Goalkeeper Nadine Angerer, the reigning FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year, made her first training appearance with Thorns FC on Tuesday after flying down to Tucson with the club earlier in the day. Coming off the W-League season in Australia and the Algarve Cup in Portugal – which Germany won – Angerer entered camp in good form and was happy to get to know her new team.
“I’m absolutely happy to be here now,” Angerer said. “Of course, it’s very exciting to get to know the team.”
Angerer, who helped guide Germany to the 2013 UEFA Women’s European Championship and is a two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup winner, only gets a couple days to familiarize herself with the team before heading back to Germany for two 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifying games. Angerer will leave Tucson on Sunday, missing the team’s second preseason game against Arizona State University at 2 p.m. (Pacific).
“The conditions (in Tucson) are really good and we can come together as a team and get to know each other,” Angerer said. “We have two games and it’s a perfect opportunity to develop as a team and get to prepare for a season.”
“It’s too bad that I’m just here for a short time, but still it’s good to have a short impression of the team and get to know them a little bit. I’m really looking forward now to coming back and being in Portland in the long term.”
Angerer was also recently nominated for the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award. Recognized for sporting achievement during the calendar year 2013, it is one of the premier honors on the international sporting calendar. Though Angerer lost to U.S swimming star Missy Franklin, she was part of an impressive list of nominees which aslo included Jamaican track star Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, Slovenian skier Tina Maze, and American tennis star Serena Williams.
