German Students Football Team to tour India

Berlin, Jan 1: The German Football Association’s (DFB) national student team will head to India on January 4 for a four-city tour where they will visit New Delhi, Aizawl, Kolkata and Bengaluru.

Apart from social projects and meeting youth teams, the core content of this visit are two friendly matches against local Indian opponents — on January 6 against a Mizoram XI in Aizawl and then against Ozone FC Bengaluru on January 11.

The tour aims to give the players an impression of a foreign country while also being ambassadors of German culture and its football. The team is composed of professional and semi-professional talented footballers, who mainly play in the German fourth division, while also studying at universities.

The best known footballer in the squad is striker Steffen Wohlfarth, who has played for FC Ingolstadt 04 in the German second and third divisions, and now plays for fifth division side FV Ravensburg besides studying at the Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg Ravensburg.

Another well-known player of the squad is former German junior international Dennis Bührer, who made his professional debut for SC Freiburg in Bundesliga 2 before playing for third division sides Sportfreunde Siegen, Rot-Weiss Essen and Dynamo Dresden. Currently he plays for fifth division side Bahlinger SC.

The tour to India is supported by the German foreign affairs ministry besides being organised by the German Football Association (DFB). It has the clearance of the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

Markus Weidner, DFB director for coaching and international relations, said: “We are looking forward to a great start into the year 2016. The German students national team will travel to India for 10 days and visit the cities of New Delhi, Aizawl, Kolkata and Bengaluru.” (IANS)