Fritz confirmed as captain

The first training on Norderney is complete and there are two pieces of bad news right away. Head coach Thomas Schaaf was only able to greet 24 players instead of the planned 26 on the team bus at Weser Stadium before departure for the first training camp. Cimo Röcker (back problems) and Johannes Wurtz (ankle injury) both had to cancel their participation in the training camp.

"Johannes got injured yesterday in training. It's nothing extreme but it limits him enough that he cannot get back into training this week. Therefore we decided that it makes more sense that he stays in Bremen and does rehab training," said Schaaf on the ferry. With Röcker, Schaaf said "We were hoping that he could get back into training on Monday but the back problems got worse so that there was no realistic chance of taking part in team training."

The fact that the Werder players were happy to get on their bikes certainly had to do with them only starting their time on the island. Goalkeeper Sebastian Mielitz was even smiling leaving the pitch. "Nothing can affect us now, we have trained just one time. Ask me on Thursday or Friday how I feel," said the keeper, who caused his teammates to shake their heads in doubt with his great saves. With assistant coach Wolfgang Rolff leading a training drill, "Miele" would try to save shots and if he saved a certain percentage, the field players had to do push-ups. That left the mood pretty intense and motivation high!

It was also no surprise on the first day on Norderney that Clemens Fritz was confirmed as captain. "That wasn't a decision I really had to think about. It will not change anything," said Schaaf.