Representing Kevin Trapp, young goalkeeper Diant Ramaj hesitantly stepped off the pitch after the draw between FC Augsburg and Eintracht Frankfurt.
The 20-year-old Bundesliga debutant had saved his Eintracht with a strong save in added time against FCA joker Florian Niederlechner to make it 1-1 (1-1), but looked very unhappy when they equalized. “I acquit him completely,” coach Oliver Glasner defended his junior. “Diant Ramaj made a great debut and did it very well.”
Signing the number two was a pre-season sporting gamble, but for the most part Ramaj was convincing from the cold start. After the lead by Daichi Kamada (22nd), the native of Stuttgart let himself be outwitted by Augsburg’s Michael Gregoritsch in the equalizer (38th minute).
“I saw that the goalkeeper is very far from the post,” said the Austrian. “Then I tried what I like to do for fun in training against our goalkeepers – shoot at the near post. Of course it’s great that it works.”
Ramaj’s “Big Safe” in the closing stages
It is not clear how long the German U20 national goalkeeper will have to replace Trapp, who, like Filip Kostic, is the second key player in Frankfurt due to a corona infection. But most of the scenes should give Ramaj, who also has a Wikipedia entry since Sunday, confidence for the tasks ahead.
“He was very brave, you never noticed that it was his first Bundesliga game,” said Glasner’s assistant Jan Zimmermann. “As a goalkeeping coach, I’m happy for him, he exuded confidence with the many crosses and was able to help the team with his save in the end.”
Ramaj’s final save also influenced coach Glasner’s conclusion. “On the one hand, I’m a bit sad that we didn’t win, which could have been,” said the 47-year-old. “On the other hand, we had a big safe in stoppage time.”
Augsburg is waiting for Pepi’s first goal
It was the first league game for 20-year-old Ramaj, and the first test in the starting line-up for Augsburg’s Ricardo Pepi, who was a year younger. “Everyone recognizes that he is an incredibly intelligent striker,” said FCA manager Stefan Reuter after his team moved up to 15th place. “What’s missing is the goal we’re waiting for.”
The American, who was substituted in the 1: 3 in Hoffenheim the previous week, recently came from FC Dallas for a fee of 13 million euros plus bonus payments. “We have to do even better in the upcoming games and keep working hard, then we will be successful,” said the 19-year-old. Next opponent for FCA is Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday. Eintracht Frankfurt continues on Friday with a home game against Arminia Bielefeld.
dpa
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Stand: 17.01.2022, 07:20
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