have the No13 shirt at the Weserstadion and Bremen managing director Klaus Allofs is pleased with his acquisition, saying, "We are happy to have a fast, versatile and good tackler in our ranks who already has some international experience."
Those attributes were apparent during Tosič's one and a half seasons at Sochaux and were further showcased in the Netherlands in the summer where Tosič played a starring position as Serbia reached the UEFA European U21 Championship final.
Bremen will hope the former OFK Beograd player can enhance his growing reputation in the UEFA Champions League this season, they will meet either NK Domzale or NK Dinamo Zagreb in the 3rd qualifying round.
25 July 2007
Six teams qualified for the 2nd qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League tonight, that included FC BATE Borisov of Belarus, who overturned a 2-0 deficit from their 1st leg against APOEL FC of Cyprus. FK Zeta also survived a scare to earn a tie against Rangers FC, whilst Croatia's NK Dinamo Zagreb were pushed all the way by opponents from Azerbaijan before progressing in extra time.
FC BATE Borisov 3-0 APOEL FC (agg, 3-2 aet)
BATE sealed a 2nd round meeting with either FH Hafnarfjördur or HB Torshavn after staging a remarkable recovery to overturn a 2 goal 1st-leg deficit before winning the tie in extra time though Gennadi Bliznyuk. Spurred on by noisy home support, the Belarussians found hope on the quarter hour as left back Igor Stasevich's low shot fizzed into the net. The visitors were on course for an aggregate win, though, until 15 minutes from the end when substitute Dmitri Platonov levelled the tie after racing on to Dmitri Likhtarovich's through ball. The hosts went into the more half hour full of confidence and turned that into a winning goal a minute before the 2nd half time break as Bliznyuk pounced from close range.
NK Dinamo Zagreb 3-1 FK Khazar Lenkoran (agg, 4-2)
Dinamo Zagreb will face either NK Domzale or KF Tirana in the 2nd qualifying round however they were forced into extra time before in the end overcoming 10 man Khazar. Goals by Mario Mandzukić (100) and Josip Tadić (116) edged them into the next stage however the Croatian side had it all to do after repeating their error of the 1st leg by going behind against their Azerbaijani visitors. Brazilian midfielder Junior struck in spectacular fashion for Khazar with a ferocious 35-metre free kick that completely caught goalie Georg Koch off guard on 16 minutes. The home side struggled to find their rhythm until 11 minutes after the break when Davor Vugrinec headed in Mario Mandzukić's pinpoint cross. As in the 1st leg Khazar were once more reduced to 10 men, when Edmond N'tiamoah was sent off in the 79th minute, and it was a setback from which they never really recovered.
FBK Kaunas 3-2 FK Zeta (agg, 4-5)
Having scored an away goal with Zeta 3-0 ahead in last week's 1st leg, Kaunas built on that strike in the early stages tonight when an aggressive and attacking approach yielded 3 goals in the opening 20 minutes. The 1st was scored by Ričardas Beniusis as he headed in a Nukri Manchkhava cross after 7 minutes, to be followed 10 minutes later by Givi Kvaratskhelia's angled drive from the corner of the area. 2 quickly became 3 as Audrius Ksanavicius provided the final touch to a sweeping counter (20), even though that was to prove the high point for the Lithuanian side, who saw a Pascal Mendy penalty saved in the 41st minute. By that point Zarko Korać (33) had levelled the aggregate scores and, despite pouring rain and lightning, Marko Ćetković struck the decisive blow in the final minute. The Montenegrin team will meet Scotland's Rangers FC in the next round.
FC Astana 3-0 FC Olimpi Rustavi (agg, 3-0)
Astana became the 1st Kazakh team to reached the 2nd qualifying round after overcoming 10 man Olimpi with a fine 2nd leg performance. Most of the damage is done even before visiting forward Rezo Djikia was sent off early in the 2nd half as goals by captain Aleksandr Kuchma (14) and Arsen Tlekhugov (52) brought the hosts ever closer to an encounter with Rosenborg BK, a date which was sealed when Murat Suyumagambetov headed in Eduard Sergienko's centre late in the match.
FC Ranger's 0-3 FC Sheriff (agg, 0-5)
After an evenly-balanced 1st half Sheriff added to their 2 goals from the 1st leg to complete a comfortable aggregate success and earn a tie against Beşiktaş JK of Turkey, which promises to be a considerably trickier affair. Ranger's were missing 2 players sent off in the 1st leg, Gregorio Rodriguez and Sergio Albanell, and the visitors said their superiority with a determined display after the break which brought goals for Benjamin Balima (68), Sasa Kajkut (72) and Alexandru Suvorov (84).
FK Sarajevo 3-1 Marsaxlokk FC (agg, 9-1)
This was a tie already put well beyond doubt in Malta last week however Marsaxlokk put up much sterner resistance before experiencing defeat again in Sarajevo. The score remained goalless until 3 minutes before half time when Mirza Mesić broke the deadlock with a spectacular free kick fom the edge of the penalty area. Zdravko Saraba doubled the lead on 61 minutes however the visitors found a response within 4 minutes through Cleaven Frendo. However, Almir Turković ensured the Bosnia-Herzegovnian club had the last word, with an emphatic volley on 76 minutes, leaving the Sarajevo side over-flowing with confidence ahead of their meeting with KRC Genk of Belgium.
