The Iron Ones - 1. FC Union Berlin

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Dongou Called for Cameroon

November 7, 2012

Union Berlin striker Jean Marie Dongou has been notified of his first call up to the Cameroon national football team at the age of just 17-years-old, making him one of the youngest players ever called to represent The Indomitable Lions. Dongou will leave immediately for the international break which begins next week with matches starting on November 10 and going through November 14. Depending on how much, if any, playing time Dongou receives with Cameroon will determine if he we be ready for Union's next 2. Bundesliga match on November 18 against SSV Jahn.

"It is a tremendous honor to be called to represent your country," Dongou said at the Union training ground. "I have to say I'm shocked that I got the call. I was not expecting this in any way, but I will jump at the opportunity. I want to make my family, my country, and my club proud by doing the best I can. If I get to play, that is great. If not, it is still a great experience for me."

Dongou came to Union on July 20 when The Iron Ones secured his transfer from FC Barcelona B for a fee of €700,000 and signed him to a 4-year contract. Since then, Dongou has established himself in the Starting XI of manager Uwe Neuhaus' 4-1-2-1-2 formation, mostly playing alongside fellow striker Simon Terodde.

The 17-year-old has appeared in all 10 of Union's 2. Bundesliga matches thus far, scoring 5 goals and adding 3 assists with an average match rating of 70. His 5 goals are tied for second best in the league, as are his 3 assists.

Neuhaus calls Dongou, "A threat every time he gets the ball," and added, "His speed causes so many problems, and his maturity on the pitch is beyond his years. He's already doing special things for us, but I think in the future he will truly be an excellent player."

Cameroon will play an international friendly on November 10 against Brazil and another one four days later on November 14 against Portugal.

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1. FC Union Berlin vs. SSV Jahn Regensburg

2. Bundesliga
November 18, 2012

An Uninspired 3 Points

Manager Uwe Neuhaus will not be pleased with the performance his Union Berlin club put on at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei today, but The Iron Ones did manage to escape with a 1-0 win over 15th place SSV Jahn Regensburg thanks to a goal in the final 15 minutes of play. The first 45 minutes of this contest saw nothing of significance as Union controlled play, but didn't put together anything of substance to show for it. The first real chance of the game would finally come in the 55th minute when a Jean Marie Dongou through ball created a quality chance for Simon Terodde from 7 yards, but Terodde's shot was blocked by Jahn goalkeeper Timo Ochs. Gathering momentum, Union produced another quality attempt two minutes later, but Luis Felipe Gallegos' 20 yard drive was pushed wide by an alert Ochs. Jahn could not stop the push from Union forever though, and in the 77th minute Terodde got the breakthrough when he got by his defender at the top of the box and sent a 12 yard whip into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead. Jahn would make things interesting in the 90th minute when Denis-Danso Weidlich forced a save by Union goalkeeper Daniel Haas from 9 yards out that resulted in the ball coming back into the middle of the box, but the follow-up volley was whiffed on by Koke, and Union grabbed another win that they made much harder than it needed to be. After the match Neuhaus commented, "That wasn't a professional performance. We were totally uninterested in the match today, and we barely got by. We will have to be better than that in the future or we will pay for it." On the travel docket next is a visit to 10th place FSV Frankfurt (4-3-4) in 5 days on November 23.

Nov 18, 2012 - Union Berlin vs SSV Jahn
TEAM	1	2	SCORE
Union Berlin (10-1-0)	0	1	1
SSV Jahn (2-2-7)	0	0	0

Goals
UNB - S. Terodde 77'

Bookings
None

Substitutions
SJR - P. Haag/J. Müller 45'
UNB - B. Özbek/P. Zoundi 77'
UNB - L. Gallegos/M. Parensen 77'
UNB - T. Mattuschka/Silvio 77'

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FSV Frankfurt vs. 1. FC Union Berlin

