Things were hectic on the first day at Werder Bremen for Theodor Gebre Selassie, who will be called Theo in the future. At 10:20 a.m., he landed at Airport Bremen from Munich and headed to Sporthep Werder...
Things were hectic on the first day at Werder Bremen for Theodor Gebre Selassie, who will be called Theo in the future. At 10:20 a.m., he landed at Airport Bremen from Munich and headed to Sporthep Werder...
Things were hectic on the first day at Werder Bremen for Theodor Gebre Selassie, who will be called Theo in the future. At 10:20 a.m., he landed at Airport Bremen from Munich and headed to Sporthep Werder for the medical check-up and then in the afternoon he met at the business offices for a chat with manager Klaus Allofs that ended in the official presentation at Weser Stadium.
"I am happy to be here even though naturally I would rather be still playing at the Euro. Of the city, I actually only know the doctor, but today I will deal intensively with the tradition of this club and my new teammates. I will ask the head coach for a couple days to recover," said Gebre Selassie.
Head coach Thomas Schaaf immediately granted his wish. "He had a week off now without really being able to recover. So starting today he can take two weeks off," said the head coach, who has plenty of expectations for his new acquisition. "We want to experience him just like at the European Championship, where he showcased himself very well. He ran a lot, was active and regularly pushed forward. He will enrich our game from the defender position."
The outside defender also has high expectations on himself. "The Bundesliga is one of the best leagues in the world. I came here to persevere. After the offer from Werder, I knew that I didn't have to look around any more. It was my first offer and my first choice," said the Czech, who wants to excel. "Werder will have a young team, but the Champions League is without question a goal for which we should play."
And the Czech had to make clear on his first Werder day that he has no relation to the Ethiopian world class star runner Haile Gebreselassie and that he was not named after him. "There is nothing to those stories. I was born in the Czech Republic. Gebre Selassie is my surname from birth on. Other than a distant uncle, I don't have any connection to Ethiopia and haven't been there since I was three years old. And I don't have any recollections of that visit," said Gebre Selassie. It was not the first time he was asked about it.
