Having completed a notable tournament victory in Freiburg the previous week, the Men’s 1st team travelled to Wettingen for game week 1 of the NLA Indoor Season.
Whilst GC were buoyed by performances in Germany they knew they would need to raise their game further, largely due to the fixture list presenting the challenging task of facing the leagues two strongest opponents. Both Rot-Weiss and Lucerne will be in the final four come the end of the season and Grasshoppers will be fighting for the final two spots along with the remaining 3 teams; Basel, Servette and Olten. A task which they grasped last season.
The Zurich side’s squad had two notable absentees in the form of maverick Fabian Burmann and stalwart Robert Keitel who were unavailable, however a new generation is emerging and debuts were handed to Oliver Haberthür and Hein van der Weide.
Rotweiss Wettingen - Grasshopper Club Zürich --- 5:3
(Debut goal from Oliver Haberthür, further goals from Constantin Scheuer and Fabian Steiner)
Rot Weiss are a strong opponent both on the national and international level but Grasshoppers were much their equal for large periods of the game, particularly in the second half. Unfortunately; the game was lost in the first, having conceded four and scoring one; which came courtesy of a searching pass from Constantin Scheuer who found debutant Oliver Haberthür, who’s deft touch deflected the ball past the goalkeepers ear. GC came out a different team in the second half with goals from Constantin Scheuer and Fabian Steiner but the deficit was too great.
Grasshopper Club Zürich - Luzerner SC --- 2:5
(Goals from Roman Richner and Fabian Steiner)
What Lucerne lack in flair and skill; they make up for in physicality and passion and ultimately overpowered GC for large proportions of the game. There were very few answer’s to a Lucerne side built on their defensive capabilities however; Fabian Steiner’s usual levels of tenacity enabled him to grab his second of the afternoon and Roman Richter opened his account for the season with a sublime lob which is likely to be in the end of season’s highlight reel.
Facing both RWW and LSC in the same weekend was not the ideal line up for Grasshoppers, however; they are fully capable of bouncing back from even the most gruelling of losses and will be well prepared by Frank Zenker for the crunch games against Basel and Servette in Zurich Utogrund on the 9th of December starting from 14:00hrs.
GC Players:
Fabian Starsich (TW), Constantin Scheuer, Fabio Dornbierer, Roman Richner, Fabio Landtwing, Fabian Steiner, Dénes Heins, Benjamin Eddy, Oliver Haberthür, Hein van der Weide
Coach: Frank Zenker