Werder’s friendly against Bidvest Wits was a good way to end the club’s training camp in South Africa according to Florian Kohfeldt, even if he wasn’t entirely pleased with the 2-2 result. The Green-Whites took part in some light training on Saturday morning and will travel back to Germany shortly afterwards. Werder’s ten days in South Africa have come to an end, and it’s time to look back on the experience.
“It was very positive. We were able to get almost all the training done that we wanted to. The game against Kaizer Chiefs had to be called off unfortunately, but the conditions here were very good otherwise. It wasn’t too hot weather-wise, the hotel was outstanding, and the transfer worked wonderfully,” said Kohfeldt.
The Werder coaches were able to really focus on certain aspects that they wanted to improve, including finishing and the team’s game in the final third: “we worked on our defending with two good sessions,” added Kohfeldt. There were also several team tactics sessions, as well as one-on-one conversations with all the players.
Alongside their sporting duties, the Werder players also had other kinds of visits on their agendas. The team visited Soweto, the Apartheid Museum, and the Safe-Hub at Amandla. “Personal development always adds something to one’s sporting performance. It allows the players to look at the privileges that they enjoy. The visit led to a lot of communication within the team and that’s very important. It improves us all as people and grounds us a bit,” said Kohfeldt.
All in all, the trip to South Africa was worthwhile in many ways: “We’ve taken a good step forward. I’m looking forward to Hannover and the Rückrunde,” added Kohfeldt.
