Here’s a funny story from Germany. He may not be liked in Italy (due to his famous 1983 Champions League final goal vs. Juventus) and he may not be liked in Germany (the players have nicknamed him “the torturer”), but one thing’s for sure: Felix Magath is quite the resourceful man. While still coaching Bayern Munich not so long ago, the ex-Hamburg player once decided to have a 4am training session (yes, 4am!!) right in the middle of the German Winter! The reason he claimed, was that the players needed punishment for their last cup performance vs. Erzgebirge (a second division team): the team had won the match and qualified to the next round, but played poorly.

Fortunately this time (Magath has been managing VfL Wolfsburg since the start of the 2007-08 season) his players should have something milder to endure, or if you will, ‘tastier’. Indeed, the entire Wolfsburg roster will be forced to attend… cooking classes until the end of the current season, in order for them to “learn the benefits of eating more healthy, both in everyday life and for their sports professional career” said Magath to German magazine Sport Bild.

In particular, the German coach hopes to avoid any future food poisoning incidents: the recent health problems of striker Ashkan Dejagah (who fell ill after ordering Chinese take-out) and defender Alexander Madlung (poisoned from poorly cooked meat in a fast-food joint) have pushed Magath to arrange his buddy Sven Elverfeld (well-known 5-star chef of the Berlin Ritz-Carlton hotel) to teach the players (and wives) his cooking secrets.

In addition to cooking classes, the whole team will be forced to eat a big dinner together twice a week, where lean fish and meat will replace hot dogs, hamburgers, and fries (which currently constitute the unealthy food of choice of many Wolfsburg players). The club is currently 7^th in the Bundesliga rankings… I guess that for Wolfsburg, UEFA Cup qualification must start at the table.

Posted in German Bundesliga, World News |

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 at 11:23 am and is filed under German Bundesliga, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.