Falko Götz: "We need to taste success again!"
Because of the suspensions of Joe Simunic and Malik Fathi, the Arne Friedrich had to grit his teeth and bear the pain for the away game in Gladbach which Hertha lost 1-3. That decision is proving to be costly, because the knee infection carried into the game by the Hertha skipper has worsened, ruling him out of action for possibly 3 weeks.
No chance
Head coach Falko Götz revealed at yesterday's training session that the medical saff had informed him that the infection in Friedrich's knee would have to subside before treatment could begin. Friedrich looks unlikely to play for Germany who face the Czech Republic on March 24th, in a crucial Euro 2008 qualifier in Prague. The Hertha skipper told Kicker magazine: "The way I feel at the moment, I see little chance of me making the game."
van Burik, Schmidt and Bastürk miss session
Dick van Burik, Andreas Schmidt and Yildiray Bastürk all missed Tuesday's training session. The Dutch-born veteran had individual training away from the rest of the squad, but he is expected to resume full first team training on Wednesday (14.03.07). The same thing can be said of the Turkish midfielder to Bastürk, who has a slight knee problem: "I hope to have him training again on Wednesday", added Götz.
Stomach bug
Andreas Schmidt will need a couple of days before he becomes fit again: "He is in bed with a stomach bug", revealed the Hertha coach who added: "Apart from those players everyone else is on board.The players really got stuck into the training session with tackles flying in everywhere. Götz again: "It was a tough session and the tackling was tough which is exactly what will count against Cottbus on Friday night."
Stating the obvious
The players looked determined during training, and seemed to want to prove that no-one should write them off, after they could only take a single point from a possible 15 from their last 5 Bundesliga games: Götz hit the nail on the head as he said: "We need to taste success again."
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