2. Bundesliga
November 23, 2012

Poor Finishing in Frankfurt

Unlike their previous sleepwalk in a 1-0 win against SSV Jahn Regensburg, Union Berlin came out firing and firing often against FSV Frankfurt. Unfortunately for The Iron Ones, their shooting boots must not have been laced up right as Union managed to only score 1 goal from 15 shots on target in settling for a 1-1 draw at the Frankfurter Volksbank Stadion. The Berliners created their first opportunity just three minutes into the contest when Jean Marie Dongou got a chance from 7 yards that was met by charging Frankfurt goalkeeper Patric Klandt. Just before halftime in the 45th minute, Torsten Mattuschka had a dangerous chance from 13 yards out that Klandt was able to stop with a desperation parry, but Barış Özbek really should have done better on the resulting rebound in which he sent a howler wide left of an open target. Fortunately for Özbek, he made up for his terrible miss right after halftime in the 49th minute when the reigning 2. Bundesliga Player of the Month made a run into the Frankfurt box and calmly finished from 6 yards out. With a streak of 6 consecutive clean sheets in all competitions, Union had to feel confident that Özbek's goal would be enough for victory. However, in the 71st minute a chipped pass onto the foot of Moses Lamidi would be forwarded on to Marc Heitmeier, and the defender surprisingly sent a 14 yard shot by a lunging Daniel Haas to even the score 1-1. Uwe Neuhaus' men would respond by firing a plethora of shots onto the Frankfurt goal in the final 15 minutes, but the 29-year-old Klandt met every shot that came his way with resistance in piling up 14 saves in a Man of the Match performance, much to the frustration of the favored visitors. Instead of what should have been a well earned three points if not for the heroics of Frankfurt's German goalkeeper, Union will return to Berlin with only 1 point from a match they dominated as they prepare to host Energie Cottbus (3-4-5) in a week's time.

Nov 23, 2012 - FSV Frankfurt vs Union Berlin
TEAM	1	2	SCORE
FSV Frankfurt (4-4-4)	0	1	1
Union Berlin (10-2-0)	0	1	1

Goals
UNB - B. Özbek 49'
FFR - M. Heitmeier 71'

Bookings
None

Substitutions
UNB - M. Parensen/L. Gallegos 81'
UNB - T. Mattuschka/Silvio 81'
UNB - S. Terodde/A. Nemec 81'

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1. FC Union Berlin vs. FC Energie Cottbus

2. Bundesliga
November 30, 2012

2 Points Slip Away

Union Berlin twice blew a lead against visiting Energie Cottbus in a 2-2 finish, including conceding the tying score with just one minute remaining in play as The Iron Ones were held to a draw for the second consecutive game and are just 2-3-0 over their last five contests. The match started well enough for Union as in the 12th minute the home club went up 1-0 when striker Simon Terodde took the ball off the foot of Cottbus defender Julian Börner and went on a run toward goal, briefly curling his path around some pursuing defenders, before firing a shot from 9 yards out by Cottbus goalkeeper Thorsten Kirschbaum. The lead would last only five minutes though as in the 17th Cottbus forced a corner after a Marco Stiepermann shot from 6 yards out was punched across the end line by Union goalkeeper Daniel Haas. From that corner, Stiepermann made up for his miss seconds earlier when the former Borussia Dortmund player headed the delivery past Haas for a 1-1 score line. In the 33rd minute, Union would again secure an advantage at 2-1 when Terodde completed his brace on a shot from 10 yards out, marking the first two goals the 24-year-old German has scored since his brace on Match Day 1 against Eintracht Braunschweig. While the Berliners certainly hope this performance signals a return to form for Terodde, his two misses just minutes before halftime would come back to haunt the club. Terodde first missed a wide open net on a 5 yard volley in the 42nd minute when he skied the service from Christopher Quiring over the crossbar. A minute later, Terodde sent a 6 yard volley that bounced off Kirschbaum before clanging off the crossbar. With four goals for Terodde easily within possibility, he had just two and Union's lead remained one. It was Cottbus who created the chances in the 2nd half with Stiepermann narrowly missing a brace in the 55th minute and Dennis Sørensen creating two dangerous chances in the 86th minute. Then in the 89th minute, a ball took a bad bounce off a Union player giving possession on the counter to Cottbus. A resulting through ball sprung an open Boubacar Sanogo from midfield, and the Ivorian forward calmly finished by a helpless Haas to even the score 2-2 right before time expired. With the draw, Union sees themselves falling back closer to the pack in 2. Bundesliga as November comes to a close. The next match for Union will be away to 8th place FC Ingolstadt (5-4-4) who Union recently defeated 2-0 in Round 2 of the DFB-Pokal.

