On Tuesday morning, Per Mertesacker’s brief trip home to Pattensen came to an end. He was back for just two days. And two important days they were too, with the Werder Bremen centre half taking the opportunity to recharge his batteries before Euro 2008 begins: “I met up with all my old friends and family, or at least those who were available. That was very important for me. I will be away from them for almost four weeks if the team are to achieve the target we have set ourselves. We intend to stay in the tournament until the last.”
The blinkers are on now for the lofty defender and only what’s ahead remains in view: “Now only the tournament counts. We are all working very concentrated towards the first game. I think the course of things from now on will be very different to how they were on Mallorca, where we had a lot of variation. Now the focus is on the finer details,” explained the 23 year old, who enjoyed the varied training after a long, hard season.
“We had everything thrown in there, handball, beach-volleyball, basketball – they are all sports I can hold my own in. On the volleyball court I was in an almost unbeatable team with Kevin Kuranyi. He practically grew up on the beaches of Panama as a kid and is really good. Our opponents, who were mainly Schalkes Westermann and Jones, didn’t stand a chance,” joked Mertesacker.
Now he is looking to link up with his other Werder team mates, Torsten Frings, Clemens Fritz and Tim Borowski to take the big title and there is no one in Bremen who would have too much against that outcome!