Teams | August 14, 2019 at 11:32 PM
Time to start!
Time to start!
Vladimir Darida opened the Blue-Whites’ 2019/20 campaign with the first competitive goal of the season. The Czech has returned to the forefront after a strong pre-season.
Berlin – Football as a sport comes from its well-established traditions: it is considered an unwritten rule that a strong start from the favourites makes the task of a supposedly weaker opposition much easier – so much so that players, as well as teams, sometimes have to create their own luck. Hertha BSC and Vladimir Darida confirmed that both assumptions are proved time and time again in the first competitive game of the 2019/20 season. It took only until the 11th minute for the Czech to turn in Ondrej Duda’s corner for an early lead, and to set the capital city club on the road to victory. “We rehearsed the corner before the game, it was an idea from Harry (assistant head coach Harald Gämperle) – luckily it paid off straight away;” Darida told herthabsc.de. “It was a great feeling when the ball landed in the net. It’s really important to score early in these types of games – we then began to add more and more, which is of course much better!” The starting point was the 29-year-old’s opening goal, the first competitive goal of the 2019/20 season for the Blue-Whites.
The first goal as a reward
The goal came as a reward for Darida’s hard work over the summer break and pre-season. “I am impressed by Darida’s performances, both throughout pre-season and in the first competitive game,” Ante Covic praised the Czech during the week. “He was able to seamless translate what he has shown over pre-season into the game against Eichstätt.” With lots of hard work, and without the injuries that had unfortunately plagued the midfielder’s previous season, Hertha’s number 6 has worked his way back into the starting line-up. “I knew that, without injury, I would be able to continue to help the team and leaving Hertha BSC never even crossed my mind,” Darida explained. “I had a great feeling throughout pre–season, and I’ve taken that with me into the first few games!”
Taking that good feeling to Munich
It’s this same feeling from the first victory of the season that Darida and his teammates will take with them to Munich to open their Bundesliga campaign. Hertha know that their match against FC Bayern is an entirely different scenario – nonetheless, the Czech sees the opportunity to upset the record German champions. “First and foremost, it’s about being confident in ourselves and wanting the ball – even in Munich. We know that Bayern have a lot of quality on their team, but we don’t want to just sit back – we want to compete with them,” said Darida ahead of Friday’s match in the Bavarian capital. “If we do so, then we’ll be able to take a valuable points from the match.”
The first goal as a reward
The goal came as a reward for Darida’s hard work over the summer break and pre-season. “I am impressed by Darida’s performances, both throughout pre-season and in the first competitive game,” Ante Covic praised the Czech during the week. “He was able to seamless translate what he has shown over pre-season into the game against Eichstätt.” With lots of hard work, and without the injuries that had unfortunately plagued the midfielder’s previous season, Hertha’s number 6 has worked his way back into the starting line-up. “I knew that, without injury, I would be able to continue to help the team and leaving Hertha BSC never even crossed my mind,” Darida explained. “I had a great feeling throughout pre–season, and I’ve taken that with me into the first few games!”
Taking that good feeling to Munich
It’s this same feeling from the first victory of the season that Darida and his teammates will take with them to Munich to open their Bundesliga campaign. Hertha know that their match against FC Bayern is an entirely different scenario – nonetheless, the Czech sees the opportunity to upset the record German champions. “First and foremost, it’s about being confident in ourselves and wanting the ball – even in Munich. We know that Bayern have a lot of quality on their team, but we don’t want to just sit back – we want to compete with them,” said Darida ahead of Friday’s match in the Bavarian capital. “If we do so, then we’ll be able to take a valuable points from the match.”