Friendly
16.01.20
HSV share the spoils with Seoul in Albufeira
Adrian Fein scored the only goal of the game for HSV as the Rothosen drew the second friendly of their preparations for the Rückrunde in Portugal.
HSV couldn't find a way past K-League side FC Seoul on Thursday (16th January) as the second friendly of the year ended in a 1-1 draw in Albufeira. Having arrived in Portugal on Sunday, Dieter Hecking's charges were able to crank up preparations for the Rückrunde with two sessions a day on Monday to Wednesday, particularly looking at how to close down opponents more intelligently and using the ball more efficiently when in possession. The main focus of the camp was the only friendly during the Rothosen's time in Portugal, and the second friendly of the year after last Friday's 4-0 loss to Schalke 04 at the Volksparkstadion.
The game started slowly with a much-changed HSV side taking time to get into its rhythm, with little pace with the ball and errors in possession leading to a lack of flow in the game. As the half wore on, the Rothosen grew into the contest, with new signing Louis Schaub having a number of nice touches and 19-year-old Xavier Amaechi trying to put some impetus into the game, seeing two efforts from range fly just past the left and right-hand post respectively. The lion’s share of possession that the 2. Liga side had been enjoying eventually turned into efforts on goal, as, with half-time nearing, Hecking’s first eleven cranked up the pressure on their Korean opponents, implementing the gegenpressing methods that had been studied earlier in the week. This resulted in the Koreans dropping deeper and deeper and only being able to free themselves via long balls from the back. The breakthrough came in the 36th minute, as Adrian Fein delightfully chipped the Seoul ‘keeper from the edge of the box on his weaker foot to give the Rothosen a deserved lead.
Despite the coaching staff bringing a completely new eleven onto the pitch for the second half, the pressure from the end of the first half continued after the restart, with Jairo Samperio and Lukas Hinterseer unable to place either side of the Seoul ‘keeper to double the Hamburg side’s advantage when well placed. The Rothosen’s profligacy in front of goal was punished by the Korean’s first attack of the second period, with star player Park driving the ball into the middle and Alibaev giving Tom Mickel no chance to square things up on the hour mark. The wind was taken out of the Hamburg sails and the final half an hour of the game saw little goalmouth action from either side, with many Hamburg passes going astray in attack. Nevertheless, Dieter Hecking was happy with what he had seen: “It was a good test against a robust opponent. Unfortunately we conceded the goal during a period when we were playing quite well, but all in all we’re satisfied with how we played today.”
HSV XI First half: Heuer Fernandes, Narey, David, Ewerton, Leibold, Fein, Moritz, Schaub, Amaechi, Wood, Jatta
HSV XI Second half: Mickel, Beyer, van Drongelen, Letschert, Dudziak, Suhonen, Jung, Kinsombi, Samperio (66' Fabisch), Hinterseer, Kittel
Goals: 1-0 Adrian Fein (36'), 1-1 Alibaev (60’)