Socceroos move away from altitude - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Socceroos move away from altitude

By Guy Hand 05/06/2010 11:29:48 AM Comments (0)

Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek has warned he won't ease up on the team as Australia's World Cup campaign gets down to business with a move to their tournament base camp.

After a gruelling 10 days of altitude training in Johannesburg, the Australian team will take up residence at a five-star rural retreat just outside the city and train at a nearby stadium from Sunday.

But while aiming to have the team peaking in time for the their World Cup opener against Germany on June 13, any tapering will be kept to the last minute as Verbeek insisted he would keep the workload up to his players.

"I'm not going to relax with the team," Verbeek said.

"We were eight days in Melbourne, we were 10 days here, and I think it's a good moment to move.

"We have seen the hotel and this training ground enough. Now it's time for something new.

"When we move to that new training venue you start to get really excited about the World Cup.

"We know from now on we have to do our job."

Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer admitted moving from Johannesburg's safe haven of Sandton to the impressive Kloofzicht Lodge came at the ideal time ahead of the World Cup proper.

"Being in any one place for too long can become quite demoralising at times, because you do get sick of it," Schwarzer said.

"It's nice to have a change of scenery - it's as good as a holiday.

"And we know that once we do move there, we are in that final phase before that first game.

"That's what we've all been working so hard for - to be 100 per cent fit and raring to go for the first game and thereafter."

Kloofzicht Lodge is less than an hour's drive from Johannesburg.

Backdropped by the Zwartkops Mountains, it has spaciously appointed rooms, its own nature reserve, dams for fly-fishing and its own micro-brewery.

The players are scheduled to train at Ruimsig Stadium in the nearby town of Roodepoort - though there are concerns about the playing surface.

They will travel to and from Kloofzicht Lodge to the venues of their three Group D matches.

Verbeek admitted the team needed to spend much of the week leading into the Germany match working on transition from defence through midfield to attack - a task made more difficult by the much-criticised adidas Jabulani balls being used at the World Cup.

"We tried to get used to the altitude ... which makes the curling ball very difficult," Verbeek said.

"We still have to improve. But you have to be very, very accurate. It's changing our game. We still have to work on it, but we have a week."

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