On that fateful Monday morning back in August 2007, Sebastian Prödl really didn’t want to get out of bed. The night before he’d suffered a 3:5 defeat with Sturm Graz against Reid. The return journey was a long one, the night short - the world didn’t seem like such a nice place: “Really I just wanted to have a lie in,” recalled the 21 year old. But the telephone didn’t allow for that!

Grouchily he snatched up the receiver: “I know I answered very grumpily,” explained Prödl before becoming very mellow, almost shy. Thomas Schaaf, the Champions League trainer, was at the other end: “All of a sudden I was standing upright in the bed for joy.” It was the first step that the Green-Whites made in luring the talented, young Austrian defender to Bremen. Almost eleven months later, on Tuesday morning, Prödl was finally officially presented as a Werder Bremen player.

In the summer of 2006, Prödl signed his first professional contract with the financially strapped SK Sturm Graz, where he met up with the former Werder man Frank Verlaat. The defensive specialist became both Prödl’s partner on the pitch and mentor off it: “The year and a half that we played together was immensely important for my career. I have really profited from my time with him both sportingly and personally,” remarked Prödl.

But he wasn’t the only interesting person on the way to the Weser. The Austrian team boss Andreas Herzog was able to pass on some important information on the subject of Werder Bremen: “Both absolutely gushed about Werder Bremen and gave me tips. That gave me courage.” Even the Pope, with whom the Austrian national team had an audience prior to the European Championships, wished him luck on his future in the Bundesliga. But no matter whether Herzog, Verlaat or the Pope: “No-one took on the definitive decision for me. There were a number of clubs who asked, but Bremen is the best decision.”