BVB praise work of debutant Wätjen: "A great kicker."
The Germany U17 international - who recorded an assist in his first Bundesliga match - now heads back to the classroom for an important Abitur examination on Tuesday.
| Photo: Sandro Halank, Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-SA 4.0 |
Part of Christian Wück's Germany U17 squad that captured a World Championship last December, 18-year-old midfield talent Kjell Wätjen most certainly impressed in his Bundesliga debut against Augsburg on Saturday. BVB trainer selected the teenage talent as one of ten fresh outfielder's he rotated into the XI between Champions' League semi-final legs.
Wätjen ended up getting his name on the scoresheet, assisting on former BVB captain Marco Reus' 4-1 just prior to half-time. Reus - amid his other comments on one of the most special days of his career - called Wätjen a "simply great kicker". Terzic and BVB sporting director Sebastian Kehl also offered up words of praise.
"We threw him in," Kehl said, "He was a bit nervous. But the way the team helped him and the way he got into the game quickly gave him confidence. He was involved in a lot of transitional plays, repeatedly demanded balls, and registered an assist. He had a lot of confidence in himself."
Wätjen - who went the full 90 - racked 11.45 kilometers, won 57 percent of his duels, and connected with 89 percent of his passes. Terzic, who has selected the youngster for his bench squad four times in the UCL this year, regrettably noted that school exams on Tuesday would prevent Wätjen from traveling with the team to Paris.