Nov 30, 2012 - Union Berlin vs Energie Cottbus
TEAM	1	2	SCORE
Union Berlin (10-3-0)	2	0	2
Energie Cottbus (3-5-5)	1	1	2

Goals
UNB - S. Terodde 12'
ENC - M. Stiepermann 17'
UNB - S. Terodde 33'
ENC - B. Sanogo 89'

Bookings
None

Substitutions
ENC - J.Mosquera/B. Sanogo 58'
UNB - B. Kopplin/C. Menz 82'
UNB - L. Gallegos/M. Parensen 82'
UNB - T. Mattuschka/Silvio 82'
ENC - I. Banović/S. Rivić 86'

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November 2012 - Wrap Up

2012-13 2. Bundesliga
TEAM	GP	W	D	L	PTS
1. 1. FC Union Berlin	13	10	3	0	33
2. Hertha BSC	13	9	2	2	29
3. 1. FC Kaiserslautern	13	9	0	4	27
4. 1. FC Köln	13	9	0	4	27
5. 1860 Munich	13	8	1	4	25
6. Eintracht Braunschweig	13	7	2	4	23
7. VfL Bochum	13	6	3	4	21
8. FC Ingolstadt	13	5	4	4	19
9. MSV Duisburg	13	6	1	6	19
10. Erzgebirge Aue	13	4	5	4	17
11. FC St. Pauli	13	4	5	4	17
12. FSV Frankfurt	13	4	4	5	16
13. Energie Cottbus	13	3	5	5	14
14. SC Paderborn	13	3	3	7	12
15. SV Sandhausen	13	2	3	8	9
16. SSV Jahn	13	2	2	9	8
17. Dynamo Dresden	13	0	5	8	5
18. VfR Aalen	13	1	2	10	5

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2. Bundesliga - League Leaders

GOALS
1. Christian Eigler (FC Ingolstadt) - 7
2. Marcel Recihwein (VfR Aalen) - 7
3. Anthony Ujah (1. FC Köln) - 7
4. Adrián Ramos (Hertha BSC) - 6
5. Mohamadou Idrissou (1. FC Kaiserslautern) - 5
6. Torsten Mattuschka (Union Berlin) - 5
7. Zlatko Dedič (VfL Bochum) - 5
8. Ronny (Hertha BSC) - 5
9. John Jairo Mosquera (Energie Cottbus) - 5
10. Simon Terodde (Union Berlin) - 5


ASSISTS
1. Torsten Mattuschka (Union Berlin) - 5
2. Änis Ben-Hatira (Hertha BSC) - 5
3. Christian Clemens (1. FC Köln) - 5
4. Ola Kamara (1860 Munich) - 4
5. Jean Marie Dongou (Union Berlin) - 4
6. Luis Felipe Gallegos (Union Berlin) - 4
7. Benjamin Köhler (1. FC Kaiserslautern) - 3
8. Michael Parensen (Union Berlin) - 3
9. Boubacar Sanogo (Energie Cottbus) - 3
10. John Jairo Mosquera (Energie Cottbus) - 3


CLEAN SHEETS
1. Daniel Haas (Union Berlin) - 9
2. Thomas Kraft (Hertha BSC) - 7
3. Gábor Király (1860 Munich) - 6
4. Thomas Kessler (1. FC Köln) - 5
5. Philipp Tschauner (FC St. Pauli) - 5
6. Tobias Sippel (1. FC Kaiserslautern) - 5
7. Daniel Davari (Eintracht Braunschweig) - 5
8. Felix Wiedwald (MSV Duisburg) - 3
9. Lukas Kruse (SC Paderborn) - 3
10. Thorsten Kirschbaum (Energie Cottbus) - 3


