ÖFB team in Berlin

Wöber excited: “I feel like a little kid”

Maximilian Wöber is looking forward to the European Championship opener.(Bild: GEPA)

Austria's soccer team players have gathered positive impressions on their first day at the EURO base camp in Berlin. Maximilian Wöber, for example, was reminded of his childhood days when he checked into the Schlosshotel. 

The ÖFB internationals were just as impressed with their accommodation, the Schlosshotel Berlin, as they were with the response to their public training session on Wednesday evening in the stadium on the pitch. Around 3,000 spectators, many of them children and young people, attended the session.

Afterwards, Maximilian Wöber raved about the good atmosphere during training and the quality of the pitch. The central defender was also impressed by the ÖFB hotel. "Some of us felt a little nervous in the first two hours, everything was very exciting," said Wöber. "For the first hour or two, I was like a little kid going on vacation for the first time or having a school vacation." He felt "agitated" and "restless inside", said the Viennese. "Because it's such a cool experience when you walk in and know that it's about to start."

Fan messages from children
Each player moved into a room decorated with photos from the successful European Championship qualifiers. Fan messages from children hang in the corridors as a motivational aid. "There's a homely feeling and a EURO feeling," explained 26-year-old Wöber. "We have great facilities in the hotel and will definitely have a good time here."

Gernot Trauner, who is six years older and also playing in his first European Championships, also felt a tingling sensation on his journey to the German capital. "You realize that it's something special when you come here, see all the posters at the airport and then there are so many people at training. It's really cool to be part of it," explained the Upper Austrian.

The choice of hotel and training ground was "very well considered", said the Feyenoord professional. The national team only needs around 20 minutes by bus from the Schlosshotel to the stadium on the pitch - practically the same time it takes to get to the adjacent Olympic Stadium, where Austria will play two of its three group matches.