Casteels: “I can lean a lot from Wiese“

“Koen is a really good guy, a nice kid and very well educated. There's no doubt he has huge potential and we hope he can fulfil that here”, says TSG goalkeeping coach Zsolt Petry. Casteels joined the club last summer from KRC Genk and celebrated his 20th birthday on Monday. Upon his arrival, he was third-choice keeper behind Daniel Haas and Tom Starke. He spent the 2011/12 season as the regular goalkeeper for the club's reserve team, but will be part of the first team squad this campaign. He will act as the understudy to German international keeper Tim Wiese, who was signed from Werder Bremen and is currently on international duty at the European Championships in Poland and Ukraine.

And the Belgian is very much looking forward to working with such a seasoned professional. “I'm excited about training with Tim. He's an experiences keeper and has proven how good he is on many occasions. I will try too learn as much as possible from him”, said an excited Casteels.

Coach Petry is also confident about how the two players will combine. “Having Tim there will be a huge benefit for Koen. Koen has been coached very well, but he still lacks a little bit of aggression and perhaps the belief in himself. That will come with age, but it's something that Tim can certainly help with.”