3/25/2006
Afshin Afshar, lastkick.com

Saturday was not a good day for the Asian delegation in the Bundesliga. Of the four Asians who saw action, three had their teams badly defeated, and one could do no better than a draw.

Mehdi Mahdavikia and Naohiro Takahara’s Hamburg were trashed by Dortmund 4:2. Mahdavikia started the game, but with Dortmund trailing 3:2 he was substituted for the fellow Asian Takahara who within minutes of coming on saw Hamburg let in another goal for a final score of 4:2.

Vahid Hashemian’s Hannover 96 were hammered by Werder Bremen 5:0. Hashemian played the entire game, and had perfect pitch level view of Bremen’s Paraguayan striker Nelson Valdez netting a hat trick. Bremen’s other two goals were scored by Johan Micoud and Miroslav Klose.

Thanks to Cha Du-ri’s Frankfurt that played a goalless draw with Koln, the weekend was not a total wash for the Asians. Cha came in towards the end of the game.