Trier, Germany  - Players at German fourth-division side Eintracht Trier had to train in the early hours of the morning this week as punishment following a defeat, it was reported Thursday.

Coach Mario Basler, a former Germany international, was so annoyed at the 3-0 defeat at SC Verl he put his team through their paces after they arrived back home well after midnight.

The training session began at 1.33 a. m. and ended at 2.17 a. m., the Trierischer Volksfreunde newspaper reported under the headline "No April Fools' Day joke: Training at
1.33 a. m."

Basler, 40, was himself not always a model professional in a playing career which included spells at Hertha Berlin, Werder Bremen, Bayern Munich and Kaiserslautern.

He had promised after the game on Monday that the evening was not over for his team once they had left the stadium.

"My team showed no aggression. The running they failed to do during the game they will now have to do tonight as soon as we return to Trier," he said. (dpa)