Opponent in friendly will be fit
On Monday at Mapfre Stadium, Crew SC will host an Eintracht Frankfurt team working its way through preseason in preparation for its Aug. 20 Bundesliga season opener against SC Freiburg.
That might mean a few kinks to work out for
Eintracht. But by no means will the German side be out of shape. Fitness is taken care of quickly in a Bundesliga preseason, said Crew coach Gregg Berhalter, who played in Germany from 2002 to ’09 with Energie Cottbus and 1860 Munich.
“The work is a lot. I look back and you made it through it and sometimes you wonder how you actually did, but
you’ve got to be focused, you’ve got to be strong, you’ve got to recover,” Berhalter said. “There are a lot of afternoon naps between sessions, you’re in bed right after dinner preparing for the next day. Yeah, it was fun.”
Columbus is the third stop on a threecity American tour for Eintracht Frankfurt. The Bundesliga club drew the Seattle Sounders 1-1 in a friendly on July 8 and lost 4-1 to the San Jose Earthquakes on Friday. Eintracht played
19 players in the loss to San Jose, and Crew SC could play upwards of 20 on Monday night.
“They’ll evaluate themselves,” Berhalter said. “I think anytime you get to measure yourself against some of the best in the world, it’s a valuable exercise.”
The friendly also will serve as a trip down memory lane for a few Crew coaches and players. Berhalter and assistant coach Josh Wolff played in Germany, as did brand ambassador Frankie Hejduk, who
was briefly a teammate of Eintracht manager Niko Kovac’s with Bayer Leverkusen in 1999.
Forward Ola Kamara (1860 Munich), left back Jukka Raitala (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, SC Paderborn 07), goalkeeper Zack Steffen (SC Freiburg) and midfielder Abuchi Obinwa (Hannover 96 II) have spent time at various levels of German soccer.
“It being in the past so long (ago), you maybe think only positive about it,” Raitala said of preseason training in Germany. “But I never thought it was like crazy tough. Comparing it to the preseason we had (with Crew SC in Brazil), I think it’s the same.”
Raitala will recognize at least one face on Eintracht. Goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky is Raitala’s teammate on Finland’s national team.
“I don’t know when they are coming to Columbus (in advance of the friendly), but we might meet,” Raitala said.
A few Crew SC players likely will meet Mapfre Stadium for the first time in a game setting, including Obinwa, who has spent a significant portion of his rookie season on loan in Pittsburgh.
“It’ll be something I’ve never done before, playing in front of so many fans at a professional stadium,” Obinwa said. “I’m really excited to at least make my Crew debut. Whether or not it’s in a friendly I’m just happy to be on the pitch.”