Group finals of the club World Cup
Kovac under pressure-failure of three BVB stars threatens
Updated on June 25th, 2025 – 4:27 a.m.Reading time: 2 min.
Transfer rumors surrender to Jamie Gitten. The Englishman is sick and did not start the flight to Cincinnati, trainer Niko Kovac now reveals. There are also two more failures.
Borussia Dortmund goes to the group finals at the club World Cup against Ulsan HD. At the duel with the South Korean team on Wednesday (9:00 p.m./Sat.1 and DAZN), Jamie Gitten and possibly also Marcel Sabitzer and Giovanni Reyna will be missing.
“We left Jamie at home because he is sick,” said coach Niko Kovac on Tuesday in Cincinnati about the courted offensive player, who should be on numerous top clubs, including Bayern Munich and FC Chelsea. “Despite all the rumors that are probably circulating: he is really sick,” emphasized Kovac.
After a press strike in the past game against Mamelodi Sundowns (4: 3), Sabitzer had “had a little problems with his knee, he trained a little less,” said Kovac. In the training on Tuesday, the Austrian “participated in part, we have to look, we’ll get another go.”
Reyna has also been cold and spent the past few days in the room in the team quarters in Florida. “The nose was closed, the neck scratched. The air conditioning is part of it,” said Kovac. Reyna has not yet played at the club World Cup, just a few minutes in the opening game against Fluminense (0-0).
BVB is sufficient against Ulsan a point to progress, but leaving is also possible. At the same time, the leaders of Fluminense and Mamelodi from South Africa play. Kovac emphasized that he was expecting a “very difficult game” against Ulsan that would not be a high -speed game “due to the temperatures”. In Cincinnati, temperatures of 34 degrees Celsius are expected at the time of the game, on the square Kovac expects more than 40 degrees.
“They are special conditions. We play football, but that has nothing to do with sport itself. We are used to different temperatures,” said the Croatian: “It may be something nice for the viewer, rather a pain for the footballer. But we have to go through there.”