After arriving in Hamburg on Wednesday afternoon Mark Schwarzer spoke to fulhamfc.com and explained that Fulham's road trip to Germany will not distract the Team from the job at hand on Thursday night.
"It was actually fine for such a long journey," said Schwarzer. "We had plenty of chance to chat and watched a few movies along the way. It was long, but it was fine.
"The atmosphere has been very good, but we have a very good atmosphere within the squad anyway. A long trip like this can either pull the team together, or it can cause some friction and I’d say with us it has pulled us together.
"There are things that you have to be careful of. It’s natural that you can suffer dehydration when you’re travelling long distances, whether that be by plane or by bus, so we had access to plenty of food and plenty of fluid on the bus.
"We had three hours to walk around a motorway today [Wednesday], so we got plenty of exercise then! But obviously you can get up and move around the bus.
"Of course, it’s not ideal preparation, but it’s what we’ve had to deal with so we’ve accepted it fully and got on with it. You have to deal with these things as best you can.
"The amount of travelling is always an issue. Whether you start the tournament at the very beginning, or come in at the group stages, there’s always a lot to do before you reach a Semi-Final or Final.
"Obviously we have clocked up the miles and this time around it hasn’t been ideal, but that’s the fact of the situation and there’s nothing we can change about that.
"I, for one, am used to travelling long distances, travelling around the world with Australia. We’re footballers and we get paid to play football, and sometimes that’s not in the most ideal situation, but we have to get on with it and hopefully perform at our best come the game tomorrow night."
Schwarzer is clearly determined to make the most of Fulham's opportunity in Hamburg on Thursday night and is hoping Fulham can benefit from the extra pressure the home side face as favourites.
"The motivation is definitely there for Hamburg to be able to play the Final in their own stadium, but with that comes extra pressure.
"In many ways, at this stage of the tournament, they’re expected to get there and without doubt they’re the favourites to go through, even more so given the circumstances that have arisen over the last week or so.
"We’re fighting an uphill battle really with the trek that we’ve made and it’s going to be very tough for us, but they have the pressure on them, and we’ll try and do what we can."