MALAGA CF v WEST HAM UNITED FC
SCHALKE 04 CUP
VELTINS-ARENA
SUNDAY 3rd AUGUST 2014
KICK OFF 15:30 (Local Time)
Schalke 0 - 0 West Ham
West Ham win 7 - 6 on penalties.
Jussi Jaaskelainen was the hero as West Ham United began their Schalke 04 Cup challenge with a dramatic penalty shootout victory over the hosts.
The veteran Finnish goalkeeper made two spectacular saves from Felipe Santana and Axel Borgmann to inspire the Hammers to a 7-6 shootout success, after the game had finished goalless at the Veltins-Arena.
Jaaskelainen had been called into action before his spot-kick heroics, saving with his body from Eric Choupo-Moting early on and showing his usual reliable handling on a number of other occasions.
"The main is that we needed to take our penalties and we did that, which gave me the opportunity to save their kicks," said the stopper, with trademark modesty.
"We had eight penalties and we only missed one, while I think you should always save one out of three as a goalkeeper, so it was all right.
"I did read what they were going to do a little bit. They were young boys coming up to take them and I was lucky enough to go the right way for both of them."
Jaaskelainen signed a new one-year contract earlier this summer and it is clear that he will compete fiercely with Adrian for a place in Sam Allardyce's starting XI this term.
With displays like the one he put in at the Veltins-Arena, the 39-year-old will definitely give Big Sam food for thought when it comes to picking his team to face Tottenham Hotspur on 16 August.
"That's the way I always see things in pre-season," he confirmed. "This is my 17th pre-season over here in England and I always think we all start in the same boat and will be trying to impress the manager.
"The most important thing is to get yourself fit and be ready for the start of the season.
"It's still pre-season and personally it was good for me to get a second 90 minutes under my belt after I played against Wellington Phoenix.
"In New Zealand, we did some good work and saw lots of fans over there, but the travelling was a little bit tough so this week it was good to have a full week of training, have a couple of games here and go on from there.
"The boys looked much more solid than we did in New Zealand, but when you're playing against teams like Schalke that has to be the case. You have to be more solid at the back.
"We created a couple of half-chances, but obviously we want to create a few more chances. At the end of the day, we got the clean sheet and we didn't pick up any more injuries, so that was good."
MATCH FACTS
Schalke: Giefer - Multhaup (73’ Itter), Matip (46’ Santana), Friedrich (73’ Papadopoulos), Kolasinac (61’ Aogo) - Höger, Neustädter - Barnetta (46’ Meyer), Boateng (73’ Sobottka), Fuchs (82’ Borgmann) - Choupo-Moting (61’ Avdijaj)
West Ham: Jääskeläinen - O'Brien, Collins, Tomkins (46’ Reid), Potts - Kouyate (54’ Lletget), Poyet - Downing (79’ Vaz Te), Nolan, Fanimo (54’ Diame) - Cole (82’ Lee)
Penalty shootout: 0-1 Nolan, 1-1 Neustädter, 1-2 Collins, 2-2 Meyer, Vaz Te miss, 3-2 Papadopoulos, 3-3 Lee, Jääskeläinen save from Santana, 3-4 Poyet, 4-4 Aogo, 4-5 O’Brien, 5-5 Itter, 5-6 Potts, 6-6 Sobottka, 6-7 Lletget, Jääskeläinen save from Borgmann
Referee: Winkmann (Kerken)
Malaga 3 - 1 Newcastle
The Blue and Whites got off to a fantastic start in the Schalke Cup with a 3-1 victory over Newcastle United in the first match of the LFP World Challenge tournament. A goal from Sergi Darder and two from Samu Castillejo led to the Málaga victory, with Castillejo named man of the match.
Coach, Javi Gracia stated in the pre-match press conference before heading to Germany that he wouldn’t be making as many changes to the line-up during the match compared to the other pre-season games, and maintained the starting-11 until mid-way through the second half.
