The 24 year-old Degen has not been able to train with a ball for months. In November, he had surgery on his left ankle to repair a torn ligament and another operation to cure his chronically painful adductor region. He is now in the final stages of his rehabilitation. He completes two to three individual running sessions a day under the supervision of a coach and a physical therapist in Basel. "Despite the load, the ligament has not been a problem", says Degen. "Only the adductor region makes itself noticed occasionally. It is a bit difficult."
In conjunction with the return of his team from training camp, the Swiss player also made his return to his athletic home Dortmund. He explains, "the team is the most important." "If you are not there, you feel shut out. After the training sessions themselves, in the past weeks Degen missed the locker room talk and evening restaurant visits with the other professionals.
However, Degen cannot yet train with his teammates. He says, "I need another two weeks." During this time, his new competition on the right side of defense, Serb Antonio Rukavina, will experience his first competitive matches for BVB. "Such is life in football", he says. "I have to get myself top-fit again. At that time, we will see how things go."

While Philipp Degen is at the end of his rehabilitation, Roman Weidenfeller still has a long path before him. The scar on his right shoulder from his surgery just before Christmas still looks relatively fresh. While Borussia trained in Marbella, the goalkeeper was in the USA. Following the advice of Heidelberg doctors Professor Peter Habermeyer and Dr. Sven Lichtenberg, who repaired Weidenfeller´s shoulder in the company of BVB team physician Dr. Markus Braun, Weidenfeller began his rehabilitation at the "Sports Medicine Rehabilitation Center" in Naples, Florida. There, physiotherapists attended to the shoulder and started a quick program to re-build the muscular area. "There were treatments in the morning and afternoon and my freedom of movement increased daily. I am pain-free and positively surprised", said Weidenfeller.
The 27 year-old also misses the team. "Naturally I would have rather been in Marbella than enduring this monotonous rehabilitation program. However, I have to bite the sour apple." The country of unlimited possibilities did offer some change. "It began with the luxurious breakfast. Fried eggs, sausage and potatoes. "If our fitness trainer "Micha "Stromberg" Wenzel could have seen this....." said Weidenfeller.
During his first days in Naples, his girl-friend Camilla was still around. Afterwards, the goalkeeper has been off on his own. "I drive around with the rental car and watch basketball and American Football on television. I have not set a date for my return. I will recover from the injury 100 percent and then attack the game again", said Weidenfeller.
Original report from the Westfälische Rundschau - Author: Thorsten Schabelon
Translated by Keith Richardson