By Paul Gorgas
In the 8-0 friendly in Frankfurt (Oder), Hertha’s Deyovaisio Zeefuik (24) was allowed to play for 90 minutes. But his thoughts were elsewhere.
After the testicular tumor diagnosis for Jean-Paul Boëtius (28), Hertha is in shock. Especially Zeefuik: The Dutchman is good friends with compatriot Boëtius, both of whom can often be seen together on the training ground.
This is one of the reasons why Zeefuik visited Boëtius on Wednesday evening after the shocking diagnosis. Zeefuik to BZ: “It was a difficult day. He said he didn’t know how to feel. He didn’t cry, but I cried. That took me away.”
Zeefuik continued: “He is my friend, he has my sympathy. My thoughts were only with him, I could hardly think about the game.”
The right-back now wants to support his friend: “Football is not the top priority now. Now we hope that the tumor is not malignant and that it can come back quickly.” Zeefuik promises: “I will be with him and support him.”
The other colleagues and trainer Sandro Schwarz (43) also want that. The coach gave a speech to the team before training on Thursday.
Schwarz: “We deal with it with great openness in the team, as we did with Marco.” Marco Richter (25) had an operation in July, did not need chemotherapy and has now scored two joker goals.
Schwarz: “We’re now looking at what we can do for Djanga in the hope that things will go like Marco.”