Bundesliga Daily: 7 August
Bundesliga Daily keeps you right up to date with all the important events concerning the 18 Bundesliga clubs. Here's all you need to know from 7 August...
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Vieirinha sidelined
VfL Wolfsburg's UEFA EURO 2016 winner Vieirinha looks set for a lengthy spell out of action after injuring his right ankle in training on Sunday. The 30-year-old, who only returned to the Wolves' camp on Tuesday following an extended holiday, sustained the injury after making a tackle during a training session in Bad Waltersdorf, Austria, where the club are currently preparing for the new season. Vieirinha will return to Wolfsburg on Monday to undergo further tests and begin treatment.
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Leverkusen 'positive' for Kruse
Robbie Kruse has made "a really positive impression" in pre-season training with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The Australia international has endured an injury-dogged three years since joining Die Werkself from Fortuna Düsseldorf in summer 2013, making just 28 league appearances for the club.
A loan move to VfB Stuttgart last season also fell flat, but Kruse, 27, is now back in peak shape. "Happily, Robbie is fit," Leverkusen’s general manager Jonas Boldt told media. "He has been able to feature in his first pre-season for a long time. He has left a really positive impression."
Germany draw again at Olympics
Germany are still on course to reach the knockout rounds of the Men's Olympic Football Tournament in Rio de Janeiro after securing a last-gasp 3-3 draw with South Korea in Salvador. The Asians, spearheaded by former Bayer 04 Leverkusen attacker Heung-Min Son, went ahead twice, but two goals from Serge Gnabry and a strike by RB Leipzig forward Davie Selkie helped secure a point. Germany must now beat Fiji by at least five goals in their final group match in order to progress to the next phase.
Team-building Schuster-style
New FC Augsburg coach Dirk Schuster has revealed he has let his squad off the leash a little during their pre-season training camp in Austria.
Schuster, who left SV Darmstadt 98 to succeed Markus Weinzierl at the WWK ARENA this summer, has put his new charges through a punishing training regime in South Tirol, but admitted he had allowed them a break on Saturday evening.
"We had a meal together outside of the hotel, and then we left the boys to themselves. Like that, they were only among themselves, and didn't have the impression they were being watched," Schuster explained. “They were allowed a nightcap, either beer or wine. No-one got carried away, and we were all back on the training pitch at 10:00 on the dot on Sunday.”
Watch: FC Augsburg's recent media day:
Sane fulfils Playstation dream
When Lamine Sane received a call from SV Werder Bremen last week, a dream was about to come true. The 29-year-old joined the Bundesliga club on a free transfer, joining the team he had always had a soft spot for, as he later explained.
"I would always pick Werder on the Playstation," he said. "I used to be a huge fan of Johan Micoud." Sane will soon get the opportunity of playing for Werder in real life having turned down other offers from England to join his childhood favourites.
"It was a choice between England and Germany and I had offers from both countries, but I have always been fascinated by the Bundesliga," Sane added. Thanks in no small way to a video game simulation which is becoming reality.