1.000 fans attend first winter training session

The short preparation period ahead of the second half of the Bundesliga season began for Hoffenheim on Sunday with the traditional fitness test at the brand new training centre in Zuzenhausen. "It's just like Austria here," joked Andreas Ibertsberger as he strode onto the snow-powdered turf at around ten o'clock this morning. The test took place under the watchful eye of Dr. Joachim Jost and got the first-team warmed up in no time.

The ball first came out in the afternoon in front of around 1,000 spectators who greeted their heroes with warm applause. "We're really pleased to see our fans giving such wonderful support," said captain Per Nilsson. "Even more fans have turned out than last year when we were top. It's crazy."

Plans for the rest of the week include two friendly matches against 1. FC Kaiserslautern on 6 January and then 1860 München on 9 January. The second half of the Bundesliga begins on Friday, 15 January with a top match against Bayern München (20:30 CET).