FIRST TEAM
07/08/2022

TSG to face Heidenheim in second friendly

Having beaten FC-Astoria Walldorf 4-0, TSG Hoffenheim are set to take on second-tier 1. FC Heidenheim in their second pre-season friendly. Kick-off at the Wiesentalstadion in Brackenheim on Saturday (9 July) will be at 15:30 CET. tsg-hoffenheim.de looks ahead to the match and the opposition below.

The opening friendly under André Breitenreiter was successful, and the hope will be for more of the same in the second friendly. In 1. FC Heidenheim, TSG will be up against an ambitious second-tier team that have established themselves in the upper half of the table in recent years.

1. FC Heidenheim have enjoyed an uninterrupted presence in the 2. Bundesliga since 2014/15, and have finished in the top six three times in the last four seasons. Coach Frank Schmidt's charges came unimaginably close to gaining promotion to the Bundesliga in 2020, with Werder Bremen only coming out on top in the relegation/promotion play-off thanks to the away goals rule, which has since been scrapped.

Schmidt – who has been in the role since 2007, making him by some distance the longest-serving coach in German professional football – has once again reinforced his squad with young players ahead of the new season. The aim will be to develop them and sell them on for a profit – a business model that has frequently succeeded in the past. The likes of Robert Andrich, Florian Niederlechner and Niklas Dorsch all developed into Bundesliga-quality players in Heidenheim, while another FCH player, Tobias Mohr, completed a switch to the Bundesliga this summer and will represent Schalke 04 in the new season.

While it will be TSG's second pre-season friendly ahead of the 2022/23 campaign, it will be the final such fixture for Heidenheim, who will kick off their 2. Bundesliga season with a match away to Hansa Rostock on 17 July. After three wins against local opposition (7-0 away to TV Steinheim, 29-0 against FC Römerstein and 6-0 at SF Schwäbisch Hall), FCH then beat third-tier Dynamo Dresden by a 1-0 scoreline. But last week, Heidenheim lost 1-0 to Romanian Europa Conference League participants Universitatea Craiova.

Following the friendly against 1. FC Heidenheim, TSG Hoffenheim will head off to Kitzbühel for their training camp. Between 11 and 17 July, André Breitenreiter's players will continue their preparations for the season in Austria, where they will also play two further friendlies: Hungarian top-flight side Puskás Akadémia will be the opponents on Wednesday 13 July (18:00 CET), with Serie A club Salernitana to follow on Saturday 16 July (15:00 CET).

Friendly to be live-streamed

TSG Hoffenheim will be offering a special service for fans who cannot attend the game live in Brackenheim: the match will be broadcast via live-stream on tsg-hoffenheim.de and on the official TSG YouTube channel.

Download Now!
Print Page to top