After two PCR tests – all negative, most recently on Thursday – the Graz team got the green light on Friday: Trainer El Maestro gathered the entire team again for the first time since March 10. A total of around 30 people took part in the unit on the training ground in Messendorf and were very happy to be there. Before that, club doctor Maximilian Kerl had given the team health instructions and also pointed out the pioneering role in society.
“It was an insane joy today, like a ceremony. We felt like six- and seven-year-olds today who can run after a ball again after a long time, ”said captain Stefan Hierländer. The team training was missing a lot and was essential for the game. “I see it as a privilege to be able to start the season again, to finish the championship sportily, to have a fair table at the end of the day.”
Styrian Bundesliga teams start with team training
Team training has been allowed in the domestic Bundesliga again since Friday. This also makes things easier for Sturm and Hartberg.
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“It was great fun today”
Center-back Lukas Spendlhofer was also full of joy. “It was great fun today. We now have to make good use of the 18 days until the start of the championship. ”Sturm will meet the RZ Pellets WAC at home on 3 June to kick off the championship round.
Coach El Maestro has said good work in recent weeks given the circumstances. “In the end, it’s about being better prepared than the opponent, and I hope we did it.” Training with the ball didn’t have to be completely suspended. “Technically, my players have never forgotten anything. Now we have to work specifically and get used to duels. ”
Of course, everyone has a clear opinion with regard to the LASK. “The LASK cheated, but I don’t feel like a judge,” said El Maestro, adding, “we all struggled to keep the force happy with these rigorous guidelines. But we worked with the awareness that everyone else has the same conditions. If this is not the case, as with the LASK, it is cheating. “