Borussia Dortmund planning farewell game for 2012 double winning team next year
By Tushar Bahl
Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has revealed that they are planning to organise a farewell match between the 2011/12 double-winning team and the current first team squad in the summer of 2022.
Borussia Dortmund right-back Lukasz Piszczek and former midfielder Sven Bender marked the end of their playing careers on Saturday. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, fans weren’t able to attend the game and give the two legends the farewell that they deserved. Now the BVB bosses are planning to host a farewell match at the Signal Iduna Park next year that should be held in front of supporters.
In an interview with WAZ, Hans-Joachim Watzke said:
"“We have an idea and a wish that in the summer of 2022 the professional team will play against the 2012 double-winning team. I hope that this can be implemented. We would like to say goodbye to all these players in front of our fans, and I already know from many of the guys that they would be very happy to play in a game like this.”"
Watzke also heaped praise on Lukasz Piszczek, and called him his personal hero.
"“Lukasz is kind of like my personal hero. We worked together for eleven years – and we never had a day of stress with each other. His departure hurts, but I know that a farewell is part of a career. I think for him, in any case, it was a very good end to an extraordinary career.”"
Borussia Dortmund announced on Monday that the idea to organise a farewell game emerged in recent weeks after it became clear that fans would not be able to attend the season finale.
2022 will mark the tenth anniversary of Borussia Dortmund’s historic double win. Lukasz Piszczek and Sven Bender were both part of the Borussia Dortmund squad that won the Bundesliga title and the DFB-Pokal in the 2011/12 season. The Black and Yellows cruised to their second successive Bundesliga title in 2012 and also won the DFB-Pokal, beating Bayern Munich 5-2 in the final.
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The legendary double winning squad also included the likes of Roman Weidenfeller, Marcel Schmelzer, Sebastian Kehl, Mats Hummels, Kevin Großkreutz, Shinji Kagawa, Jakub Blaszczykowski, Ilkay Gündogan, Lucas Barrios, Robert Lewandowski and several other Borussia Dortmund greats. The team was coached by Jürgen Klopp, who is now at Liverpool.