Competition for places tougher than ever: Real boss
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-08-04 11:19

HARD WORK

Luxemburgo said that after an exhausting promotional tour of the U.S. and Asia, he was impatient to get down to the hard work of preparing his new squad for the season.

"The true pre-season begins now. The tour was important and necessary for the club, but in pure sporting terms this is when the hard work begins."

One of the new faces at the Austria training camp will be England defender Jonathan Woodgate.

The 25-year-old centre-back is in the final stages of recovery from a serious thigh injury that has prevented him from playing a game since signing for Real for close to 20 million euros ($24.6 million) last August.

"Woodgate will be coming along to Austria with the rest of the squad," said Luxemburgo. "He's a quality player, but hasn't been able to show it because of his injury. We have confidence in him though."

The squad will remain in Austria until August 13 and then fly on to Hungary to play an exhibition match in honour of former Real forward Ferenc Puskas before returning to Spain to make final preparations for the season.

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