At first the Germany U17 national side were slightly surprised. They were obviously expecting temperatures of 30 degrees plus with very high humidity - as is to be expected here - but it still wasn’t easy. You don’t even have to move a muscle before the beads of sweat start forming. That’s how it is in India, just after the monsoon season. And that’s where the U17 World Cup will be held from 6th to 28th October. Christian Wück’s Germany side travelled to Goa the previous Sunday in order to give themselves the necessary time to adapt themselves to this unfamiliar environment.
“We came out to here early quite intentionally to be honest, just to give us the time to acclimatize,” said Germany’s head coach Wück. But what does that mean? As the time difference is more than three and a half hours, it gives the team the necessary time to get their bodies adjusted to the new country. “The boys were obviously all very tired on the first day. We tried to get back the spring in their step by organizing a couple of little activities,” said Wück.
Jogging, strength training and some football tennis
The first day started with a light jog on the beach followed by some strength training exercises before finally unwinding with some football tennis. It was all about slowly getting into the swing of things. “The climate is something totally different to what we’re used to,” said Werder Bremen’s Luca Plogmann. The goalkeeper, who was also Germany’s number 1 in the European Championship, keeps a realistic view on things: “We clearly have a lot to get used to here, but then again we’re not alone in that regard. All the other teams competing in this tournament are in the same situation.“
It doesn’t take long to see how high the team spirit is with this squad, which isn’t much of a surprise, as it was the same at the Euros in May when Germany made it to the semi-final - and with it qualified automatically for this World Cup. The team is clearly very comfortable around each other, as they’re laughing and chatting all the time. There are two players to each room. All the players eat dinner together. They live as a team.
Bundesliga debutant Arp arrives
"Nearly all of us already know each other from the European Championship, and we were all really looking forward to seeing everyone again. The four ‘new’ players have also integrated into the team very quickly," said Yannik Keitel. The midfield man was without a roommate until the early hours of Monday morning when U17 striker Jan-Fiete Arp arrived in Goa following his Bundesliga debut for Hamburg on Saturday. "I said hi quickly when he arrived. Now we have a complete squad and will go into the tournament full of confidence. "
In training, the finer details are being worked on. Today’s session will take place in an Indian stadium for the first time. The countdown is on. The DFB youngsters will play their first World Cup group game on Saturday. Kick-off in Goa is at 17:00 local time (13:30 CEST). For the last group fixture, the team will have to travel to Kochi, where the U17s will face Guinea on October 13th. Kick-off in this game will once again be at 17:00 local time (13:30 CEST).
At first the Germany U17 national side were slightly surprised. They were obviously expecting temperatures of 30 degrees plus with very high humidity - as is to be expected here - but it still wasn’t easy. You don’t even have to move a muscle before the beads of sweat start forming. That’s how it is in India, just after the monsoon season. And that’s where the U17 World Cup will be held from 6th to 28th October. Christian Wück’s Germany side travelled to Goa the previous Sunday in order to give themselves the necessary time to adapt themselves to this unfamiliar environment.
“We came out to here early quite intentionally to be honest, just to give us the time to acclimatize,” said Germany’s head coach Wück. But what does that mean? As the time difference is more than three and a half hours, it gives the team the necessary time to get their bodies adjusted to the new country. “The boys were obviously all very tired on the first day. We tried to get back the spring in their step by organizing a couple of little activities,” said Wück.
Jogging, strength training and some football tennis
The first day started with a light jog on the beach followed by some strength training exercises before finally unwinding with some football tennis. It was all about slowly getting into the swing of things. “The climate is something totally different to what we’re used to,” said Werder Bremen’s Luca Plogmann. The goalkeeper, who was also Germany’s number 1 in the European Championship, keeps a realistic view on things: “We clearly have a lot to get used to here, but then again we’re not alone in that regard. All the other teams competing in this tournament are in the same situation.“
It doesn’t take long to see how high the team spirit is with this squad, which isn’t much of a surprise, as it was the same at the Euros in May when Germany made it to the semi-final - and with it qualified automatically for this World Cup. The team is clearly very comfortable around each other, as they’re laughing and chatting all the time. There are two players to each room. All the players eat dinner together. They live as a team.
Bundesliga debutant Arp arrives
"Nearly all of us already know each other from the European Championship, and we were all really looking forward to seeing everyone again. The four ‘new’ players have also integrated into the team very quickly," said Yannik Keitel. The midfield man was without a roommate until the early hours of Monday morning when U17 striker Jan-Fiete Arp arrived in Goa following his Bundesliga debut for Hamburg on Saturday. "I said hi quickly when he arrived. Now we have a complete squad and will go into the tournament full of confidence. "
In training, the finer details are being worked on. Today’s session will take place in an Indian stadium for the first time. The countdown is on. The DFB youngsters will play their first World Cup group game on Saturday. Kick-off in Goa is at 17:00 local time (13:30 CEST). For the last group fixture, the team will have to travel to Kochi, where the U17s will face Guinea on October 13th. Kick-off in this game will once again be at 17:00 local time (13:30 CEST).
The aim is clear. "We want to win the group – and we have the quality to do that," said Wück, who currently has all 21 nominated players fit, available and fully motivated.
