Altintop twins go head-to-head in German soccer clash

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  1. CelticKing

    CelticKing The Green Monster

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    Altintop twins go head-to-head in German soccer clash</p>

    BERLIN (AFP) - There will be no love lost between twin brothers, and best friends, Halil and Hamit Altintop when the Turkish internationals go head-to-head as Bayern Munich face Schalke 04 on Saturday.

    The Altintop boys talk each day and were room-mates in Istanbul before Turkey beat Hungary 3-0 on Wednesday night in a Euro 2008 qualifier, but their relationship will be on ice for the 90 minutes of Saturday's Bundesliga battle.

    The twins, 24, have spent a total of 15 years playing together at German minnows SG Wattenscheid, TuS Rotthausen and Schwarz-Wei� Gelsenkirchen-Sued, before they were re-united at Schalke last season.

    But Hamit switched to league-leaders Bayern in the summer which saw the Altintop's lock horns in the German giant's 1-0 League Cup final win in August.

    This will be the eighth time the brothers have played against each other and striker Halil has some ground to make up having lost six of the seven meetings.

    "We talk on the phone everyday about football and our private lives, but although we are brothers, we are also total professionals," said Hamit.

    "Our families aren't really Schalke or Bayern fans, they just support us, although I think most of them are tipping Bayern for this one," said Halil.

    Bayern are waiting on the fitness of Italian World Cup striker Luca Toni who has a thigh injury while German defender Philipp Lahm is definitely out until early October after damaging knee ligaments training with the national side.

    And for Schalke, German defender Christian Pander faces a race against time to be ready for kick-off after shaking off a thigh injury.

    "The problems is not yet completey healed and we will have to see how he is," said Schalke coach Mirko Slomka.

    Saturday's duel will pit Germany's first-choice strikers Schalke's Kevin Kuranyi and Miroslav Klose against each other in what promises to be a fascinating contest.

    Also on Saturday, Bundesliga leaders VfB Stuttgart take on Energie Cottbus and wait on striker Mario Gomez, who sat out both of Germany's recent wins with a bout of flu.

    Turkish midfielder Yildiray Bastuerk is nursing a calf injury, but Brazilian Cacau should be able to play a full part.

    On Friday night, Borussia Dortmund host an in-form Werder Bremen side without their Swiss striker Alexander Frei who picked up an injury training with his national side.

    Since Bremen were hammered 4-0 at home by Bayern Munich last month, the north German side have responded with three wins and have Brazilian midfielder Diego in great form.

    Second-placed Vfl Bochum are away to Bayer Leverkusen and are looking to bounce back from their 3-2 defeat at Hanover a fortnight ago to try and close the gap on run-away leaders Bayern.

    Likewise Arminia Bielefeld must get something from bottom-side Hansa Rostock if they are to maintain their third-place in the league having been humbled 3-0 at Duisburg a fortnight ago.

    Fourth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt have the chance to prove their early season form is no fluke when they are at home to fifth-placed Hamburg.

    And on Sunday, struggling Duisburg take on mid-table Hertha Berlin and VfL Wolfsburg host Karlsruhe. </p>
     

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