Midfielder with a nose for goals – GC in Ndenge fever – but victories are rare in the “Joggeli” – Sport

Tsiy Ndenge impresses with consistently good performances at GC. It is no coincidence that he is the “Hoppers” top scorer.

He is actually the pace setter in the defensive midfield: But Tsiy Ndenge is not satisfied with this role at GC. He scored 6 times in 15 games – more often than any of his teammates.

In the last 6 championship games, the 26-year-old was among the goalscorers 4 times and thus made his contribution to the victories against Lugano (2:1), Lausanne-Ouchy (5:2) and Lausanne-Sport (5:0). Striking: Ndenge, like the entire team, seems to be most comfortable in Letzigrund; he was only successful on foreign territory this season against St. Gallen (1:3).

Dream goal against St. Gallen as a “breakthrough”

St. Gallen is a good keyword for the upswing that Ndenge’s career has taken at GC. Flashback: The Zurich team are 1:2 behind against the “Espen” at the beginning of August 2022. Then comes Ndenge’s big appearance. The midfielder shoots from a distance and sinks the ball into the high corner to make it 2-2 with his first Super League goal for GC. Later he also scored the winning goal to make it 3-2.

With the double pack, Ndenge confirmed the good impressions that the then coach Giorgio Contini had had of him. The German-Cameroonian had been without a contract at Lucerne after four years marked by various injuries and had forced his hand for a commitment during the GC trial training.

Important addition to Abrashi

He has had the knee problems that continually bothered Ndenge for some time now and is able to utilize his potential accordingly. The midfielder, who trained at Leverkusen and Mönchengladbach, extended his contract with Zurich until 2025 in the spring.

Contini’s successor Bruno Berner, under whom Ndenge has once again blossomed, also benefits from this. The calm 1.90 m giant forms an unlikely duo in front of the defense with the hot-blooded Amir Abrashi (1.72 m). If the GC captain is replaced, Ndenge usually also takes over the armband.

Will GC overcome the Basel trauma in the “Joggeli”?

On Saturday, GC will be a guest at St. Jakob-Park against the recently strengthened FCB. The goal-scoring talent of the powerful Ndenge will be in demand again: the last time the record champions won the Super League was in Basel in May 2016.