Borussia Dortmund managing director Lars Ricken has praised his side for wrapping up the BVB Evonik Japan Tour on a winning note.
The club beat FC Tokyo 1-0 on Saturday as Fabio Silva netted the only goal of the game in the 54th minute and eased some of the disappointment from their earlier loss to Cerezo Osaka.
Head coach Niko Kovac threw in all five of the first team stars who returned for the first time since the conclusion of the 2026 FIFA World Cup as Dortmund looked more dominant.
Yet, it was Silva, making his fourth appearance in a row this preseason, that popped up with the winner as the Portuguese starlet whipped in a fine effort from near the edge of the box.
Tokyo huffed and puffed in search of an equalizer, but the Black and Yellow never put their guard down with Waldemar Anton and Patrick Drewes shining in defense for them.
After the match, Ricken hailed Dortmund for getting the job done as the players were 'rewarded' for their efforts.
"“In the end, there’s no substitute for a win, even if it was just a friendly. It’s important to me that the players were rewarded – they deserve it for the way they represented BVB on this trip. They did an outstanding job. When you fly out here, you want to come home with a win.""he told the press in Tokyo
Dortmund received a lot of flak from the fans after losing to Osaka in their previous game, their second defeat in a row after having been beaten by Fortuna Dusseldorf before the trip too.
However, Ricken dismissed them by saying setbacks are common in preseasons as there's nothing much at stake while the squad is also a concoction of news signings and youth players alongside the main squad.
""Of course, things are bound to get a little wild at times, a little erratic with all the substitutions and because the team is such a mixed group. But we’ve already seen a lot of what we’ve worked on in training. In that sense, we can call it a successful week.”"Ricken further added
Although it's doubtful if the BVB faithful would call the Japan tour a 'success', they would at least be content to see their side back to winning ways again after two disappointing results.
Borussia Dortmund continue their preseason against Arsenal on 9 August.
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