FCA head home from South Africa
A busy stay in Mpumalanga
FC Augsburg left their training camp in South Africa on Sunday after ten intensive and eventful days. Before they left for the airport, the group were given a great sendoff by the ANEW Resort White River employees.
The main focus of the trip was to prepare for the new season, particularly by stepping up the intensity, but some social action also took place alongside this. FCA played two friendly matches as part of the “Mpumalanga Premier’s International Cup”, the first of which was a 2-1 victory over Young Africans SC, before they suffered a 2-1 defeat on Saturday against hosts TS Galaxy, who also worked very hard behind the scenes to ensure FCA had a pleasant stay in Mpumalanga.
“We’ve had a very good and intensive time here, but it was also exciting to experience a new country and a new culture. Each and every one of us will take great memories back home,” summarised head coach Jess Thorup. The only snag was some visa issues for Croatian players Kristijan Jakić and Nediljko Labrović, who were unable to join the group and instead completed individual training programmes at home.
Three weeks to go until the start of the competitive season
After they arrive back in Augsburg on Monday, there will be three weeks to go until the new season officially gets underway with a DFB-Pokal first-round tie away to Viktoria Berlin (18th August). In the meantime, FCA will play two further friendlies against Leicester City (3rd August, Kempten) and Marseille (10th August, WWK ARENA). “We’re on a good path and want to take it to the next level in the coming weeks, so that we can be well prepared going into our DFB-Pokal match,” added Thorup.
