Lee Jae-sung scores for Mainz in extended two-hour friendly

Football

Published: 11 Jan. 2023, 15:52

Lee Jae-sung scores for Mainz in extended two-hour friendly

Mainz midfielder Lee Jae-sung, left, celebrates with teammate Karim Onisiwo during a friendly against Luzern at the Marbella Football Center in southern Spain in an image shared by the club Tuesday. [MAINZ 05]

Lee Jae-sung proved the Bundesliga’s long winterpause hasn’t impacted his game, scoring goal No. 4 in Mainz’s 5-1 win over Swiss side Luzern in an extended friendly on Tuesday at the Marbella Football Center in southern Spain.

Tuesday’s friendly was played in an unusual 120-minute format, with two marathon 60-minute halves to allow both coaches to test as many players as possible in the middle of the long winter break.

The Bundesliga is somewhat unique among the big European leagues for taking a long winter break in the middle of the season. Ostensibly scheduled due to snow making it difficult to play in Germany, the long winterpause allows players a chance to rest and focus on training, often for the majority of January.

Germany isn’t entirely alone in this tradition, with France, Spain and Italy all having brief pauses during the season, but the winterpause is far longer than any equivalent break. The Premier League alone has never taken a winter break, although there is now normally a one-week pause in February.

With the addition of the 2022 Qatar World Cup last year, the break for the Bundesliga this year caps out at more than two months, with Mainz playing their last league game on Nov. 13 and their next game on Jan. 21.

Even for players who went to the World Cup, that’s a very long break. Lee played his last game on Dec. 5 — the round of 16 match against Brazil — more than a month ago.

Mainz spent the first half of December in Mallorca where they played a series of friendlies against Mallorca and its B team, before returning to Germany for Christmas and heading back to southern Spain on Jan. 4. The club returns to Germany on Wednesday, and will play one more friendly against Hoffenheim on Jan. 14 before the Bundesliga resumes.

In the extended friendly on Tuesday, goals came from Leandro Barreiro, Aarón Martín, Ben Bobzien, Lee and Karim Onisiwo. The one goal for Luzern, who are sixth in the Swiss league, was scored by Samuele Campo.

Lee’s contribution came from a short cross to the near post, where he was able to overcome the sharp angle to head the ball back into the net. Lee has scored two goals in the Bundesliga so far this season.

Mainz will play their first game after the break against VfB Stuttgart when the Bundesliga finally returns on Jan. 21.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]