pete 2,499 Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 RANGERS will meet 1. FC Nurnberg in a glamour friendly as part of their pre-season tour of Germany next month. Walter Smith's men will take on the side recently promoted back to the Bundesliga at their 47,500-capacity Frankenstadion on Sunday 26 July. Rangers play Bayern Munich in the Cup Winners Cup final in Nuremberg in 1967Gers will also play regional sides Sportfreunde Lotte 1929 and SC Wiedenbruck 2000 whilst they are abroad. But their clash with the 2007 German Cup champions is the match of their three warm-up fixtures on the continent that catches the eye. Nurnberg were third in last term's 2. Bundesliga and went on to win a two-legged play-off with Energie Cottbus 5-0 on aggregate to secure their passage back to the top flight. Now, under coach Michael Oenning, they are hoping to recapture the form that saw them reach the last 32 of the UEFA Cup less than 18 months ago. That season, Nurnberg drew 2-2 at Zenit St Petersburg in the competition before the Russians went on to beat Rangers 2-0 in the final at the City of Manchester Stadium. Although they suffered relegation soon after, they are back amongst Germany's best sides again and will represent a tough test for the Ibrox outfit. Kris Boyd scores for Rangers in a 3-1 win over Sportfreunde Lotte in July 2008Of course, Gers have been to the Frankenstadion in the Bavarian city of Nuremberg before, losing 1-0 there to Bayern Munich in the 1967 European Cup Winners' Cup final. Although its general look is much the same as it was over 40 years ago, the venue has been significantly modernised and it was used during the World Cup finals in 2006. It staged five matches in all, including England's 2-0 group win against Trinidad and Tobago and Portugal's famously bad-tempered 1-0 round of 16 win over Holland. Sportfreunde Lotte 1929 - Rangers' first opponents of the tour - are a team Smith took his side to play last summer in the North Rhine-Westphalia area. As such, their compact 6,000-capacity PGW Arena will be familiar to the Light Blues fans who make a habit of following the SPL champions to their summer fixtures. The Jahnstadion, home of SC Wiedenbruck 2000Kris Boyd's double and John Fleck's first senior goal for the club ensured the visitors left with a 3-1 victory on that occasion 11 months ago. The match with Lotte, who were 10th in last season's Regionalliga West - the German fourth tier - is on Friday 24 July at 7pm local time. After the trip to Nuremberg, Gers will complete their schedule with a game at SC Wiedenbruck 2000 just 15km from their Marienfeld base. Co-managed by Englishman Marc Hunt, Wiedenbruck play in their country's fifth tier and the match there is on Tuesday 28 July. It also kicks off at 7pm locally, while the starting time for the Nurnberg friendly has yet to be confirmed. Won't make any games this year as i am on holiday. Well at least i hope i don't as it will mean my boat has broken down. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 Why Germany again FFS? Because it's cheap to get there or because it's full of brothels? It certainly isn't because the food's good, since German food has to be about the worst in Europe. Seriously, just about every other country in Europe has better food, so I can only think that they enjoyed the 'nightlife' in Germany last year & decided it to be too juicy to miss out on. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 Then again, I've probably just got a dirty mind. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Cole 0 Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 Hopefully have a good pre-season this year. Last year's was a shambles, and Liverpool in particular had "Here comes Kaunas" written all over it. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete 2,499 Posted June 13, 2009 Author Share Posted June 13, 2009 Why Germany again FFS? Because it's cheap to get there or because it's full of brothels? It certainly isn't because the food's good, since German food has to be about the worst in Europe. Seriously, just about every other country in Europe has better food, so I can only think that they enjoyed the 'nightlife' in Germany last year & decided it to be too juicy to miss out on. German amateur teams pay more to entertain Rangers. Pure and simple a money thing, and no huge distances to cover. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 German amateur teams pay more to entertain Rangers. Pure and simple a money thing, and no huge distances to cover. Right, I didn't know that Pete. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazza_8 233 Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Fuck going to Asia and America to play some meaningless friendlies. Keep it simple! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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