“Now I want more”

Jordan Torunarigha was impressive on his starting debut and wants more game time.

It was certainly an exciting Wednesday (05/04/17) for Jordan Torunarigha. His team was narrowly defeated 1-0 by Borussia Mönchengladbach but the 19-year-old still had reason to celebrate. Torunarigha played the entire 90 minutes against the Fohlenelf after Marvin Plattenhardt (ear infection) and Maximilian Mittelstädt (second yellow card) were not available. Having made his first appearance in the Bundesliga as a substitute at the beginning of February against Ingolstadt, he finally celebrated his debut in the starting XI. Pál Dárdai described his performance as “excellent”. He went on to add; “He put in some great challenges and won his headers.” The youngster looked more than comfortable right from the start. “I was really excited before the game but that did not distract me. I never let that happen,” said the promising centre-back.

Impact from the start

Torunarigha was not completely satisfied despite his convincing performance. “You can’t be happy because we lost,” he admitted. However the kinds of words expressed by his coach certainly are a source of motivation for him. “I’m delighted to be given praise like that. I’ve now been given a taste of the Bundesliga. It was really fun and now I want more,” he urged. The young talent looked sharp right from the outset when he managed to prevent Thorgan Hazard from getting his shot away from five metres out with a superb slide-tackle. In doing so, he not only managed to stop his team from going behind very early on, he also demonstrated his understanding of the game. “I saw that we had lost the ball and noticed Hazard running forward,” the Hertha man revealed. He was then able to anticipate the pass that followed. “I saw it coming and slid in to get in the way.”

Kade’s Bundesliga debut

As well as Torunarigha, there was also a first appearance for another Hertha man. Pál Dárdai brought on Julius Kade in the 81^st minute in place of Salomon Kalou, giving another bright talent from Hertha’s academy a chance in the first team. And Dárdai was also satisfied with the 17-year-old forward. “The young players blended in really well,” said the Hungarian. Despite their promising displays, the BSC head coach also thinks it is important not to place too high expectations on the new boys. “We don’t want to put them under any unnecessary pressure. We cannot expect Kade to score three goals against Augsburg.” But at least both have got off to a positive start. “These kinds of games are massive steps of our youngsters to take. Berlin can be very proud of them,” said a delighted Dárdai.