He wanted to get as far away as possible and his wish was granted. Patrick Owomoyela was hit hard by the news that he was not selected as part of the German national eleven for the World Cup finals in his homeland. Owomoyela, currently training with Werder on Norderney admitted for the first time: "Worst of all was the day the squad was announced. After that it slowly got better", explained Owo, who decided to escape the football hype as quickly as possible. Although he could recieve a late call-up right until the day before the opening game, he jumped on a plane to New York. "I informed Oliver Bierhoff of my plans and he gave the green light. First of all the chances of being called up were very slight and secondly he was in agreement that New York was not so far away that I couldn't quickly return to Berlin if needs be."

In the USA it was time for Patrick Owomoyela to consider all that had happened and free his thoughts: "It's not as if I ignored the World cup. I watched every game but I wasn't caught up in the events surrounding the tournament. In Germany every t.v. advertisement was connected to the World Cup."

The Werder man fell upon some happy chance in his efforts to escape the World cup circus. At the time in America there were the vitally important play-off games in the NBA underway. German channel Premiere showed the games involving German superstar Dirk Nowitzki: "All of a sudden I was in Dallas commenting on the games. The resonance was so good that Premiere invited me to continue with my commentary in Miami." With that 'Owo' had a major roll in the stands at a totally unexpected tournament. "When the US channels caught win that I'd been part of the German side prior to the World Cup they even made a short film about me and showed several minutes of my live commentary. As a passionate basketball fan that was an amazing experience for me."

It was also proof that the Americans were also interested in the event taking place in the homeland of their hero Dirk Nowitzki: "The football games were on in all of the sports bars and you could follow it all well." The only surprises for the onlooking Owomoyela were outside the stadiums. "That this World Cup could have such an effect on the whole country and that all went without incident is something I hadn't expected. It's just a pity that there are a few weeks break before the Bundesliga re-starts but maybe the atmosphere will carry over anyway."

Sportingly he was aware of the ability of his national team colleagues before the tournament began: "Before I was almost always there. I knew the potentil that the team possessed. You could tell during the Confed Cup that this team could add to their performances especially how they were carried from the surroundings."

It's exactly this atmosphere that is inspiring Patrick Owomoyela to strive to achieve more. The holiday served it's purpose and now football is back on the plan: "I'm really looking forward to it", said Owomoyela of his work with Werder and the German side and despite his disappointment he has no intentions of stepping away from international football. "For me the national team is much more than the 23 players who were selected for the tournament. I see myself and the others as still being a part of this team. Those in the current top 23 could change by the time of the next performance test. I'm working now on being their for the next international tie. If that doesn't work out then for the game after that or the one following that. My goal is the next big tournament, the Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland."

Johnnie Muldoon