Back on the pitch at last: Downs on his HSV debut | OneFootball

The most important realization for Damion Downs was quickly clear: He was finally allowed to play again! Just three days after his first training session, the striker was immediately in the starting lineup for HSV's away game in Freiburg.

“I am dissatisfied with the result,” the 21-year-old openly admitted after the match. At the same time, his satisfaction with the sporting new beginning prevailed: “Overall, it was extremely fun to play here. I was very happy to take the field for the club for the first time.”

In England, Downs hadn't played a single minute for two months, initially due to injury, later for performance reasons. HSV coach Merlin Polzin immediately placed his trust in him and positioned him at the forefront instead of Ransford Königsdörffer.

However, the match in Freiburg was anything but an easy environment for a debut. HSV played very passively for a long time, with balls forward mostly coming high and uncontrolled. Nevertheless, Downs had his first big opportunity after 38 minutes. However, he couldn't handle a pass from Sambi Lokonga with the necessary control.

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Downs sees “pretty good” HSV game

After the yellow-red card against Daniel Elfadli, his task became even more difficult. “In certain games, that's just part of it,” Downs explained regarding his role, which mainly consisted of working against the ball. “You could see that we first had to focus on defending. Accordingly, it is also part of football to suffer, if you want to call it that.”

After 78 minutes, it was over for the Southampton loanee. His personal statistics remained modest due to the course of the game. On the positive side: Downs seems to have already settled in Hamburg. “The team made it extremely easy for me,” he emphasized. “It's an extremely good group, they welcomed me very well right away, so it was pretty easy for me.”

And the American international was also satisfied with the team's performance. “I think we actually played a pretty good game. The red card and the goals against were unfortunate,” he said on Sky. “We just hope that we can deliver a good performance again in the coming weeks and also take some points.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.