Holiday? Sweat and hard work!

On Tuesday (12.07.05), the Wolfsburg squad travels to the popular German holiday resort of Bad Lauterberg, where an 8 day long training camp will be set up: "It won’t much resemble a holiday for us, more like sweat and hard work ", says the Wolves skipper and keeper Simon Jentzsch, in the latest edition of his Captain’s Corner feature. This time, Simon reflects on recent Intertoto Cup action, the impending clash against IFK Göteborg, and looks ahead to the FA Cup game against Paderborn…

vfl-wolfsburg.de: Simon, the Wolves battled their way through to the third round of the Intertoto Cup. How important was progression to the third round for the team?

Simon Jentzsch: Of course we are happy to reach round three. The victory was good for team morale and it did our tired bones good.

Your side got the perfect start through an early goal…

Simon Jentzsch: The penalty was rightly given in my opinion. Martin Petrov tucked it away nicely. We got hold of the game after that. The fact that we missed several chances to double our lead almost rebounded on us.

Martin Petrov was the match winner on that day, now it seems that he is on the verge of a move to Athletico Madrid. Should he go to Spain, he would be hard to replace wouldn’t he?

Simon Jentzsch: Martin is a very important player for us. He proved last season that he can win matches almost on his own. He would be a major loss for the team and the squad would be delighted if he remained in Wolfsburg. Those decisions are made by others and we have to respect them.

Next up in the third round of the Intertoto Cup is the Swedish side IFK Göteborg, who have won the Swedish league title 17times. How strong do you think they are?

Simon Jentzsch: Seventeen league titles speaks for itself. The Swedes are in perfect shape because they are halfway through their season. We expect a tough game there, against a well-organised side. We think that they will play the way most Scandinavian sides do…with long balls to the front. One thing is certain; we will have to improve on our performance against Graz.

The draw for the first round of the German FA Cup was made on Saturday. The Wolves are away to Paderborn. Are you happy with the draw?

Simon Jentzsch: We can’t change it so we have to be happy with the draw, although we will have to be careful. Last season Paderborn played HSV in what turned out to be a manipulated game. We hope that there will be no scandal this time around, and of course no surprise result.

Thanks very much Simon, good luck in Sweden.