Season

Rothosen back training on home soil

The Rothosen are back on familiar ground following their training camp in Ötztal. New signings Patson Daka and Bilal Nadir trained in Hamburg for the first time, while Sander Tangvik returned to the squad.

After a seven-day training camp in Ötztal and two days off, the Rothosen returned to familiar surroundings. Dozens of fans watched on as the HSV players stepped out onto the training pitches next to the Volksparkstadion on Tuesday morning (28th July). The stadium will host the Volkspark Festival this coming Saturday (1st August), when both the men’s and women’s teams face Everton in friendly action.

Those watching from the sidelines had two new faces and one returning player to welcome. Goalkeeper Sander Tangvik joined up with the squad for his first HSV training session of pre-season after representing Norway at the World Cup. The 23-year-old was given a guard of honour to mark his return, with his teammates providing the soundtrack by shouting ‘Ro!’ as he made his way through, echoing the calls that became known around the world during Norway’s World Cup campaign.

While Tangvik was back out on the training pitch, new signings Patson Daka and Bilal Nadir completed their first session at the Volkspark. Both joined the squad during the training camp in Ötztal and had already featured for HSV in last Saturday’s 3-1 friendly win over 1. FC Heidenheim. Although the pair already appear to have settled in well, there are still plenty of new things for them to discover. A total of 23 outfield players and five goalkeepers took part in Tuesday’s session, with Jean-Luc Dompé, Alexander Rössing-Lelesiit and goalkeeper Fernando Dickes working individually. The U21s were training on the adjacent pitch.

During the warm-up, fitness coach Jan Hasenkamp put the Rothosen’s reactions to the test, with the losers dropping to the ground to do press-ups. Daka later showed his qualities when pressing during a rondo, while Nadir caught the eye with his close control. A passing drill followed in which the players were encouraged to use both feet, before the intensity was stepped up with a game on a smaller pitch featuring eight mini-goals. The tempo stayed high in a six-v-six exercise on an even tighter pitch with four mini-goals. Head coach Merlin Polzin and his staff repeatedly stopped play to work on the finer details, with plenty of instructions coming from the sidelines. A game to finish the session, which lasted more than an hour, then provided a first taste of what awaits at Saturday’s Volkspark Festival.