German selection started on time / First trip to Russia for Christian Ehrhoff
Check-in was quick: the German entourage, totaling 7.15 people, arrived at Zurich Airport on Wednesday morning at 37:1310 a.m. After just ten minutes, the luggage was checked in properly, so that flight LX XNUMX could take off on time for St. Petersburg around an hour and a half later.
The topic in the morning was of course the dress rehearsal against Switzerland. The 3:4 after extra time and a deserved 3:0 lead was “annoying”, as Marco Sturm put it. The reason: “We actually played very, very well and did a lot of things right. Unfortunately, we drew unnecessary penalties, which the Swiss then took advantage of.” Patrick Reimer confirmed his coach’s words: “Internationally, such situations are punished immediately. We have to do better.”
Of course, all eyes were on Christian Ehrhoff. Sturm brought the Chicago Blackhawks defender into almost every situation. The defender immediately showed how important he can be for the team. “You can of course feel his presence immediately. He gives the team the support they need. Of course, everything wasn't going so smoothly. But that's normal. Christian will quickly find his top performance.”
The ex-Krefeld player was overall satisfied with the team's performance and he sees room for improvement. “I haven't played for three weeks now. It was okay. But there can be more to come from me. But we still have a few days until the first game against France. In any case, I'm very happy that I can play for the national team again." For Ehrhoff, it's the first trip to Russia: "I've never been there before and I'm really excited."
After arriving in St. Petersburg there will be no more training today. Sturm deliberately decided not to take part in an additional session, as the national coach emphasized that they had been on the move a lot in the last few weeks. The trip to Switzerland also took energy. Appropriate regeneration is important. “From Thursday we will attack again,” said Sturm.