Golf, table tennis and NBA

An hour before the first training session on American soil, Gregor Kobel takes his place in the press room decked out in Swiss colors. The national team's number one goalkeeper, with his well-groomed goatee and impeccable haircut, knows the place well. He was here three years ago with his club Borussia Dortmund during a promotional tour.

The nine-hour time difference doesn't seem to affect Kobel, who will be playing his first major tournament as a regular goalkeeper. "The first night went surprisingly well. I took a small dose of melatonin, which certainly helped me."

The Swiss delegation, over fifty people in total, are staying at the Fairmont Grand Del Mar, a five-star hotel just a ten-minute drive from the training center. Head coach Murat Yakin chose this quiet location after previously visiting two other hotels in the San Francisco Bay Area.

"There are lots of outdoor areas where we can meet," says Kobel, who is particularly looking forward to testing out the hotel's own golf course with Silvan Widmer and Michel Aebischer. "It's important to get out and about and strengthen cohesion within the team," adds the goalkeeper. "We want to have fun together so that we can give our all for each other on the pitch."

In addition to golf and table tennis, the final games of the NBA playoffs are also high on the agenda for some of the Swiss players. "I hope the Knicks make it exciting, but the San Antonio Spurs look very strong with Victor Wembanyama." In any case, the New York Knicks delighted their Zurich fans for the first time with their victory in the opening game of the finals series on Thursday night.