Test-friendly success

VfB dominated the first half against the Dutch first division side and created a number of good chances. With just two minutes played, Berkay Özcan tested Twente goalkeeper Jöel Drommel with a free-kick effort. Just minutes later, Chadrac Akolo’s shot from the edge of the box proved to central (8'). Following some good combination play between Mario Gomez and captain Christian Gentner, the returning striker was on target immediately in his first game back in the jersey with the infamous red hoop (29'). Ten minutes later, the 32-year-old almost added a second, but the pass from Takuma Asano was intercepted at the last gasp (39'). Hannes Wolf’s side duly took a deserved 1-0 lead into the half-time break.

To begin the second period, Hannes Wolf made a total of seven changes, with two more to follow during the course of the second-half (see "The VfB line-up"). On the day, Andreas Beck and Marcin Kaminski were the only two VfB players involved over the duration. The large number of alterations to the team initially did little to interrupt Stuttgart’s dominance. In the 53^rd minute, Nicolas Sessa unleashed the first warning shot on the opposition goal, but dragged his effort narrowly wide of the mark. In difficult, extremely windy, conditions, VfB remained defensively stable, albeit without creating much by the way of openings on the offensive. The best chance of the half to that posit fell to Daniel Ginczek, who was denied by the Dutch side’s keeper (76'). In the closing minutes, Ailton made it 2-0 for VfB with a headed goal and, on the stroke of full-time, Enschede reduced the score-line to 2-1. On the whole, it was a deserved win for the Cannstatt Boys, after three intensive days in the winter training camp.

Hannes Wolf: "The wind was certainly a factor today and it influenced the game. On the whole, we are not dissatisfied with how things went. In the first-half, we had too few clear openings on goal, in spite of stringing together several good moves. In the second-half, we did less going forward. Mario had some good scenes, with a lot of dynamic, and he scored a really nice goal."