Catching My Breath, Finally

By: Abby | July 1st, 2008

Between the Euros and visiting relatives, there wasn’t much time for blogging, sadly. And how I missed it! While things have been quiet, thanks to the tournament (yay for Arne being entirely awesome, especially against Portugal), my little break means that the news has piled up.

First up, today’s news. The draw for the first UEFA Cup round- the one we’re in, because of our involvement through the Fair Play table- happened today, and we’re up against Nistru Otaci of Moldova. To tell teh truth, they are not a team I have ever once heard of. According to Wikipedia, they come from the town of Otaci and came in third last season. I love the UEFA Cup because I learn about these teams I’ve never heard of, from places I’ve never considered, and it gives me an excuse to look them up.

It’s not a bad draw- third in the Moldovan league is certainly easier than it could have been. I’m not taking anything for granted, however- this is Hertha, and our cup record his fairly atrocious. The first leg is July 17, then the second on July 31. So Hertha will be in action pretty quickly.

In the Bundesliga, we’ll be opening our season against Eintract Frankfurt, away. Possibly quite difficult, there. Our first home game the week later is against Bielefeld, which is much kinder, before heading out on the road again to take on Bayern Munich and their sure-to-come new superstars. I suppose we have to play them eventually, right? And it’s nice to get a game on GolTV (I assume) early in the season, and Bayern usually provides that where games against Frankfurt and Bielefeld do not.

To that end, and to the point of the UEFA Cup, the team (minus those involved in the Euro) are already back in training. We’ve also picked up another Brazilian, Rodnei, a central defender. He was signed for a year, with an option for two more, from Jagiellonia Białystok in Poland. Hertha’s Brazilian passion remains intact, but like successful Brazilian signing Raffael he’s a Brazilian signing who’s already spent several years in Europe, first at FC Vilnius and then at Białystok. So he’s used to the weather and the rough style of playing.

The Brazilian we signed directly from Brazil, however, has gone back home, loaned out to FC Sao Paolo. Good luck, Andre.

I’m hoping Rodnei is decent, because we’ll need him. Josip Simunic looks just about gone, off to the Premiership to try and prop up Fulham. Hopefully, we’ll get some good money for him, and maybe he’ll be less card-able in the Premiership.

Phew.

Anyway, I’m back now, and as the stories keep rolling in, so will I…