YELLOW CARDS
1. Florian Kringe (FC St. Pauli) - 5
2. Anders Kure (FSV Frankfurt) - 5
3. Chris Löwe (1. FC Kaiserslautern) - 5
4. Carsten Rothenbach (VfL Bochum) - 4
5. Malik Fathi (1860 Munich) - 4
6. Grigoris Makos (1860 Munich) - 4
7. Franz Schiemer (FC Ingolstadt) - 4
8. Moritz Stoppelkamp (1860 Munich) - 4
9. Alexander Bittroff (Energie Cottbus) - 4
10. Jens Wemmer (SC Paderborn) - 4


RED CARDS
1. Matthias Lehmann (1. FC Köln) - 1
2. Dennis Sørensen (Energie Cottbus) - 1
3. Andreas Ibertsberger (MSV Duisburg) - 1
4. Oliver Barth (VfR Aalen) - 1
5. Alexander Bugera (1. FC Kaiserslautern) - 1
6. Franz Schiemer (FC Ingolstadt) - 1
7. Lukas Sinkiewicz (VfL Bochum) - 1
8. Markus Karl (1. FC Kaiserslautern) - 1
9. Iliyan Micanski (FC Ingolstadt) - 1
10. Kevin Pezzoni (Erzgebirge Aue) - 1

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FC Ingolstadt 04 vs. 1. FC Union Berlin

2. Bundesliga
December 9, 2012

Another Late Concession

Union Berlin's recent slide in form continued at the Audi Sportpark in a 1-1 away draw against FC Ingolstadt, marking the third straight game The Iron Ones have been held winless and to 1 point. Ingolstadt created the opening chance of the game in the 8th minute when Iliyan Micanski sent a 10 yard shot onto the goal of Daniel Haas, but the Union goalkeeper was able to make a left hand save to prevent an early deficit. Minutes later in the 15th, Union took a massive blow to their starting XI when central defensive midfielder Barış Özbek suffered an ankle injury and had to be subbed off, replaced by Michael Parensen. Regrouping from the loss of Özbek, in the 35th minute, Union would take the lead on a beautiful combination play that started with Simon Terodde, went to Luis Felipe Gallegos, and then was finished by Jean Marie Dongou from 8 yards out for a 1-0 advantage. Terodde could have delivered a heart breaking blow to Ingolstadt just before halftime in the 45th minute, but the German striker's chance was saved by Ingolstadt goalkeeper Ramazan Özcan to keep Die Schanzer within one goal. After a mostly uneventful 2nd half, Ingolstadt got the chance they were looking for in the 83rd minute when Caiuby got on a run and sent a cross into the Union box to which the 26-year-old Bulgarian striker Micanski volleyed a chance from 6 yards out by Haas to even the score 1-1 with just 7 minutes remaining. This marked the second straight game Union had conceded in the final 10 minutes, and once again it cost Uwe Neuhaus' team two points as The Iron Ones were unable to pull the lead back in the final few minutes despite some strong pressure. Now it's back to the drawing board for Neuhaus to figure out a way to get Union's draws into wins again, as the Berliners held the lead in all three matches they let get away. The next opportunity for redemption will be home to Erzgebirge Aue (5-5-4), with Union not needing to drop any further points as a red hot Hertha BSC (10-2-2) is now breathing down their neck for 1st place in 2. Bundesliga following five straight wins from the 2nd place side.

Dec 9, 2012 - FC Ingolstadt vs Union Berlin
TEAM	1	2	SCORE
FC Ingolstadt (5-5-4)	0	1	1
Union Berlin (10-4-0)	1	0	1

Goals
UNB - J. Dongou 35'
ING - I. Micanski 83'

Bookings
None

Substitutions
UNB - B. Özbek/M. Parensen 15'
ING - F. Heller/S. Leitl 58'
ING - S. Leitl/A. Mijatovic 60'
UNB - T. Mattuschka/Silvio 73'

[pfeifere1]

Back down to earth with all these draws!