 |
 |
|
|
|
.
|
Andrew's Blog
Poland Stage = Sept 2007
Poland Article # 2 Andrew Ziemer
Tuesday, Sept 4th
Daily program
8:30 Breakfast
10:00 Training
12:00 Press Conference
13:00 Lunch
13:30 Rest
17:00 Training
20:00 Dinner
23:00 Room
As I lay down Monday night, the long summer and travel hit me, but
even then I could not get to sleep. Finally at 1:00am, I drifted
off,
thinking about the days to come.
At 4:00am , I woke wide awake and tossed and turned and finally
gave in and grabbed a book. At 6:30 I showered and went down to
breakfast.
For those of you who have traveled in Europe, most breakfasts are
similar (bread, cheese, meat, cereal, juice, fruit and a bit of warm
food).
The highlight for me was the fresh brown bread that our Aunt Vickie
used to
serve daily while we stayed for 2 months with her in Bad Godesburg
(near
Bonn) in 1982.
Herbert Ziemer, our father was born in Germany and moved away
before World War II. In 1982, we all had the opportunity to meet his
father and stay with relatives near Bonn and Koln. This was during
the 1982
World Cup in Spain.
Benjamin (age 11) and I (age 12) stayed with our Aunt Vickie and
Uncle Frank in Bad Godesburg near Bonn. Christopher (age 8) and his
friend
Jason stayed with Uncle Herbert and Aunt Marliss in Troisdorf near
to Koln.
Marcus (age 17) and his friend Chad traveled for 1 month and stayed
one
month with Herbert and Marliss.
The funny thing was that we were already very into Fussball
(Soccer) and our relatives were not. By the end of our stay , we had
hooked
our German relatives on the game and for the "Ziemer Brothers" the
seed was
further planted. From now on, our standard was Europe, the highest
level in
the World.
After breakfast, I decided to start my fitness kick. I started
walking with no plan , but to find out where I was. I walked past
the field
where the Polish team trains and into the forest. The smell brought
back
many memories of playing in Germany for FC Recklinhausen at team in
the
Verbandsliga or Germany 4th division.
On game days, we would come early to the club and have tea and
cake. We then would take a short walk in the forest (bald).
In 1987, Chris (age 16) decided to go to Germany to live and play
soccer. He joined several Americans including our good friend Shawn
Blakeman. He called Benjamin and I after a few months and said ,
"you must
get over here" there are so many clubs.
Benjamin and I were playing Division 1 soccer at Fresno State and
borrowed money from our sister to move to Germany. This started a 8
year
period in which one or all 3 of us were living in Germany. Many
other
friends (Dave Kaufman, Dave Schaffer, Josh Kalkstein, Kely Jacobsen,
Shawn
Percel, Zac Ibsen to name a few) came over to live and play as well.
Back to 2007, I found myself in the middle of the forrest at a sign
that said Offenbach 6.8 kilometers by bike and decided to turn back.
When I
arrived back at the club TSV Landerspiel, I took another bike trail
towards
Mullheim. This trail curved along a small creek with grass fields on
both
sides.
As I walked the few kilometers into Mullheim, I could not help but
notice several small soccer fields with goals. After arriving in
Mullheim, I
noticed it was time to get back for training. I want to the
Haubahnhauf and
found the bus back to Landerspiel. This was all useful information
since I
planned to take the same route to Frankfurt later in the evening.
I joined the team in the hotel lobby and we walked the short
distance to the field. In the morning session, a few players were
out doing
individual running programs or with the doctor. The focus was on
passing
and keeping the ball.
Leo Beenhakker is a true coaching legend. It is incredible to see
him work with the team and how he creates the environment. He is
very
passionate and breathes confidence into the team. Together with
Frans Hoek ,he brings a lot of experience at all levels which gives confidence
to the
boys and the rest of the staff. Coach Leo and his staff feel that
they can
play with anyone and they are bringing this across to the team.
After the first training session , the lack of sleep caught up with
me and I
took a nap. Luckily, Frans called to wake me up and I made it to the
lobby in time for everyone to make fun of me (since I was still half
asleep and
had huge bags under my eyes). Having worked with the Dutch for 13
years and in Soccer for longer I took it as a good sign that they liked me
enough to
hassle me.
The second training session was very intense. The focus again was on
possession and then they had a 3 team competition in two different
forms.
8V8 with katzers (wall players) and then 8V8 on a 1Ž2 field. They
were really
going at it and the environment was incredible.
I decided to head into Frankfurt and have dinner and see what the
city had
to offer. After taking a taxi to the train station, I caught the S-Bahn
to
Frankfurt and 10 stops later stepped out into Frankfurt, one of the
biggest
financial cities in the world.
Next blog will include information on Frankfurt and on what I know
about
some of the players of the Polish team.
|
|
|
 |
