The muscular problem in his thigh, which Hugo Almeida began to feel during the warm up for the first training session on Norderney, has still not subsided. After a consultation with the team doctor, Dr. Götz Dimanski, the striker left the island on Tuesday afternoon and returned to Bremen for a more intensive medical examination: “It wasn’t possible for him to train so we decided to take this step. We’ll have to see over the next few days exactly how Hugo’s schedule will be,” explained Thomas Schaaf.
The Portuguese international is Werder’s only injured player thus far in pre-season training, which is a marked improvement on the personnel situation at this time last year. The programme on Norderney is no less demanding though. The training staff organised a bicycle tour for early in the morning before having breakfast and heading out top the training pitch, “An der Mühle”, to do some work. “That was just fantastic today,” smirked captain Frank Baumann sarcastically, rolling his eyes and taking a deep breath as he heading inside for a hard earned midday rest.