Borussia Dortmund's pre-season victory over RW Oberhausen was special in ways more than one. While prolific marksman Serhou Guirassy was back with a bang, netting yet another goal for the side, the match also witnessed all four of their summer acquisitions in action, two of whom even got on target.
Justin Lerma, signed from Ecuadorian side Independiente, started the match as one of the four central midfielders on the day and opened Dortmund's account with the equalizer in the 45th minute to mark his club debut with a goal.
Youth team star Enzo Duarte assisted Guirassy for their second of the evening before another debutant Takato Yamamoto, who's joined the BVB on loan from Japanese side Gamba Osaka, scored Dortmund's third goal.
Head coach Niko Kovac was delighted to see the young guns shine on their debuts, hailing them as players 'with potential' but was careful not to overhype them as the Croatian felt they can up the ante further. Speaking to the press after the game, he said:
"“These are lads who clearly have potential, and each has strengths in his own area—but of course, each also has room for improvement in his own area. The lads need to get to know each other and quickly learn what we want.”"Kovac told the media
Yamamoto though, looked the most promising of them all. The 18-year-old teenager was effervescent in the attack, timing his runs to perfection and constantly asking questions of RW Oberhausen's defense with pace and directness.
He was involved in the build-up to their second goal, nonchalantly controlling an incoming cross before laying it on for Duarte, who then squared it to Guirassy to finish. With only 12 minutes of normal time remaining, the Japanese starlet then turned the scorer himself, making a simple finish from close-range as Dortmund led 3-1.
Kovac admitted that he didn't know much about Yamamoto before the game, having seen him for the first time only two days before the clash but was delighted to see his performance, nonetheless. When asked about him, the Borussia Dortmund manager said:
"“I saw him for the first time on Thursday, so I didn’t know him before that either. He showed some good things. I really saw some promising stuff there, and that’s going to be a joy for us.” "the Croatian said.
Dortmund play their second pre-season friendly on Saturday, 25 July against Fortuna Dusseldorf.
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