"Special One" landed

Jose Mourinho on tour in Austria with Fenerbahce

Jose Mourinho makes a guest appearance in Styria.

(Bild: AFP/APA/OZAN KOSE)

"The Special One" has landed in Graz with Fenerbahce Istanbul for their summer preparations. The traditional Turkish club is staying in Bad Waltersdorf, with Admira kicking off the series of test matches. The Portuguese is a spa fan, while four chefs entertain the football stars.

Watch out when they are guests at the "Spa Styria Resort" in Bad Waltersdorf! The Turkish cult club Fenerbahce Istanbul landed at Graz-Thalerhof Airport on Tuesday, then rushed into camp at the resort in Eastern Styria. On board: neo-Fenerbahce coach, "the Special One", Jose Mourinho!

Fenerbahce are relying on good Styrian air and conditions in their preparations under the Portuguese cult coach. Until July 13, veteran Edin Dzeko and Co., who have a combined market value of 200 million euros, will be sweating it out on the lush green pitches in Bad Waltersdorf. Test matches are also on the agenda. Saturday's match in Südstadt is against Admira (7pm), thousands of ticket requests (mainly from the Turkish side) are said to have already been received. A crowd of 7,000 is expected. "We'll do our best to be in the right shape," laughs Admira sporting director Peter Stöger, "training is really hot at the moment."

Austria or Australia?
There are also two hot Fener test matches coming up at the Merkur Arena in Graz next week: on July 10 against the Croatians from Hajduk Split and on July 13 against RC Strasbourg from France with ex-Sturm star Emanuel Emegha. The "Fener" stars will train and relax at the resort in Waltersdorf until the test matches. Mourinho himself is said to have enquired about the spa area in advance. The Turkish runners-up, who have 12.9 million followers on "X" (formerly Twitter), will have four of their own chefs cooking - halal, of course, for the many Muslims in the squad. The bus that camp organizer Kian Walizadeh and his team from "IFCS" organized for Mourinho and Co. was specially branded for 12,000 euros. "Only for the duration of the camp, but we don't have to pay for that," laughs Walizadeh.

Fenerbahce is preparing for the new season in Austria.

(Bild: Fenerbahce Media)

The advertising effect is considerable thanks to Fenerbahce's visit to the Styrian camp. Except for the faux pas made by the Turkish media team: According to "Fener's" social media department, they were briefly on an Australia tour instead of an Austria tour ...