Marco Reus (born 31 May 1989) is a German footballer who plays as a forward for Borussia Dortmund and the German national team.
Reus was born in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. He began to play football for his hometown club Post SV Dortmund in 1994 and joined the youth ranks of Borussia Dortmund in 1996. He played for Borussia Dortmund until he left for the U-19 of Rot Weiss Ahlen in the summer of 2006. During his first year there the attacking midfielder was featured in five games for the club's second team which played in the Westphalia league at the time. He scored a goal in each of his first two games. The following year he was able to break into Ahlen's first team which played in the German third division at the time. He started twice and was featured in 14 matches, scoring two times. One of his goals came on the last day of the season and helped his team being promoted to the 2. Bundesliga.
In 2008–09, the then 19 year old had his definitive breakthrough as a professional football player. He played in 27 games and scored four times. On 25 May 2009, he signed a four-year contract with Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Reus (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈrɛws]) is the capital of the comarca of Baix Camp, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The area has always been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental importance at the time of the Phylloxera plague. Nowadays it is known by its commercial activity, for being a center for rock-climbing and as the birthplace of architect Antoni Gaudí.
The origin of the name is source of discussion. One of the theories is that Reus comes from the Latin word used to describe convict prisoners (reus), and as such, it would be a Roman penitentiary. Currently, the most accepted theory is that the name has celtic roots, from the root red that originated the name redis (or reddis), that would approximately mean place in the way / place in the roads, or said alternatively, an inhabited place in a cross-road.
Around 1150 Robert d'Aguiló repopulated the region of Reus, after receiving it on 3 June 1154. On 5 June 1154 the archbishop of Tarragona gave two-thirds of Reus to Bertran de Castellet, as a castellan, with the order to build a church. On 29 June 1159, the distribution of income from ecclesiastical goods, the third of its Reus parish of Santa Maria was awarded to the camerlengo, starting the duplicity of governing the town. The camerlengo has the third of Reus parish. At this time the city was known as Redis or Reddis. The castellan Bernat de Bell-lloc gave the title of town to Reus on 3 August 1183, giving the ownership of houses and gardens, establishing a census to pay for farmland and reserving justice, but recognizing its vassalage towards the archbishopric of Tarragona. On 2 June 1186 the camerlengo Joan de Santboi confirmed the rights given by the castellan Bernard de Bell-lloc.
Robert Lewandowski (Polish pronunciation: [ˈrɔbɛrt lɛvanˈdɔfskʲi]; born 21 August 1988) is a Polish footballer who plays for German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund as a striker, having previously played for Delta Warsaw, Legia Warsaw, Znicz Pruszków and Lech Poznań. He has been capped by Poland at international level.
In 2006–07, Lewandowski was the Polish third division's top goal scorer with 15 goals, helping Znicz Pruszków win promotion. The next season he was the top scorer in the Polish second division with 21 goals.
In June 2008, Lech Poznań signed Lewandowski from Znicz for 1.5 million zlotys.
He made his debut for Lech in July 2008 as a sub in a first round UEFA Cup qualifier versus Khazar Lenkoran from Azerbaijan. In that match he scored the only goal of the match. During his Ekstraklasa debut in the first game of the season in a match against GKS Bełchatów he scored a heel flick goal just four minutes after coming into the game late second half. In his first season in the Polish top division, he was second in the goal-scoring charts. The next season, he became the top scorer with 18 goals and helped his team win the 2009–10 championship.
Roman Neustädter (born 18 February 1988 in Dnipropetrovsk, Soviet Union) is a German footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga.
Neustädter began his career in Mainz 05's youth team, before being promoted to Mainz 05 II in July 2006. After playing in the Mainz first team during the 2008-09 season, he signed a three year contract with Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Neustädter plays primarily as a defensive midfielder, but can also play as a centre back.
Neustädter played twice for Germany U-20, making his debut as a substitute against Italy U-20 on 9 April 2008. He scored a goal against Switzerland U-20 on 22 April.
The Ukrainian Football Association has stated its interest in calling up Neustädter for its national team. Neustädter, who was born in Ukraine, has indicated that he would be likely to accept a call-up if asked. He would first require a Ukrainian passport in order to be eligible for national team duties.
Neustädter is the son of Peter Neustädter, a former Mainz player and currently the head coach of the Mainz reserve team. Neustädter was born in Dnipropetrovsk, now Ukraine, while his father was playing for Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.
Jürgen Norbert 'Kloppo' Klopp (born 16 June 1967) is a German former footballer and the current manager of Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.
Klopp played his entire senior career for 1. FSV Mainz 05 from 1990 to 2001. He originally played as a striker, before switching to play as a defender in 1995.
Upon his retirement from playing for Mainz 05, Klopp was appointed as the club's manager. He remained as manager for seven years, during which time he led the team to its first appearance in the Bundesliga, and qualification for the 2005–06 UEFA Cup. At the end of the 2006–07 season, Mainz 05 were relegated, but Klopp chose to remain with the club. However, due to the fact that they were not able to achieve promotion, he resigned at the end of the 2007–08 season.
In May 2008, Klopp was approached to become the new manager of Borussia Dortmund, eventually signing a two-year contract at the club, which had finished in a disappointing 13th place under previous manager Thomas Doll. In his first season in charge, Klopp guided Borussia Dortmund to win the DFB-Supercup, defeating German champions Bayern Munich. Klopp took the club to a sixth place finish in his first season in charge, and a fifth place finish in the season after that, before leading the club to successive Bundesliga titles in the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons. During the 2011-2012 season, the 81 points accrued by Borussia Dortmund was the greatest points tally ever amassed in Bundesliga history and the 47 points earned in the second half of the season also set a new record. Borussia Dortmund's 25 league wins equalled Bayern Munich's 1972/73 milestone while their 28-league match unbeaten sequence was the best ever recorded in a single German top-flight season. On 12 May 2012, Klopp made Borussia Dortmund history by sealing the club's first ever domestic double, by defeating Bayern Munich 5–2 to win the DFB-Pokal. Klopp described the double as being "better than (he) could have imagined".