Rot-Weiß Oberhausen lost their first friendly match of the current winter break 2-5 to VfL Osnabrück. Here’s what Sebastian Gunkel had to say after the game.

0-2, 2-2, and ultimately a 2-5 defeat for Rot-Weiß Oberhausen: that’s how the test match against third-division club VfL Osnabrück went. Forecasting reported.

Despite conceding five goals, Oberhausen put in a decent performance against the promotion contenders from the third division. Accordingly, the players and coach were positive in their assessment. RWO midfielder Glody Ngyombo said: “First of all, we were happy that we were able to play today. It was a special week for us because we could only train on artificial turf due to the conditions. Today, we focused on our possession game, and that worked well at times. It’s unfortunate that we conceded five goals in the end, but we’ll learn from that. Now we’re looking forward to the training camp in Turkey, where we’ll prepare as best we can for the second half of the season.“ Head coach Sebastian Gunkel echoed these sentiments: ”We always try to make the best of every situation. The training week was different than usual, so it was important for us that the game took place. The pitch was good and Osnabrück demanded a lot from us. The tactical preparation was difficult, as was the transition to natural grass and competitive mode. The important thing is that no players were injured and we can travel to the training camp together, where we will spend a lot of time together and prepare as best we can for the second half of the season. “

Head coach Gunkel’s team will be staying at the ”TUI BLUE Xanthe” in Side from January 13 to 19, where they will work on the fundamentals for a successful second half of the season.

The Kleeblätter will also play two test matches on the Turkish Riviera. On January 14 (4 p.m. local time, 2 p.m. German time) against Northeast Regional League team 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig and on January 18 against Lok’s league rival FSV Luckenwalde (6 p.m., 4 p.m.).

On January 19, Gunkel’s team will then head back to Oberhausen. On January 24 (Saturday, 2 p.m.), Fortuna Düsseldorf II will visit the Niederrhein Stadium for the first league game of 2026.