"It’s nice to be back in the team"

Werder’s Nigerian international Joseph Akpala is back in Bremen. (Photo: nph).
First Team
Monday, 15.07.2013 / 16:30

Werder's squad is finally complete as Joseph Akpala returned to the team Monday as the final piece of Robin Dutt's puzzle for the up-coming season. The Nigerian international had been given special holiday following his appearance...

Werder's squad is finally complete as Joseph Akpala returned to the team Monday as the final piece of Robin Dutt's puzzle for the up-coming season. The Nigerian international had been given special holiday following his appearance in the Confederations Cup 2013 in Brazil. "The mood in the national team was great. I really enjoyed the atmosphere in Brazil. But it's nice to be back in the team. I feel fit, even though I am not yet 100 percent," said the 26-year-old after his first session with the team.

Akpala has not been along the Weser for more than eight weeks - longer than any other Green-Whites player. First the striker played World Cup qualification games with his national team and then travelled to Brazil for the Confederations Cup.

After the tournament, the international striker spent a week back in his homeland - for holidays and shutting down. "I visited my family in Nigeria. I don't get to see them that often. So it was especially nice to see them again," said the Werder striker, who returned to Bremen on Saturday.

The Nigerian also met head coach Robin Dutt for the first time at his first training. "We talked for about ten minutes. I really can't say much more," said Akpala about his first impression. Dutt also wanted to wait to make a more complete opinion of the striker. "I have to get to know him first and see how fit he is and what kind of impression he makes. We will be starting from scratch. He has all the chances."

Akpala still has one training camp and a number of intensive sessions to convince his coach. He formulated his goals as follows: "I hope that we get better results as a team than we did last season. In addition, I hope to remain free of injuries this season, get more appearances and score many, many goals for Werder."

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