SINGAPORE - After two Bundesliga defeats entering the winter break, Borussia Dortmund boss Edin Terzic has thrown down the gauntlet to his players.
The German club, currently sixth in the Bundesliga, arrived in Singapore on Tuesday evening ahead of the friendly against local side Lion City Sailors at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Thursday night.
Speaking at a press conference before the open training session at Jalan Besar on Wednesday, Terzic said: “We addressed to our players straight away (after the recent 4-2 loss to Borussia Monchengladbach) that we have to change our behaviour to be successful. You can’t expect more if you do less.
“On the pitch, we faced many technical and tactical issues over the past months. Off the pitch, in terms of organisation and structure, there are many other things we have to do. But we did not finalise them because the national team players were gone (for the World Cup) by the next morning (of the defeat).”
In Singapore for the first stop of their Asia Tour, Dortmund will be without a host of internationals, including England’s Jude Bellingham, Belgium’s Thorgan Hazard and Thomas Meunier, as well as Germany’s Nico Schlotterbeck and Niklas Sule.
German trio Marco Reus, Mats Hummels and Emre Can, together with Dutch forward Donyell Malen have travelled to Singapore, but might see limited or no game time on Thursday.
Reus has been ruled out as he continues his rehabilitation from an ankle ligament injury in September.
However, Terzic remains optimistic for the second half of the Bundesliga season, describing the expected returns of several players from long-term injuries as “new signings”.
Dortmund trail Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich by nine points, but Terzic said the squad are in the process of rebuilding and will need some time to improve.
“It’s not like you’re going to switch a button then all of a sudden, you’re top of the table. We are not happy with sixth spot in the table but we have 19 more games to show we are better than that,” said the 40-year-old.
Headlined by former Liverpool midfielder Can, a group of players trained at the Jalan Besar Stadium in front of over 100 eager Dortmund fans.
Can, who was in Singapore with Italian side Juventus in 2019, said: “I saw that the fans were very excited and happy to see us here. Hopefully we can give them a good game tomorrow.”
Sailors interim head coach Luka Lalic is relishing the opportunity to compete against the eight-time Bundesliga champions and has included some young players in his match-day squad, including three from the Sailors academy – Izrafil Mohamed, Danie Hafiy and Yasir Nizamudin.
Skipper Hariss Harun is eager for a positive result after the 2021 Singapore Premier League champions failed to retain their title this season.
He said: “We know the level is different from where they are competing and where we are at, but I think it is a good opportunity for us to end our year on a good note.”
After Thursday’s game, Dortmund will travel to Malaysia where they will face Johor Darul Takzim next Monday, before taking on the Vietnam national team in Hanoi next Wednesday.
