The unofficial debut of Joël Drommel for Sparta Rotterdam went painfully on Friday. The goalkeeper, who is on loan from PSV until the end of the season, committed two blunders in the friendly match against De Graafschap (3-3) in Delden, Twente.
The 28-year-old Drommel took a short goal kick halfway through the first half, after which he received the ball back from a defender. He then shot the ball against the leg of Reuven Niemeijer and the ball went in for the 1-1.
Shortly before half-time, things went wrong again for Drommel, who was in the Dutch national team squad several times up to three years ago. He had no answer to a shot from Ibrahim El Kadiri in the near corner, while that effort seemed saveable: 2-3.
Drommel then remained in the dressing room during half-time. According to Sparta, it had been agreed in advance that he would keep for a maximum of 45 minutes, as he had only trained a few times until Friday. He was replaced by Filip Bednarek.
Without Drommel in goal, Sparta equalized after half-time via Joshua Kitolano. That was it for trainer Maurice Steijn’s team, who had been on training camp in Delden, a place near Enschede, in recent days.
Sparta is still unbeaten in the preparation for the new season. The Rotterdammers won their four previous practice matches, against amateur club PPSC (7-0), the Westlands Elftal (8-0), FC Dordrecht (7-1) and ADO Den Haag (2-0). Sparta opens the Eredivisie on August 9 with an away match against PSV.