Almeida heads home early

The thigh muscle problem Bremen striker Hugo Almeida first noticed during Monday evening’s training warm-up on Norderney has not improved.

Following a consulation with team doctor Götz Dimanski, Almeida left the East Frisian island on Tuesday afternoon to undergo extensive tests in Bremen.

“Top notch” training

“He wasn’t able to take part in training, so we opted for this course of action. We’ll have to see how things work out over the next few days for Hugo”, coach Thomas Schaaf said.

The Portuguese international is so far the only casualty of pre-season preparations – a pleasant contrast with the rash of injuries at the club this time last year.

That’s not to say that the schedule on Norderney is any less rigorous this time around. On Tuesday, an early-morning bike ride was followed by breakfast before the players headed out for training proper. “That was top notch stuff again”, was captain Frank Baumann’s verdict just before lunchtime, as he paused briefly to catch his breath.

source: bundesliga.de

DFB Cup: “The Dream Draw” – Werder in Nordhorn on Saturday, 09.08.08

On Tuesday, the German Football Federation (DFB) announced the exact dates for the games in the first round proper of this season’s DFB Cup. Werder Bremen will play their game at non-league Eintracht Nordhorn on Saturday, 09.08.08 at 3:30pm at the ‘Stadion am Heideweg’. In Nordhorn, in Lower Saxony, the locals are already getting excited about the game: “Werder is the dream draw,” commented Eintracht’s chairman Andreas Arnold on the sides homepage. WERDER.TV will, as usual, be providing pre-match reports and post match analysis, as well as highlights of Werder’s performance in Nordhorn. Pay-per-view channel Premiere will be broadcasting the complete DFB Cup day live. ARD/ZDF will put the day’s events together in a highlight package. The game between Rot-Weiß Erfurt and Bayern Munich will also be broadcast live by terrestrial channel ZDF.

source: werder.de

Training camp diary 1: Windsurfing on the sea and Diego on the ferry

Monday, 14.07.2008, 5:30pm – Golf Hotel Norderney

“It’s as if we’d never left the place!” Captain ‘Baumi’s’ facial expression could only be described as bitter-sweet as he agreed with my comment. He’s one of the Werder players who has been here on the island most often when we travelled to the Golf Hotel for the training camp. There, as regular visitors, we were again heartily greeted by the Hasbargen family. There, as always, was the most senior boss Gerda Hasbargen, who at 80 years of age sees to things as ever and Janine is there on reception again – just as it always is.

I have to admit, I like Norderney, in spite of the teasing from Tim Wiese on our arrival: “You’re on holiday, you surly like to come back here again and again.” For Tim Wiese, who was also spotted on Timmendorf Beach this summer, this place only seems like a horror story because Norderney spells the toughest week of the season for the players.

The weather here has often been equally testing, but so far it’s been dry, if a tad windy. The journey over from Norddeich was smooth yet entertaining at the same time – the crazy surfboarders Bernd Flessner and Peter Fritz, Werder member and island publican, saw to that. Peter came to greet us with a giant Werder flag on his new speed-boat and Bernd, Germany’s best windsurfer, zipped around on his board.

The first training session is due to begin at 6pm on the facilities of ‘Sportplatz an der Mühle’. The fully renewed surface is still in ‘Virgin-Status’ explained training camp organiser Rudi König at 4pm coffee at the hotel. Even the players from TuS Norderney, who won promotion last season, have not been allowed to test the pitch. I’m interested in finding out if Rudi hasn’t been telling us some old sailors tales with that one.

source: werder.de

DFL initiative: Bremen to visit Levski Sofia.

The DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga GmbH has organised another friendly as part of its international marketing intiative.

Werder Bremen will be travelling to Bulgaria to play Levski Sofia on 5 August 2008. Kick-off against the five-time Bulgarian champions is scheduled for 19:00 local time in the Georgi Asparuhov stadium. It is anticipated there will be widespread interest in the fixture, which is to be broadcast live in nine countries and provinces across the region: Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. Fans in Germany can follow the game live on the Werder Bremen website (www.werder.tv).

With five championship titles in eight years, four cup wins and two supercup victories, Levski Sofia are without doubt the “club of the decade” in Bulgaria. Last season, however, they had to play second fiddle in the league to perennial city rivals CSKA. The “peoples’club”, who boast the country’s largest fan base, are in Champions League qualifying action a week after the Bremen friendly.

DFL Chief Executive Officer Christian Seifert said, “As a new EU member state with the fastest-growing economy in the region, Bulgaria is of special interest in our efforts to market the Bundesliga across eastern Europe as a whole. The country already has a healthy media scene, which is developing both in terms of digital technology and in general at a phenomenal rate. These are the ideal conditions for optimally positioning the Bundesliga in Bulgaria and in eastern Europe.”

Werder Bremen sporting director Klaus Allofs added, “We’ve already played against Levski in the Champions League, and hopefully our appearance in Sofia will help boost the popularity of the Bundesliga in Bulgaria.”

source: bundesliga.de

Erring on the side of caution

Werder Bremen are safely ensconced at their training camp on Nordeney – with the exception of German EURO 2008 participants Torsten Frings, Clemens Fritz and Per Metesacker, and an under-the-weather Boubacar Sanogo.

Three-and-a-half hours after the players shipped out from Norddeich for the Baltic Sea island on Monday afternoon, coach Thomas Schaaf had them going through their paces at the first training session.

Thorough medical

“Bouba said on the phone a few days ago he wasn’t feeling well”, Schaaf explained, “now he’s going to have a thorough check-up, because he had a spell at the start of the year too where he felt listless and run-down.”

The next couple of days will determine whether the Ivorian striker can join the rest of the squad at the camp. Two of his fellow forwards were meanwhile unable to join in with training on Monday. Hugo Almeida dropped out during the warm-up. “He felt a muscle twinge, and we preferred to err on the side of caution”, Schaaf said.

Solo training for Rosenberg

Markus Rosenberg is still doing individual training sessions. “After the problems he experienced with his knee at the EUROs, we want to build him back up gradually. Hopefully, he’ll be back in with the rest of the squad tomorrow or the day after”, the coach reported.

Schaaf also had words of praise for the training facilities: “Compliments to the folk here on Nordeney. Conditions have improved, the pitch had has a revamp. They’ve really done a job on it here.”

On top of that, and in contrast to last year, the weather is so far playing ball: “No storms, and it hasn’t even rained”, said Schaaf with a smile.

source: bundesliga.de