Matchday 14: 1001 reasons to love a three-legged dog

By: Scott | November 29th, 2009

Prowl fanshops on this side of the ocean, and Bundesliga kits are not so widely offered. When they are, anyone not a supporter of Bayern Munchen or Werder Bremen is pretty much out of luck. A Bayer 04 shirt is unheard of on the shelves, the club name unheard of by the clerks. Back in Europe, Bayer Leverkusen are the club people are likely to point at while giggling, calling us Vizekusen or Neverkusen. Within our own league, the wait for a piece of silverware has gone on for 105 years. But we have not curled into a ball and waited for time to turn us to dust. Instead we’ve held our breath and continued struggling along, waiting for all the parts to come together in the same place and at the same time- just like they did today at BayArena, much to VfB Stuttgart’s misfortune.

When the parts do come together, every Leverkusen supporter kicks their pride up a notch and hangs on every moment of every match. Not just to see the good, but to be certain there will not be a sudden return to the bad that will prompt others resume their pointing and laughing. None of this is of any interest to Keo, my friend’s three-legged dog, who I am watching for the weekend and who had yet to pee as the clock ticked dangerously close to kick-off- a moment for which I prefer to be indoors at my computer watching rather than outdoors in the cold holding a plastic bag.

Kiess and Derdiyok giddy as schoolgirls Since mid-week, when Stuttgart managed to keep their name in the Champions League ring with a 2-0 win over the Rangers, there has been much talk about the visit to Leverkusen. Floundering at the bottom of the table, VfB were in desperate need of three points and a lot of their supporters were confident they’d get them this weekend. So convinced, in fact, that I almost started believing it myself. And for the first ten minutes of the match, Stuttgart looked like they might put up a good fight. After those ten minutes, though, Leverkusen again found their rhythm and started forcing Stuttgart to play catch-up.

Keo’s week started poorly. He’s an old dog who has been walking in a manner his canine physiognomy hadn’t been designed for and it’s starting to take its toll. After slipping a disc last weekend, he’s been on pills for swelling and pain and spends most of his time sleeping. He’s sprawled across the better part of my couch when, at the 19th minute, Toni Kroos fires on Jens Lehmann’s empty net and hits the woodwork. I have not considered Keo’s need for rest when I loudly react to the missed goal. He sits up, certain, as dogs always are, that something is going on that he needs to be a part of.

At BayArena, Stuttgart have responded to their inability to take possession the way they always do- by playing the bodies instead of the ball. This quickly influences things to their disadvantage and a free kick for the Werkself. Kroos crossed into the box, where Sami Hyypiä continued the play with a head to Kießling, who masterfully finished it past Lehmann for the opener of the match and Kieß’s 10th of the season. Coffee down, arms up, a primal burst of glee on my part and Keo was on his feet, howling along, tail wagging. He leapt off the couch like a puppy and rushed back with a stuffed giraffe that had been lying next to his unused dog bed for most of his visit. Both home and abroad, it was go-time. lev_derdiyok_DW_Spo_967376g

As Keo thrashed his giraffe around, the Werkself played free and easy around Stuttgart’s brave struggle. Kroos again just missed putting his name on the scorer’s list, and again followed that by showing his value in the middle with a phenomenal pass to Derdiyok, who converted it to a 2-goal lead. We hit half-time with the top of the table looking like a sure thing, but by no means were the Werkself finished.

Dominance remained the theme of the day when play resumed and before 15 minutes had passed in the second, Kieß scored his 11th season goal: a milestone for him, to be sure, but also one for the club. With Kießling’s 11th, the tally on Werkself Bundesliga goals clicked in at the 1000 mark.

As the match drew toward the final whistle, I had 80 pounds of animal hanging by its teeth, which where clamped around a damp and gnarled stuffed toy. Stuttgart were 3 down and there would be now way back. It was time for Lehmann to do something stupid. And indeed he did, hurling into Derdiyok to earn himself a yellow and the Werkself a penalty. Up stepped Kießling, and up went the scoreline.

One would have thought the match couldn’t have ended any better for Leverkusen supporters. BayArena was already in the throes of victory, basking in their return to the top of the table, which Bremen was was given an overnight taste of. Our squad had again shown they aren’t playing for second-best and the scoreboard read 4:0. lev_helmes_DW_Sport_967385g At 89 minutes, Kießling was called off the pitch and Patrick Helmes was brought in to play for the first time this season. Oh, that Heynckes knows how to work the crowd!

As the Werkself soaked up the adulation at BayArena, and Keo collapsed exhausted, in the mess of stuffing he’d pulled from his now-shredded giraffe, a small consortium of the Stuttgart squad stood dejectedly before the few hissing supporters still left on their fankurve. Jupp Heynckes, meanwhile, commended our boys for 90 minutes of “first-class football.”

Check the highlights while they last:

Keo didn’t always have three-legs, but he probably doesn’t know that. Dropped off at a veterinarian’s after being hit by a car as a puppy, Keo’s original owner told the vet to put him down. Instead, the vet amputated his damaged leg (front left) and Keo was adopted by my friend’s then future ex-girlfriend. He’s a big, loping dope of a beast, whose ears flop as he bounds about, always forgetting his predicament and toppling over when he lifts his rear leg to pee. People are either intrigued by his missing limb, repulsed or terrified, assuming, I’d guess, that the leg was gnawed off by whatever Keo was trying to kill at the time. Those that stop to talk usually offer some praise to a person who would “bother” offering a home to a three-legged dog.

“A lot of people would just give up on him,” they say. Some people say nothing and cross the street to avoid him. Some people like to point and laugh. But a three-legged dog can pretty much do what any other dog can do, just like pretty much every other club in the Bundesliga this season has won more than Stuttgart. It’s just that when a three-legged dog does it there’s a larger sense of pride, some vindication, and a subtle, unspoken “screw you” that goes along with it. Today Keo became a fan of the Werkself, and I know he’s a happier dog because of it.

And now to the Victory Beard. As we remain unbeaten and with 1001 goals to celebrate, yet another bit of beard can be revealed to you on this Sunday of First Advent. My, my! It certainly is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Begone, Matchday 14!

sptg14

Kroos Watch Update:

Once again, Toni Kroos proved himself an asset to the Leverkusen squad and the Jupp Heynckes applauded him for “his strongest performance” in a Leverkusen kit to date. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge recently said that Kroos is absolutely returning to Bayern next season. A day earlier, Rudi Völler had said no final decision will be made until summer. After his man-of-the-match showing today, Kroos was again asked about what his future holds. As far as he’s concerned, he said, nothing has been decided. Stay tuned for more of the same throughout the season, particularly on days Leverkusen wins, Bayern loses or the two meet at BayArena.