In the Lower Rhine Cup final, Rot-Weiss Essen welcome rivals Rot-Weiß Oberhausen to Hafenstraße. For some players, it’s their last appearance.
The last game of a season is always synonymous with many farewells. Before the Lower Rhine Cup final between Rot-Weiss Essen and Rot-Weiss Oberhausen, some players will also be playing their last game in an RWE or RWO shirt.
Oberhausen had already officially announced eight departures weeks ago, and Marius Kleinsorge and Michel Niemeyer can look for a new club despite having current contracts.
Essen followed suit on Wednesday and said goodbye to six players. It was already clear that defensive boss Felix Götze would be moving to SC Paderborn in the 2nd division and Cedric Harenbrock would also be leaving Hafenstrasse.
This means that some players who no longer have a contract for the coming season are still in demand for the final. For both coaches, however, this has no significance with regard to the possible team line-up.
“Everyone wants to show themselves once again and say goodbye with a win. I think the motivation will be high enough. When you’re on the pitch, you block everything out. It doesn’t matter if you have problems at home or don’t have a contract next year. That’s how I know it. You go full throttle, eat grass and fight for every ball. That doesn’t matter for the line-up anyway. You always want to play with the strongest team,” explained Oberhausen coach Mike Terranova.
We try to get the best possible team on the pitch for the game and the match plan. It doesn’t matter whether a player plays in Paderborn next year or at Hafenstrasse.
Christoph Dabrowski
RWE coach Christoph Dabrowski agreed with his counterpart: “I can agree with what Terra said. We try to get the best possible team on the pitch for the game and the match plan. It doesn’t matter whether a player plays in Paderborn next year or at Hafenstrasse.”
The two soccer coaches did not agree on the question of the role of the favorites. While Dabrowski expects a “fifty-fifty game”, Terranova sees it a little differently: “RWE have a home game, they were the strongest home team in the 3rd division until two games ago. They have an advantage and are the favorites. “