| Andre Press Sports Ticker Sudwerk Star to Miss Playoffs DAVIS, Calif., Dec. 14 (AP) -- FC Sudwerk officials found themselves embroiled in controversy Friday after a German sports weekly reported the club has lent star midfielder Andreas Agocs to struggling Bundesliga side FC St. Pauli for one match next week. The transaction means Agocs will miss Sudwerk's playoff game on Tuesday, a development that sent the red-and-black's faithful into a frenzy. On Friday morning, fans barraged club offices with nasty e-mails, phone calls and, in one case, lemmons. "This is obscene," said Niels Drunkenfan, one Sudwerk supporter who visited club offices to demand an explanation. "This is a sad case of finance taking precedence over football." Sudwerk, the California-based super club that formed last summer, is scheduled to play River Plate in the first round of the DAISL fall season playoffs on Tuesday. The team's offensive attack is bound to suffer without Agocs, one of Sudwerk's key playmakers. Ramal Werdna, the club's president and CEO, acknowledged the move and said it was a mistake. He said St. Pauli contacted Sudwerk about Agocs after losing one of its starting midfielders to a thigh injury. "We agreed to the loan eight days ago, when Sudwerk was playing better than any team in the league," Werdna said. "We thought we had the manpower to spare Agocs for one week, but in light of Tuesday's loss, it's clear we miscalculated." Werdna refused to answer questions about the money involved. The German weekly Sportsbild reported FC St. Pauli agreed to pay Sudwerk a $50,000 fee if Agocs is used in the Dec. 18 match against the Berlin club Hertha. St. Pauli, promoted from the German 2nd Division to the Bundesliga last spring, has had a rough go of it this fall and now sits in last place with only one victory after 15 games. The side, devastated by injuries, has spent recent weeks trying to lure stars from other countries to temporarily shore up its roster for the last few games before the Bundesliga takes a midseason winter break. Unless St. Pauli turns things around, the Hamburg club will be relegated back to the German 2nd division next spring. Agocs, who has scored three goals for the red-and-black this fall, is under contract to Sudwerk through the winter 2002 season. ## |