Leogang day 5: First friendly in Leogang – Hoffenheim hammer Hapoel Ramat-Gan 5:0

A long day's work awaited the 1899 Hoffenheim players on Sunday. The training session began at 10:30, as Prince Tagoe, Carlos Eduardo and - fortunately after his injury scare - Manuel Gulde took part in some morning running exercises. They started with a short warm up - which was helped no end by the fresh temperatures outside. The session took place on the neighbouring sports fields, as the stadium was being prepared for the day's friendly encounter. Second division Karlsruher SC had already been training here last week as they had also organised a training camp in Leogang. After the warm up came shooting practice. Goals from the edge of the area were practised, as well as in-play situations. And no training session is complete without a training match. Athletics trainer Christoph Elser worked on the edge of the training pitch with Manuel Gulde, while Yannick Obenauer, Carlos Eduardo and Prince Tagoe all worked on their rehabilitation in the sports hall. After lunch they took part in some further training exercises, as they weren't to be risked in the friendly game later in the day.

To close the fifth day of the Leogang training camp - the first of three friendly encounters on Austrian soil. Opponents were in the form of Israeli first division side Hapoel Ramat-Gan, who, in the first half, struggled to get out of their area and went into the break with a four-goal deficit. The first goal was registered after just four minutes. Free kick specialist Sejad Salihovic curled a delightful ball over the wall and into the back of the net (10.), giving the Israeli ‘keeper no chance - the Bosnian having eyed up the wall for a full minute before his impressive striker. Andreas Beck - given responsibility for all right-sided corners - crossed one in in the 18th minute for Boris Vukcevic to head home past a hapless goalkeeper (20.) New signing Peniel Mlapa glanced a header in from a Simunic corner to make it 3:0 (29.), before Tobias Weis grabbed a goal for himself. Having received the ball from a corner, Weis approached the penalty area and took an early pot shot, hitting the inner post and going over the line to make it 4:0 (36.). In the closing stages of the first half a Mlapa shot was far too high, while he wasted another chance.

Ralf Rangnick sent a completely different team onto the field for the second half - with changes in all positions. A Christian Eichner run and cross from the left was just hair's depth away from being headed in by Christoph Hemlein (57.). Just three minutes later Andreas Ibertsberger's long-range effort hit the post (60.), while a further three minutes later brought the first and only goal of the second half; Denis Thomalla netting after good play between himself and Hemlein. Further chances followed, but the game ended 5:0 to 1899 Hoffenheim. Co-trainer Peter Zeidler was pleased with the effort from his team: "We expected the opponents to put up a tougher fight. We should really have scored one or two more goals, but we again kept a clean sheet and that is very positive."

1899 Hoffenheim - Hapoel Ramat-Gan 5:0 (4:0)
1899 Hoffenheim First half: Grahl - Beck, Simunic, Compper, Raitala - Weis, Luiz Gustavo, Salihovic - Vukcevic, Ibisevic, Mlapa.
1899 Hoffenheim Second half: Grahl - Raitala, Schäfer, Neupert, Eichner - Ibertsberger, Ludwig, Kaiser - Thomalla, Jabiri, Hemlein.
Goals: 1:0 Salihovic (10.), 2:0 Vukcevic (20.), 3:0 Mlapa (32.), 4:0 Weis (36.), 5:0 Thomalla (63.).
Attendance: 800.
Bookings: -.