There were warm greetings from the staff in the hotel and Ricardo Villar, the organiser of the Florida Cup, as Bayer 04 return for the third year in succession. After the evening meal it was more or less straight off to bed after the ten-hour flight from Germany.
Several players arrived separately from their holidays: Aleksandar Dragovic, Karim Bellarabi, Jonathan Tah plus Chicharito, Wendell and Charles Aránguiz. The four youngsters Kai Havertz, Atakan Akkaynak, Sam Schreck and goalkeeper Tomasz Kucz were all on board the Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt. Roberto Hilbert and Robbie Kruse were not on the flight to the training camp. Julian Baumgartlinger is due to arrive later as the Austrian is imminently due to be a father.
Wolf's first contact
The Bayer 04 CEO is unable to join the Florida tour. At the start of the week Michael Schade suffered a broken wrist and arm after slipping on ice. He is due to undergo an operation today. There was a new member of staff present in Jörn Wolf, who started work at Bayer 04 on Tuesday in the role of coach and support team coordinator, and he is sure to make good use of the time in Orlando to learn the ropes in his new job. Werkself players like Hakan Calhanoglu and Jonathan Tah know Wolf from his time as media director at Hamburg SV.
Lehnhoff and Co. lead the way
The first representatives of Bayer 04 arrived at the hotel a day ahead of the others. The vanguard was led by Werkself team liaison manger Peter Lehnhoff and organiser Lennart Coerdt plus Stuart Rickards, Hansi Blum and Martin Kowatzki from the physio and support staff group who set up rooms so that treatment and massage could start as and when required.
Roger Schmidt and his players have two training sessions at ten in the morning and four in the afternoon today. "We are looking forward to it and we know exactly what to expect here. During our stay in Orlando it’s important to promote a feeling of togetherness and have lots of training sessions," said the head coach. The training sessions will be held on the excellent pitches right next to the hotel. The Bayer 04 groundsman Georg Schmitz, who arrived in Orlando on Monday, will work with his American colleagues to ensure the pitches are in perfect condition.
You can keep up-to-date with events in Florida round-the-clock via our hashtag #B04goesUSA. Just log on toTwitter,Facebook,Instagram and Snapchat (@bayer04snaps). Information on the Werkself training camp is available here in German, English and Spanish: >> http://www.bayer04.de/goesUSA <<
Happy birthday, Patrik Schick! On his special day, it's not just the Czech striker who can look forward to lots of presents and hopefully many more goals – Bayer 04 fans can also get their hands on a free number 14 print when they buy a Werkself jersey today, January 24! In addition, a match-worn jersey belonging to the now 30-year-old will be raffled off among all purchasers next week.
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