It’s not very often that we can say someone is very excited to make the trip to Sunderland, but that is very much the case today.
Rheinische Post provide it today via Borussia Mönchengladbach, who are set to take on Sunderland this evening in the Premier League International Cup and are very excited by the prospect.
The newspaper explains that Gladbach and their youngsters are expected in Sunderland this evening for the first game of the tournament, which will see a mix of U23s. U19s and U17s competing with the U23s from Sunderland.
The German side are flying in to Amsterdam then onto to Newcastle ahead of the game, which is the first of four planned in the UK.
After Sunderland they will take on Blackburn Rovers, Middlesbrough and then West Ham, with games taking place in three groups, each made up of four English teams and four international teams.
Three will advance from the groups, with the likes of RB Leipzig, Hertha BSC, Valencia, Ajax, Benfica, Sporting Club de Portugal and AS Monaco also involved.
Gladbach are taking it seriously, including professional such as Niklas Swider, Winsley Boteli and Charles Hermann in the group despite them training with the senior team before now.
And it seems they are very excited, with the man in charge of talent development, Guido Streichsbier, making that clear in his comments.
“It’s a chance for the boys to show themselves on the international stage and in a completely different environment,” he said.
“The opponents will be different. Some play with very young teams, others have a higher average age. But in both cases, it is a good experience for our boys,” added Mirko Sandmöller, Borussia’s youth director.
“It would be important for us to present ourselves well in these games. It would certainly be best if training and results came together.”
