A special visitor and the intensity stays high on day three

There was a special visitor on the third day of the summer training camp in Schladming, with Bishop Kohlgraf of Mainz, who was in the area on his holidays, spontaneously dropping in to watch the morning session. After a brief welcome from head coach Bo Svensson and sporting director Martin Schmidt, Kohlgraf then watched the action on the training pitch alongside board member for sport Christian Heidel. It was the first time that Svensson had met the bishop. “We spoke about the training camp and want to see each other again at the ground back in Mainz,” said Svensson.

Pushing it to the limit before regeneration and teambuilding on Saturday

Things were much less serene on the pitch. For the third time inside 24 hours, Svensson’s men sweated away following a set of intense drills. After the focus on winning the ball back and then quickly working the ball out of that area on Thursday, the Zerofivers worked on their play in transition on Friday. At the end of the session, the players were pushed to the limit once again with small sided three-on-three games, with plenty of energy and tackles flying in. “That was good,” said Svensson with a satisfied smile at seeing his players giving it their all. There was one slight concern, with Karim Onisiwo forced to leave training early due to a problem with a muscle in his back. Meanwhile, Maxim Leitsch took part in a running session. “It was purely a precautionary measure because he felt a bit of tightness from yesterday’s session,” stated Svensson. “Otherwise, everyone got through the session well.”

On Friday, there will be a strength and conditioning session following by dinner with partners and sponsors who have travelled with the team. Saturday will then focus on teambuilding and regeneration. “These things are important to bring the players and the group closer together,” emphasised the Mainz head coach. The following day, there will once again be a high-intensity session working with the ball.

Highlights of the next days and weeks

Alongside Mainz fans who have travelled themselves, the fans’ group will also arrive today. Highlights in the coming days include not only the upcoming training sessions, but also the traditional fan evening on Sunday and the friendly on Tuesday against FC St. Gallen (16:00 CEST, Stadion des Salzburger Athletiksport Klubs). This coming Wednesday, the team will then return to Mainz. Three days later, will be one final friendly ahead of the DFB-Pokal game on 12th August in Elversberg, with the Zerofivers taking on Premier League club Burnley (5th August, 15:30 CEST). The game will be made up of two halves of 45 minutes followed by a further 30 minutes.