Soccer Mad Germans Gasp for Breath as the Bundesliga Begins

The soccer-loving public of Germany has barely had time to draw breath since the end of the host nation's phenomenally successful World Cup. While the national team didn't complete the dream of winning the title on home soil, the euphoria of following Jürgen Klinsmann's young team to the semi-final will surely surface again in club colors this week as the 2006/07 Bundesliga season kicks-off.

After a month of adrenaline and sun-soaked international soccer action, Germany's fans will once more splinter into partisan allegiances to follow their teams through another season of championship cut-and-thrust once title holders Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund get things underway on Friday.

Bayern will be chasing another league success to further extend their record-breaking list of championship wins; this season the Bavarian giants will be looking for number 21. While there has been some transfer action at the Allianz Arena, with Germany striker Lukas Podolski adding a new edge to the attack and Daniel van Buyten bringing some steel to the back four, Bayern will be more or less the same team that won the league and cup double for the second year running last time out.

With one noticeable exception, of course: Michael Ballack will be playing his soccer on the lush turfs of the English Premiership for champions Chelsea while his old team mates toil over the pitches of his homeland. How Bayern cope without the talismanic Germany captain may be the story of their season. But with such a depth in the squad and midfielders such as Owen Hargreaves ready to stand up and be counted in the commander's role, Felix Magath's team are unlikely to struggle.

Hamburg, Werder chasing again

As with every season, Bayern start as favorites. But who will be their main contenders? Last season, Hamburg SV bounced back from an almost disastrous flirtation with relegation a year before to fight the champions for the title. Despite losing van Buyten to their main rivals, HSV will be boosted by the return to action of Rafael van der Vaart and the arrival of Bayern's unwanted striker Paulo Guerrero. If Thomas Doll can avoid the kind of mid-season wobble that put paid to HSV's title aspirations and saw them finish third, Bayern can expect some sleepless nights dreaming about the results rolling in at the AOL Arena.

There or thereabouts will be Werder Bremen again. It would take a fool to write off Thomas Schaaf's perennial title contenders who ended up as runners-up last year and who have already won the League Cup, beating bayern 2-0 last Saturday.

With experienced World Cup players such as Miroslav Klose, Torsten Frings and Tim Borowski and new Brazilian midfield maestro Diego from FC Porto, Werder again look a force to be reckoned with. If Golden Boot winner Klose and strike partner Ivan Klasnic can connect as well as they did last season, and if Frings and Diego can provide the ammunition, Bundesliga fans can expect another bumper goal tally from Bremen…and maybe a championship title?

Following pack looking to improve

A number of the following pack from last season could get it together to challenge this season. Schalke 04 will be hoping that Kevin Kuranyi puts his nightmare season and his disappointment at missing out on the World Cup behind him and starts to hit the goals they need to force their way into contention again while Bayer Leverkusen will be looking to new signing Sergei Barbarez from HSV to fill the void left by Dimitar Berbatov's departure to Tottenham Hotspur.

Hertha Berlin start their quest for a better position than last year's sixth without Marcelinho who has departed for Turkey. The unpredictable striker's responsibilities will be taken over by former Red Star Belgrade forward Marko Pantelic.

Borussia Dortmund will also be hoping to improve on the last few seasons of underachievement but will have to do so without the Czech Republic pair Tomas Rosicky and Jan Koller who have moved on to pastures new.

BVB's close season signings Nelson Valdez and Alex Frei will be hoping to fill the considerable shoes of the departed Dortmund icons. World Cup surprise package David Odonkor will also be looking to transfer his international pace and impact to the domestic stage to help BVB scale almost-forgotten heights.

Also-rans will plod on as new boys look to stay up

Meanwhile, as the perennial also-rans look forward to battling their way out of obscurity with the possible lure of a UEFA Cup spot their only reward for a season of toil, the new boys will be hoping to avoid a swift return to the second division.

VfL Bochum will not be suffering any nosebleeds in the heady heights of the first division. The Elevators, known as such due to their propensity for relegation and promotion in alternating seasons, will know what is needed to stay up -- but the question will remain whether Marcel Koller's team has the quality to survive.

Energie Cottbus are back in the big time and are the only East German side in the league this year. They intend to be there next season too despite predictions already putting them in pole position to be the first team down while Alemannia Aachen's trainer Dieter Hecking will be hoping that his side slips under the relegation radar and claims a few scalps in the Bundesliga as they bid to stay up against the odds.

Nothing is settled and anything can happen. Each club enters the new season on an even keel. The teams will all start their campaigns with great hope and expectation, something which will roll down from the terraces from the very first whistle to the last. Soccer is back in Germany and the 2006/07 Bundesliga season could be one of the most memorable for a long time.