Soccer kicks off in Germany as first major sports league reopens amid pandemic

Source: Time Magazine:

May 16, 2020 at 16:41

U.S. international Tyler Adams of RB Leipzig battles for possession with Thiago Alcantara of Bayern Munich during a Bundesliga match in February. Alex Grimm / Bongarts/Getty Images file

“Whenever you can get back out on the pitch with a ball, you're happy,” U.S. international Tyler Adams told NBC News.

BERLIN — As Germany’s top soccer league known as the Bundesliga prepares to kick off for the first time since the country entered coronavirus lockdown, 10-time U.S. international Tyler Adams admitted there was one thing he had not thought about — how he will celebrate if he scores for his RB Leipzig team Saturday.

“I haven’t thought about anything yet,” the 21-year-old midfielder told NBC News, adding that he would hopefully get a goal against SC Freiburg. “That’s my first concern and then we’ll see,” he said.

In the week leading up to the game, Adams has been living in quarantine with his teammates at his team’s training ground in the eastern German city of Leipzig.

“We have the luxury of having our own rooms. It's almost like a home… it's been nice, you know, we have our teammates, there's a lot to do here,” he said.

“As a professional soccer player, you get a little bit anxious when you don’t have games to work towards on the weekend,” he added. “So now, we’re back in training and seeing our teammates again, we’re full of excitement.”

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