Third division club Rot-Weiss Essen will not play their next league match until April 7. The Saarbrücken cancellation has thrown plans into disarray.
Rot-Weiss Essen took advantage of the international break and played an international test match against Ukrainian first division side NK Veres from Essen’s solidarity partner city Rivne on Saturday afternoon at Hafenstrasse. It was a successful afternoon for RWE: The team from Essen won 3:1 (0:1) in front of 2500 fans.
The coming week should see a return to league action. Actually. Because on Friday, Rot-Weiss Essen’s away match at DFB Cup semi-finalist 1. FC Saarbrücken, scheduled for March 30, was canceled and rescheduled for April 24.
“According to the assessment of the turf experts consulted, it is currently not possible to play two matches properly on the pitch in Saarbrücken within a few days. There is still too much water under the surface of the pitch in various places. On April 2, three days after the original date of the third division match against Rot-Weiss Essen, FCS will face 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the DFB Cup semi-final at the Ludwigsparkstadion. The DFB has given this match priority over the league game,” RWE announced on Friday.
For the Red & Whites, this cancellation is annoying in three ways: On the one hand, it would certainly have been an advantage to play three days before the important DFB Cup semi-final in Saarbrücken, for whom the promotion train in the league has as good as left the station. In addition, RWE will have to bridge another week without a competitive match and then Andreas Wiegel and Ron Berlinski will also be suspended for the prestigious derby against MSV Duisburg (April 7, 4.30 p.m.)
The players should go home. The lads are working well and are in good shape, so they should let everything sink in now. We’ll have two double sessions on Wednesday and Thursday. We have five training sessions between now and the weekend.
Christoph Dabrowski
When asked how the third division club is planning the coming week, head coach Christoph Dabrowski replied: “We actually wanted to give two days off, but have now decided on three days off. The players should go home. The lads are working well and are in good shape, so they should let everything sink in now. We’ll then have two double sessions on Wednesday and Thursday. We have five training sessions between now and the weekend.”
Ideally, the third division team will find a test match opponent for the coming weekend in order to stay in rhythm. However, that won’t be so easy because the other leagues will resume as normal after the international break. “We’re in, but it’s difficult. I have a friend who has contacts in Holland and Belgium. Maybe something can be done there. It’s not that easy, so we’ll have to see. Otherwise we’ll do something internally,” Dabrowski looks ahead.