Hello Eagles fans!
Whenever I fly over the Atlantic to visit my family in Argentina during the winter or summer break, I’m usually on my own. On this occasion, however, I’m accompanied by my team-mates as we embark on our pre-season training camp in the USA! We’re always very excited in the days leading up to a training camp like this. The players get to spend a lot of time together, have a laugh and get to know each other better. Having said that, we’re also aware that the next few days are going to be tough. Very tough.
Fingers crossed for Ante
A ten-hour flight to Dallas normally isn’t much fun either, but the trip actually went quite quickly this time - we were able to watch Saturday’s two World Cup quarter-final ties on the plane! There’s no better way to pass the time on a long-haul flight. First we all watched England’s quarter-final against Sweden. Brane Hrgota was feeling confident before the game but we had to comfort him a bit afterwards. Getting to the last eight isn’t a bad achievement for a team like Sweden, really.
We were all crossing our fingers for Ante Rebic in the second quarter-final between Croatia and Russia. Well, everyone except Max Besuschkow, who has Russian relatives and was therefore rooting for the hosts. We were on our descent into Dallas when the Russians got their equaliser in extra-time - you could hear Max celebrating throughout the plane! We were all glued to our phones during the penalty shootout. Max kept trying to guess where the Russian players would put their penalties and was telling the goalkeeper where to dive, but Rebic and co won in the end. Congratulations, Ante!
Incredible view
We didn’t have much time to celebrate, though, as we had to catch our connecting flight to Salt Lake City and security is very thorough in the US. We had to hurry a little but we just about made our next flight. Two hours later we arrived in Salt Lake City, where our training camp is based. We were all a bit tired and the sun was setting by the time we reached the RSL Academy. First impressions? The conditions are superb and we’ve got an incredible view of the Rocky Mountains. People will be waking up in Frankfurt now, but it’s off to bed for us!
Yours,
David
