In Gladbach’s training camp in Rottach-Egern, three young talents, Kilian Sauck (17), Niklas Swider (17), and goalkeeper Tiago Pereira Cardoso (18) are currently part of the squad. Two other young players, Winsley Boteli (18) and Charles Herrmann (18), who had been training with the first team since July 10, are not on the trip as they will be playing with the U23 team for more senior experience. The U23 team recently secured a 4-2 victory against Rot-Weiß Oberhausen in their first match of the new Regionalliga-West season. Herrmann started the game and was substituted after 65 minutes, while Boteli came on in the 81st minute and scored just two minutes later to make it 1-4.
Boteli, the Swiss U18 international who was last season’s top scorer in the U19 Bundesliga West with 23 goals, made an impact quickly after coming on as a substitute. Noah Pesch scored a brace (12′, 57′) and Ingyom Jung converted a penalty (63′) to add to the Gladbach goal tally, while Moritz Stoppelkamp (20′) and Dominik Burghard scored for Oberhausen. Coach Eugen Polanski expressed his pride in the team’s performance, stating, “I am proud of the team and very happy that we got the first win. It was a wild game, not quite how I envision football, but we knew we would create chances. Thankfully, we were more clinical in the second half and deservedly won.”
Next Saturday (August 3, 2:00 PM), Borussia’s U23 team will play their first home game of the season against newly promoted side SV Eintracht Hohkeppel. The team will aim to build on their positive start to the season and continue to develop the young talents within the squad.