VfB Stuttgart didn't have much time to dwell on their loss in the UI Cup. After their 0-1 (0-1) defeat at the hands of Saturn Ramenskoje on Saturday, the squad flew out of Moscow early Sunday morning, landed in Munich and then made their way directly for their training camp in Going, Austria.
The starters had their first training session there already, as there is no time to spare if they are to prevent being eliminated from international play when they face their Russian opponents again next Sunday (18:00 CET).
“We have every chance”
VfB coach Armin Veh remains confident: “We have every chance to advance. I'm optimistic, because we'll be much further along in our preparations by then”, said Veh after the first leg match. In order to reach the group phase in the UEFA Cup, VfB must not only defeat Ramenskoje. They also have to survive two other knock out rounds.
In Ramenskoje, 45 kilometres southeast of Moscow, VfB were without EURO participants Jens Lehmann, Mario Gomez, Thomas Hitzlsperger and Ludovic Magnin, and the team showed little of the form displayed at the European Cup. But Veh had also expected this to happen “in an important match at an unpropitious time.”
“It was clear that our conditioning wasn't sufficient.” The match “was completely acceptable given the extent of our preparations”.
Heldt sees the squad developing
Sporting director Horst Heldt was satisfied despite the loss, which was the result of an early goal by Dimitri Kiritschenko (3rd min.). “It's good the way the squad is currently developing. We dominated our opponent for much of the match, but Saturn was obviously very dangerous with their counters. We have to concentrate on that this week”, said Heldt. Like Veh, he remains “confident that we will advance. We are in a position to defeat this opponent.”.
Lehmann, Gomez and Hitzlsperger are due to return to training by Tuesday. But because of their absence from training, Veh may decide to sit his German international players.
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