My kingdom for… central air?

By: Joe | July 20th, 2007

It seems Reja’s boys had a nice flight to Austria and the first few days of pre-season training are going swimmingly. The lads are getting along, they’re playing well and, apparently sweating their collective asses off in the Austrian heat. With temperatures upwards of 34 degrees Celsius (93 fahrenheit) and high humidity, Napoli are having difficulties running their training sessions. The Italian media are convinced the only reason Reja’s squad has chosen to set up shop in Central Austria for the second year running is because Napoli has struck a favorable deal with the local government and is raking in the cash. Sounds about right, doesn’t it?

The heat and humidity are compounded by the fact that while the SchlossHotel is a wonderful ski resort and was originally the home of an Austrian baron and they’ll even provide a welcoming fruit basket in your room, they lack a fundamental modern creature comfort: air conditioning. Allegedly, the 20-room hotel has become a steambath and have given the boys little opportunity to relax after a hard day at the training ground. Ah, the life of a footballer.

File under too much information…since the ShlossHotel only has 20 rooms, the following players are sharing rooms:

Maldonado-Del Guidice; Grava-Cannavaro; Montervino-Pia; Bucchi-Domizzi; Gatti-Capparella; Iezzo-Calaio; Dalla Bona-Savini; Cupi-Rullo; Garics-Hamsyk; Gianello-DeZerbi; Bogliacino-Amodio; Grieco-Romito; Lavezzi-Sosa. No word yet if Reja has a bunk buddy.

Notes and footnotes from Feldkirchen:

* Napoli training pictures courtesy of solonapoli.com (nice training kits)

* Cristian Bucchi came down with a 101 degree fever and is sitting out for awhile

* Roberto Sosa left Feldkirchen to join his wife as she gave birth to their 3rd child, Valentina. No word yet on if Lavezzi is now free to invite Austrian hotties up to his room.

* Walter Gargano is in Italy and is now chasing Napoli. How about you sign the guy, Marino? Madonna mia, che cazzo sta faccendo?