The Rochusclub provided an excellent meal to some players and coaches at an unusual place on Tuesday. The German, Belgian and Czech teams went up 50 metres in the air - "Lunch in the Sky" was the motto.

Duesseldorf master chef Pasqualino Palmieri served light, Italian dishes for altogether 22 people above the roofs of Heinrich Heine University. An 80-ton crane hoisted the open gondola up into the air. The guests wore seat-belts, of course, and sat around the table like in a real dining room.

Though Benjamin Becker had "butterflies in my stomach" he was enthusiastic about the whole activity.

Becker said: "It's a completely different way of eating when the gondola turns and the wind blows through it..." But he said it tasted the same as on solid soil.

Duesseldorf (pps)