Lok Leipzig captain Djamal Ziane meets Gerald Asamoah while on vacation – and asks the Schalke legend directly “where the goal is”.
England’s capital London is a popular destination between Christmas and New Year, and many Germans travel to the metropolis on the Thames. One of them was Djamal Ziane, captain of the regional football league team Lok Leipzig. And he met a former professional footballer – Gerald Asamoah, a legend of the cult club FC Schalke 04.
Ziane wrote under a souvenir photo with Asamoah: “Just asking again where the goal is for the second half of the season.” It was a humorous way of dealing with a situation that is not so funny for 31-year-old Djamal Ziane: the striker, who was top scorer in the Northeast Regional League last season with 18 goals, has only scored twice so far this season. Lok Leipzig, in 14th place, is in the relegation battle. So Schalke’s current head of the professional squad is definitely a good person to talk to when it comes to tips on scoring goals.
Asamoah won the DFB Cup twice with Schalke and was runner-up once. He is ranked fourth among the S04 record players (381 appearances, 64 goals, 47 assists) for the Schalke professional team – ahead of other legends such as Ingo Anderbrügge (360 appearances), Klaus Fischer (348) and Benedikt Höwedes (333). Will Asamoah’s words bear fruit? On January 19, Ziane will start the second half of the season with Lok Leipzig.
Meanwhile, Schalke will start preparing for the second half of the Bundesliga season on that day. The Royal Blues’ entourage will travel to Albufeira in Portugal to ensure the best possible conditions – from January 2 to 10, the S04 professionals will sweat in the Algarve under the guidance of coach Karel Geraerts.
Two test matches are planned. One is scheduled for January 6 against Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg, while the other opponent is still to be determined. In addition, the fan relations department is also offering a program away from the sporting side of things. It starts this Tuesday (January 2) with a welcome evening at the training ground, where the S04 management will greet the fans. (fs)