Málaga CF dominated possession and generated numerous goal opportunities. Duda came close to opening the scoring after nine minutes as he was unmarked in front of the rival keeper, but a corner kick was given.
Sergi Darder put the Blue and Whites in front in minute 24 with a spectacular shot some 30 metres away from the target, with the ball finding the net after colliding with the post.
An impressive pass from Horta saw Santa Cruz alone inside the goal area, however the keeper stopped a second Málaga goal with his foot.
An amazing performance from Samu Castillejo began with a fantastic left-footer into goal following a great assist from Gámez, to put the Blue and Whites 0-2 up at the Veltins Arena after 36 minutes. Málaga CF completely controlled the first half, and just before half-time, another powerful shot from Castillejo in front of the target increased Málaga’s lead to 0-3 in minute 43. This impressive performance from the La Academia player saw him named man of the match.
The game was all but decided after the first half, and there was less emotion for the remaining 45 minutes. Javi Gracia’s men looked set to increase their lead as an unmarked Weligton tried his luck, but his shot at target collided with the post.
Obertan put Newcastle on the scoreboard in minute 59, with a shot that was impossible for Kameni to save. However the ‘Malagistas’ went on to victory in the first match of the Schalke Cup. Tomorrow they take on West Ham United.
Match stats
Team line-ups:
Málaga CF: Kameni; Jesús Gámez, Sergio Sánchez (Angeleri, 72’), Weligton, Antunes; Camacho, Sergi Darder (Juanmi, 72’), Samu Castillejo (Juanpi, 54’), Horta (Pablo Pérez, 86’); Duda © (Samuel Sánchez, 86’) and Santa Cruz (Luis Alberto, 72’)
Newcastle United: Elliot; Coloccini, Sissoka, Yanga-Mbiwa, Colback, Cabella, Pérez, Haidara (Dummett, 67’), Taylor, Abeid and Armstrong
Goals:
1-0, Sergi Darer (24’)
2-0, Samu Castillejo (36’)
3-0, Samu Castillejo (43’)
3-1, Obertan (59’)
Referee: Christian Bandurski. A yellow card was shown to Vuckic.
Tickets
Tickets are still available for the Schalke Cup and can be purchased on Sunday at the Veltins-Arena from "cash box WEST" at €32 Adults and €10 Under-12s. These tickets cover both matches played on that day.
Travel
For supporters in possession of a match ticket, these tickets also act as a VRR-Kombiticket ticket.
This entitles supporters to travel, free of charge on the day in question, to and from the Veltins-Arena using the Regional Transport Networks Rhine-Ruhr (VRR) until closing time of the services.
This applies to all of the VRR transport and commuter trains of Deutsche Bahn in 2nd class (but not ICE, IC, EC and IR).
SCHALKE DAY
On Sunday, 3rd August, the Royal Blues will officially open the new season with a range of festivities at the fantastic Schalke Day! As is the case each year, over 100,000 fans from all over Germany and the world will flock to Gelsenkirchen to be part of the of blue-and-white family festival.
Visitors young and old will be amazed by great attractions throughout the day and there will even be activities that will involve the Royal Blues’ first teamers.
Whether that’s giving interviews, signing autographs or simply making a guest appearance, the Bundesliga players will be right in the thick of the action rather than standing on the sidelines. Fan favourites like Ralf Fährmann, Atsuto Uchida and Kevin-Prince Boateng will be mixing in with the fans, as will manager Jens Keller, sporting director Horst Heldt and of course new signings Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, Sidney Sam and Fabian Giefer. They will all be signing autographs, taking pictures with the fans or giving their view on the upcoming 2014/15 season on various stages around the club grounds.
Visiting is doubly worth it for Royal Blues fans this year though. Right after Sunday’s activities, the decisive matches take place in the Schalke 04 Cup, which begins the day before. The pre-season tournament at the VELTINS-Arena is packed with quality, with Premier League clubs West Ham United and Newcastle United, La Liga side FC Malaga and of course the Royal Blues all taking part.
The game will be broadcast live on QUEST TV.
