Schalke 04's Brazilian midfielder Lincoln insisted on Thursday his side would do "whatever it takes" in their quest to lift their first Bundesliga title.
The 28-year-old was battling to shake off a thigh injury for last night's trip to VfL Bochum, but with only four games left the race for the title will go to the wire and no Schalke player wants to miss a game.
Before yesterday's game Schalke were just two points clear of second-placed Werder Bremen and having won the last of their seven German titles in 1958, this would be their first time as Bundesliga champions since the new format was introduced in 1963.
PHOTO: AP
Schalke suffered heartbreak in 2001 when they thought they had captured the title following a 5-3 win over Unterhaching only for Bayern Munich defender Patrik Andersson to grab an equalizer deep into injury-time at Hamburg which snatched the title away.
"Each of us has a job to do, everybody has to give their all. We are ready, we'll do whatever it takes," Lincoln said.
Schalke coach Mirko Slomka said his side must concentrate on winning their last four games -- against Bochum, Nuremberg, Borussia Dortmund and Arminia Bielefeld -- to make the title safe.
PHOTO: AP
"We just have to win our matches, whether on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Our position on that score hasn't changed over the last few weeks," he said.
"It's not a question of waiting for one of the others to slip up -- we just have to put on a good performance ourselves," Slomka said.
Should Schalke lose, second-placed Werder Bremen are on their heels just two points behind and they travel to Arminia Bielefeld tomorrow, having contested the first leg of the UEFA Cup semi-final at Spain's Espanyol on Thursday.
All is not rosy in the Bremen squad with question marks hanging over the future at the club of midfielders Torsten Frings and Diego, as well as striker Miroslav Klose.
"It is not pleasant that these discussions are permanently on the agenda," Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf said.
Last weekend's defeat at VfB Stuttgart means fourth-placed Bayern Munich have a five-point gap to close to secure a top-three finish which will guarantee them a Champions League place next year.
Failure to do so would mean they miss out on a place in Europe's premier tournament for the first time in 11 years and the German giants would have to swallow the bitter pill of life in the UEFA Cup.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS