Friday, October 1st, 2021
“Pain is too strong”
Haaland worries Rose and Kuntz gives hope
Erling Haaland will still be absent from Borussia Dortmund, the striker is still suffering from a thigh injury. For his coach Marco Rose, the failure of his goal scorer is bad news, but it might make things easier for Stefan Kuntz.
All hopes for a quick comeback were in vain. “Dear BVB fans. I can’t play tomorrow. I’m injured. I’ll be right back. Heja BVB,” said Erling Haaland to the Dortmund fans in one of his first attempts at German via Twitter before the game on Saturday (3.30 p.m. / Sky) against FC Augsburg with. The bruise in the thigh continues to cause problems for the Norwegian, even when trying to run. “He tried it, but the pain is still too strong,” said coach Marco Rose.
The international matches with the Norwegian national team against Turkey and Montenegro also come too early for the striker. “We’ll keep Erling here and see how we can use the days for him in the best possible way. Quiet would do him good,” commented Rose. Regardless of the lack of Haaland and other regulars such as Mahmoud Dahoud and Giovanni Reyna, the BVB coach made no secret of his expectations for the game against Augsburg: “We are Borussia Dortmund and want to get back on the road to success in the Bundesliga. Of course we have to Beat opponents. ” Nevertheless, he warned his professionals about the table 15th, who only scored two goals this season. “We are facing an opponent who is having problems at the moment, but who has determined that he has to change something. That makes Augsburg a bit unpredictable and dangerous.”
For Kuntz the hope of “small miracles” rises
After all, Rose can fall back on the recovered national player Emre Can for the first time in weeks. The higher number of spectators made possible by the new Corona Protection Ordinance in North Rhine-Westphalia, which will apply from Friday, could provide further tailwind. The 11,000 tickets initially made available at short notice were quickly sold out. According to the club, more than 38,000 visitors and around 13,000 fans more than recently expected against Augsburg. “I’m happy for football, but also for us because it helps us. We want to be a home power. It’s the largest and loudest stadium in Germany,” said Rose. However, it is important to transfer the atmosphere from the lawn to the stands with a lot of passion and good football. “We had passion on Tuesday, good football has to come back now,” said the coach, referring to the successful but lackluster performance against Sporting Lisbon.
For Stefan Kuntz the failure of Haaland at the upcoming international matches is good news, because the absence of the world-class scorer makes it easier for him to work on a “small miracle”: Kuntz will celebrate his debut as national coach for Turkey on October 8th. Against Norway it is about very important points for the World Cup qualification. It will be difficult to make it to the World Cup because only first place will be enough and Turkey is currently third – behind the second-placed Norwegians. “We still want to create the little miracle,” said Kuntz when he took up the job. One wants to “mobilize all forces” immediately. The difficult task could be a little easier now.