VfB, Phönix and Co on Tour: Holiday greetings to Lübeck

Reset. With this word Calvin Brackelmann described his enviable vacation picture. Recorded right now at Christmas, not anywhere, but in the Maldives. Turquoise water, white beaches, 31 degrees, blue sky: the VfB defender undoubtedly uses the football-free time as his coach Lukas Pfeiffer intended, namely for pure relaxation and regeneration.

From Dortmund to New York

After Pfeiffer gave his players two weeks off with a 2-0 win against Holstein Kiel II on December 17th – and the green-whites scattered in all directions. Kaniwar Uzun answered Instagram from the Ruhr area, Morten Rüdiger from the North Sea, from Vejers Strand in Jutland, Julius Schmid from the Portuguese capital Lisbon. And while the classic film “Kevin Alone in New York” flickered across the screen of many families at home at Christmas, Cemal Sezer set out to experience the US metropolis up close.

Such trips are important – especially for athletes – for mental relaxation. In Corona times, however, such images flinch reflexively. “The guys should handle the situation sensibly. We will test well when the boys are back, ”said VfB sporting director Rocco Leeser, who did not start his trip to the Netherlands because of the lockdown there, the LN. The situation has recently been tense again, especially in New York. the New York Times reported an average of 37 192 COVID 19 cases per day (as of December 29, 21) and thus an increase of 265 percent within two weeks.

Fakhro is away from the mainstream

The situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina appears to be more relaxed. Since December 25, the Balkan state is no longer classified by the Foreign Office as a high-risk area. In the middle of the heart of the country, more precisely to Kakanj (approx. 45 minutes by car northwest of Sarajevo), Malek Fakhro went on his winter vacation, the new year individual running plans are enriched in the course of preparation for the rest of the season before training starts again on January 10, 2022 at the Lohmühle.

Phoenixes to Austria, Denmark and Ghana

The guys from Phönix also spent the days differently between the years. Replacement keeper Niklas Grünitz made the slopes in Schladming (Austria) unsafe with his snowboard, left-back Lucas Steen and midfielder Morten Knudsen moved to Denmark – that is, to their homeland. A little further away is this for Vice-Captain Kusi Kwame, who flew to Ghana for a few days, as sporting director Frank Salomon said. Conor Gnerlich, who was relaxing with his family in Oldenburg (Lower Saxony), had less travel expenses.

The break is not long for the Eagle Bearers: Preparations for the rest of the season will start on January 3, which will pick up speed again with the first competitive game in 2022 on February 6 against Altona 93. The highlight against VfB Lübeck is to follow a week later – only where that will be is uncertain after the city of Lübeck the Phönix home ground Buniamshof has initially blocked for security reasons.

Between balconies and Fuerteventura

Like the derby, the big league year 2022 will be heralded with the game PSV Neumünster against Prussia Reinfeld (catch-up game) on February 12th. Normally, the southern season of the 5th division will not continue until March 5th with the 16th matchday. So a lot of time for the sporty recreation that most players are looking for in their own four walls or in front of their own front door – and only if they are resistant to the cold, perhaps on balconies. Exceptions prove the rule. For example, Richard Arndt, midfielder from SV Eichede on the Canary Island of Fuerteventura, recovered.

By Andreas Breitenberger and Volker Giering