Rot-Weiss Essen said goodbye to the Christmas holidays with a test match. On Friday, 23 December 2022, RWE tested in Holland.

Rot-Weiss Essen played in Holland on Friday against second-division club De Graafschap. The match was not open to the public.

RWE played out a 2-2 draw with the twelfth-placed team in the Jupiler League, the second-highest division in our neighbouring country. Jesse Schuurmann (38th) and Danzell Gravenberch (65th) scored for De Graafschap. Simon Engelmann (11th) and Aurel Loubongo (87th) were successful for Rot-Weiss Essen. Now the players say goodbye to the holidays. On 28 December, coach Christoph Dabrowski will welcome the RWE professionals for the next session.

RevierSport spoke to Christoph Dabrowski after the De Graafschap test.

Christoph Dabrowski on…

… the test match: “Of course, that was another tough test for the boys just before Christmas. We played on a natural pitch that was difficult to play on and it was raining all the time. It was a kind of feat of strength for the head, which the boys coped with well. In the first half we played well, but in the second half we weren’t as present and gripping. If I’m honest, the result was not deserved. Because at the score of 1:2 from our point of view, the Dutch had another penalty, which they missed. We then fought through it and were a bit lucky that Aurel Loubongo scored the equaliser.

.. the line-up: “Daniel Heber was the only one to play through because Jose Enrique Rios Alonso called in sick on Friday morning. Otherwise, we used every player for 45 minutes.”

… Simon Engelmann: “Yes, we are happy that he is back. The goal will be good for his head. But he also knows that he is not at 100 per cent physically. We will work on that until the start against Halle on 14 January. “