Seefeld is waiting for Thomas Müller, Mats Hummels and Co. – but Joachim Löw and his staff have to quickly resolve a few questions before the start of the EM training camp. The most important: When can Toni Kroos, who has Covid-19, come to the EM preparatory camp in Tyrol? How much do new measures against the spread of the Indian Corona variant influence the travel plans of the six England professionals in Löw’s squad? When can recently ailing players like Munich’s Leon Goretzka get back in?
For the national coach, who voluntarily retires after the European Championship, the preparation time in Seefeld, Austria and then from June 8th in the European Championship headquarters at DFB partner Adidas in Herzogenaurach is a crucial component in bringing his last mission with the German national team to a successful conclusion. After the EM his former assistant Hansi Flick will take over. “We need players who come mentally and physically with great freshness. The players do not come out of the season totally overloaded, which means that the intensity is increased, ”said Löw for the ten days of training camp.
The conditions in the tourism region in the Tyrolean Alps are excellent. From the team hotel Nidum on the Seefeld plateau, the Rio world champions Müller and Hummels, who have been brought back to the squad by Löw after more than two years, as well as all their colleagues have a picturesque view of the snow-covered peaks. There is a large fitness tent on the spacious training area.
“We are currently working on solutions”
The Corona problem is causing some uncertainty for Löw and his employees, who will arrive in the Olympic region on Thursday, before the team arrives on Friday. Veteran Kroos was infected with the corona virus, his training start depends on his recovery. Bernd Leno, Ilkay Gündogan, Antonio Rüdiger, Kai Havertz, Timo Werner and Robin Koch are affected by the new stricter quarantine regulations for citizens arriving from the virus variant area Great Britain. This applies to both Germany and Austria.
“We are aware of the complexity of the topic and the requirements. We are currently working on solutions, ”said national team spokesman Jens Grittner on Wednesday of the German press agency. Gündogan (Manchester City) and the Chelsea pros Rüdiger, Havertz and Werner, whose clubs will contest the Champions League final on Saturday in Porto, should actually join the team after the national team’s first friendly on June 2 in Innsbruck against Denmark .
In the shadow of the ski jumps: the German training ground in Seefeld.
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Image: dpa
Leno played with Arsenal on Sunday at the end of the Premier League season in England. Koch was not in the squad at Leeds United. For travelers from Great Britain, a two-week quarantine obligation has been in effect in Germany since Sunday, which cannot be shortened by negative tests. In Austria, a ten-day quarantine is due for people in the so-called Annex 2 of the Covid-19 regulation, to which the United Kingdom is included, which can be ended with a negative test from the fifth day after entry. The DFB is in contact with the Austrian authorities about possible special regulations.
In principle, there are no exceptions, said the Austrian Ministry of Health on a dpa request. But there could be a special regulation “if this is in the overriding interest of the Republic of Austria”. This will then be decided upon receipt of a request between the Ministry of Sports and Health. The Ministry of Sports is currently no request from the DFB, said a spokesman on Wednesday evening.
The training camp in Tyrol will be followed by the EM dress rehearsal against Latvia on June 7th in Düsseldorf. A day later, the DFB entourage moves into its EM home base in Franconia. Germany will play their first group game against France on June 15 in Munich. After that, the FC Bayern stadium will face Portugal (June 19) and Hungary (June 23). Depending on the performance, there will then be a round of 16 abroad.
There could be even bigger problems if the German Interior Ministry adheres to the entry rules from Great Britain because of the Corona variant first discovered in India and does not grant any exceptions to the European association UEFA. In the EM quarter-finals scheduled for July 2nd in Munich, a team would be involved that had previously won the round of 16 on June 26th in London. UEFA said it was looking into the situation. “The situation is constantly changing,” said the umbrella organization tellingly.
“These rules also apply to professional football,” said a spokeswoman for the Ministry of the Interior of the German Press Agency in Berlin. The German Football Association referred to UEFA as the organizer of the European Championship for the question of possible special regulations. The local organizers in Munich again referred to the DFB. The associations should now hope above all for the time factor and a relaxation of the infection situation by the end of June.
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