The training camp in Rio de Janeiro has been in full swing since the start of the week. When Quansah and Kofane landed in the country of the five-time World Cup winners on Wednesday to join the squad, they received a warm welcome from their new teammates. In sweltering temperatures under the Brazilian sun, the duo first went into an ice bath – understandable after their journey to Brazil.
Today, Thursday, Quansah and Kofane had their first training session at Bayer 04 under head coach Erik ten Hag and on Brazilian soil. After the warm-up routine with the whole squad the players were divided up into groups. While some worked on different games and the goalkeepers trained separately as usual, Quansah and Kofane had a couple of rounds of football tennis and a rondo.
Quansah spoke to the media after the session and said: "I've had intensive days. The journey was long and I was rather tired yesterday. But I received a really warm reception and I'm glad to be here. A tour like this is something special and it's important for me to be here to get to know my new teammates and everybody around the team."
A player, who gave Quansah and Kofane a particularly warm welcome on Wednesday, was Nathan Tella. Quansah said about the Leverkusen winger born in England: "Of course, it's always great when somebody is friendly straightaway and somebody you can speak to openly and he tries to help you fit into the team straightaway. I'm very grateful for that."
In response to the question about his targets at Bayer 04 and his own playing style, the England U21 European Champion said: "My targets are very team based – the better the team is, the more I improve as a player. I like going into challenges hard but I have the required calm on the ball and generally in defence too. I learned a lot at Liverpool but now I'm really looking forward to Leverkusen. The last few years were very good for the club. Now it's a new era with a new coach and new teammates. It's a good chance to show what you can do."
Quansah, Kofane and Co. went back to the team hotel after the training session. Details of the other events on day three can be found HERE in the day three blog.
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