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A cocoa-based deterrent is being used to address a mosquito problem at Germany’s European Championship base, forcing players indoors due to the unpleasant smell.
Germany’s preparation for their last-16 tie with Denmark has been disrupted by a scourge of mosquitoes at their Bavaria base, with players frequently questioned about the issue in this week’s press conferences ahead of the fixture.
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One of the solutions has created a further problem; the area is being sprayed with cocoa fumes, and while that is deterring the mosquitoes, it is also creating an unpleasant smell in the camp that is forcing the players back indoors.
Germany are based in Herzogenaurach, in Bavaria. The Home Ground campus Adidas built for the national team and opened in 2020 sits within a copse — once part of a U.S. military base — and is surrounded by a rural landscape.
The combination of the woodland, the still conditions and the hot summer temperatures is attracting mosquitoes in unusual numbers.
“We have an abnormal plague,” said head coach Julian Nagelsmann earlier this week.
“We need more wind so that there won’t be so many mosquitoes. If not, we have to go inside.”
Many players have been bitten in the Germany camp. There are so many mosquitoes that the squad has been unable to watch the other tournament games together by the swimming pool and are instead having to stay inside.
So, alongside questions about Denmark, who the Germans will face on Saturday night in Dortmund, the players have spent their week answering questions about sprays, netting and, ultimately, bites. Forward Maximilian Beier confirmed that he had been bitten several times.
“But if that remains the biggest problem,” Beier told reporters cheerfully, “then everything is fine.”
Manuel Neuer, the team’s decorated, veteran goalkeeper, has also been stressing the need for players to keep their mosquito nets closed at night.
Germany has over 50 different species of mosquito and they are an annual menace brought on by the climate in the country’s southern regions. Bavaria has been afflicted by serious flooding this year and that has caused unusual numbers of mosquitoes to hatch.
Last week, local media in Bavaria reported that in Ingolstadt, around 100km from Herzogenaurach, mosquito behaviour was unusually aggressive. Supplies of insect repellent have been running low and residents were no longer sitting outside at night and some were even needing their bites treated by doctors.
(Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)