Okugawa celebrates arrival – HSV begin week of training ahead of Schalke

After nine days in the south of Spain in Sotogrande, HSV’s first team returned to the training field at a frosty Volkspark for the first time on Monday (January 15th). The afternoon session kicked off the week leading up to the start of the second half of the season, which will see the Rothosen take on Schalke at 20:30 CET on Saturday evening. Also present for the first time was Masaya Okugawa, who marked his first actions with the diamond on his chest after his loan from Augsburg was finalised at the weekend and got stuck into the action immediately. The same went for Bakery Jatta, who arrived with a smile on his face and gave everything after his contract extension was announced at Sunday’s general meeting – including in some intense one-on-ones with his new teammate Okugawa (pictured).

Jonas Meffert could not be there for the afternoon’s session, with the midfielder suffering from a cold. Sebastian Schonlau and Nicolas Oliveira were also absent from team training, instead working individually with fitness coach Sebastian Capel. Also in the gym were Tom Mickel (bruised ribs) and William Mikelbrencis (ligament tear). There was plenty of work, then, on the first day after the weekend off, and you could sense the excitement about getting back on the pitch and the start of the second half of the season. On this icy Monday in a wintering Hamburg, the excitement is already building for an evening game against Schalke with 60,000 spectators under the floodlights. It’s good to be back!