A crowd of 7,500 made their way to the DKB-Arena in Rostock on Sunday afternoon to see the friendly charity game between VfB Stuttgart and hosts FC Hansa Rostock, who would also benefit from the proceeds of the event. And those who travelled to the game were not to be disappointed, with a game between the former top flight side and VfB getting off to a high-tempo start.

With just five minute played, VfB had sight of the opposition goal for the first time. Some good combination play in midfield led to a pass being sent in the direction of the pacy Martin Harnik but FC keeper Kevin Müller was slightly quicker getting to the ball and cleared the danger. At the other end, Sven Ulreich was called into action soon after, stopping a shot from distance by Lucas Albrecht.

In the 16^th minute though, the VfB keeper could do nothing to prevent the hosts from taking the lead. A corner from Mohammed Lartey could only be half cleared by the VfB defence and the ball subsequently fell to Patrick Wolf, who put his side in front from five meters out. The visitors from Stuttgart made a determined effort to bounce back as quickly as possible and created some chances – none of which proved telling though and the home side took their narrow advantage into the half time break.

Level from the spot

As he had previously announced, Bruno Labbadia changed his complete eleven at half-time. The only players unavailable to the coach on the day were Johan Audel (rehab following thigh muscle injury) and Christian Gentner, who was bed-ridden by a stomach bug. VfB made a positive start to the second half, taking ever more control of the tie. The equaliser was then to fall in the 55^th minute, but not from open play, rather from the penalty spot following a handball decision. Vedad Ibisevic converted the penalty kick to even the scores.

Bruno Labbadia: “In the first half we didn’t function very well as a team. Rostock worked very well and it was clear to see that they are further along in their pre-season preparations. In the second half we were more mobile but we did lack freshness. We are happy to have had two intensive tests, on both occasions in front of good crowds.”

The VfB line-up:

1st half: Ulreich - Hoogland, Maza, Niedermeier, Boka - Kvist, Holzhauser - Harnik, Hajnal, Torun - Cacau

2^nd half: Ziegler - Sakai, Tasci, Rüdiger, Molinaro - Bah, Kuzmanovic - Okazaki, Stöger, Taroré - Ibisevic

2st half: Ziegler - Sakai, Tasci, Rüdiger, Molinaro - Bah, Kuzmanovic - Okazaki, Stöger, Taroré - Ibisevic