The continuing advance of Germany and the Netherlands in the World Cup knock-out rounds has posed a problem for Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal, a Dutchman, dpa reported.
Seven members of Germany's national football team play for Bayern, as do two members of the Dutch squad, making Bayern the best represented club among the four World Cup semi-finalists.
"I regret it," Van Gaal wrote on his homepage on Sunday, referring to the teams' success, "because I can't make good preparations."
The seven players - Germans Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose, Thomas Mueller, Philipp Lahm, Holger Badstuber, Mario Gomez, and Hans Joerg Butt, and Dutchmen Arjen Robben and Mark van Bommel - will not be able to start training with Bayern until August 2, after their post-World Cup holiday.
This means about half of Bayern's players, who last season achieved a German league and cup double and made it to the Champions League final, will have trained for only two-and-a-half weeks with the team when the Bundesliga season gets under way on August 20.
"That's not good," Van Gaal said. "It's a big problem."
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