DWhat was said had not been in the world long before Jessic Ngankam provided the proof. The new striker from the Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt announced that he was physically robust during the introduction round at the training camp in Windischgarsten when he was asked about his strengths. And only a short time later, in the final game of the training session, he let his teammate Paxten Aaronson bounce off him twice in such a way that the lightweight from the United States had to shake himself first. A duel with a message: the new one is here!
Ngankam, so much can be said after a week at Eintracht, is not one to hide or take it easy in the first few weeks at the new club. That could already be seen in his first test match for Frankfurt against SG Barockstadt Fulda-Lehnerz. He then took a penalty in the 48th minute, having just been substituted on and not having even touched the ball. Ngankam missed. Like a few weeks ago in the jersey of the German national team at the U-21 European Championship, when he was subsequently the victim of ugly hostility on social media. “It’s sad that we were hated in a racist manner,” says Ngankam, who publicly defended himself together with Borussia Dortmund striker Youssoufa Moukoko, who was also badly abused. As a player you have to stand above it, he said now in Austria.
The 23-year-old has not had an easy time. Frankfurt is like a new start for him. Most recently, he experienced two relegations from the Bundesliga: first with SpVgg Greuther Fürth, then with his home club Hertha BSC. He missed the first half of last season due to a knee injury and a torn muscle fiber. In the second half of the season he contributed four goals and two assists to the offensively disastrous Hertha game. But even the young player could not prevent relegation. Of course it was a difficult season, says Ngankam. But now it’s time to look to the future: “I just want to put the issue behind me.” And the missed penalty in Fulda? “Like with the national team, I just had a good feeling and wanted to take the penalty. Unfortunately it didn’t work out,” says the attacker: “But the next one will go in.”
“Challenging but fun”
It’s that easy with him. Ngankam embodies a lightness that can do a team good. This was also shown in the first round of questions: How is the training camp going? “Exhausting, but fun.” The units under the new coach? “Everything goes well, it’s fun.” And the competition? A “cool” thing: “We have a lot of quality in the team with Kolo Muani, Marmoush, Lindstrom and so on. I’m happy about that, because then you can and must develop further.”
Leaving the capital, where Ngankam grew up in Spandau, was not easy for him. “When you live in Berlin your whole life, it’s not that easy. It still feels a bit strange right now.” He could have stayed with that. However, he turned down an offer from Union Berlin because of his connection to Hertha, where he trained from 2007 and – apart from the loans to Fürth – also spent his time as a professional.
So now Frankfurt. The first change of club. It remains to be seen what role he will play, says Ngankam. If striker Randal Kolo Muani stays, there are only a few free places left on the offensive next to the seeded play designer Mario Götze, for which many players are competing. His favorite position is the striker, says Ngankam. But the attacker can also play on the wing, where Aaronson met him in the final game mentioned earlier. What didn’t work so well was scoring goals, which Ngankam also counts among his qualities.
But that applied to the entire team. In promising positions, sometimes the last pass was missing, sometimes the assertiveness, and sometimes the running paths weren’t right. In the end, of course, it was Kolo Muani who scored the only goal of the day and decided the game with a powerful shot. There is a need to catch up. Goal scoring was practiced for at least another 45 minutes in the following session on Tuesday.
Also there were Robin Koch (adductor problems) and Tuta (concussion), who did part of the team training. Whether the two will be fit for Friday’s penultimate test match against Vitesse Arnhem is still open. Tuta is not looking so good because of the medical protocol that players have to go through after concussion, said sporting director Timmo Hardung.
In Windischgarsten, defensive content should be on the agenda from now on. “We’re working on tactical things,” says Ngankam, “but we’ll definitely have to run a bit.” In any case, the level here is higher than in Berlin. When playing corners, it sometimes happens that he chases the ball for a minute in the middle. The pace is high. This applies to training, but also to his potential strike partner Kolo Muani, who is one of the fastest players in the Bundesliga. Can Ngankam keep up? “Kolo is very fast,” he says. “But I think I’m pretty fast too. We’re both fast.” The newcomer certainly doesn’t lack self-confidence.
