FCA begin training camp in Mals

After a lactate test which took place on Sunday, FC Augsburg got their pre-season preparations underway the following day as Manuel Baum and his team have travelled to Mals in South Tyrol (Italy) for a training camp. In previous years, the squad has trained in South Tyrol as part of the pre-season – under very good conditions. And so, FCA have returned once again.   With 31 men on board across two team buses, FCA set off to Mals on Monday morning. Upon arrival in the afternoon, Manuel Baum led the first training session. "I think it’s important that we’ve gone straight to the training camp for our pre-season preparations. This gives new players the chance to get to know the team, vice versa," said the 38-year-old head coach, very-much looking forward to his time with the team in Mals. Almost everyone has made the trip, even players who have been out on loan like Kostas Stafylidid, Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker, Tim Rieder, Julian Günther-Schmidt, Georg Teigl and Dong-Won Ji. There are also players from the academy involved: Maurice Malone, Felix Schwarzholz, Jozo Stanic and Benjamin Leneis will be gaining some valuable experiences with the first team and have the chance to prove themselves to the coaches. Kilian Jakob is absent through injury – after his severe knee injury, he is still working on his recovery at the Augsburg medical centre. Alfred Finnbogason, Ja-Cheol Koo and Takashi Usami, who have all been playing at the World Cup are not with the team in South Tyrol, nor are Austria internationals Martin Hinteregger and Kevin Danso. They have been given some extra time off as a summer break. There were in fact supposed to be 32 players making the trip, but attacking midfielder Caiuby has extended his summer break without permission from the club. "This will obviously be discussed with the player when he returns," said Stefan Reuter.