Borel wins keeper duel in Bremen

Schaaf had used a series of pre-season encounters to test the two candidates vying to take over in goal at Werder following the departure of Frank Rost to Schalke, but has finally plumped for the 23-year-old Borel rather than Pole Jakub Wierzchowski.

Speaking to the club's official website, Schaaf said: "It was a very tight decision, as both have shown their qualities during our warm-up games. But it is now very important that both come to terms with the new situation quickly.

"I took a series of factors into consideration: their self-confidence, their performances in both the pre-season games and in training and their general presence on the pitch."

Club captain Frank Baumann backed his coach's decision, saying: "Pascal has made great strides forward over the past year, so the choice has not come as a surprise to me."

The German international defender did, however, also praise Wierzchowski when adding: "We have two extremely good keepers."