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Danny da Costa back after difficult weeks at Mainz

Danny da Costa had to wait a long time for this moment. For someone who quickly became a regular during his first engagement at FSV Mainz 05 and retained this status until the end of the season, even for a very long time. He was doing well after Rheinhessen’s most recent Bundesliga game: In the 1-1 draw against Hertha BSC, coach Bo Svensson sent the right-back onto the field in the 59th minute – for the first time this season.

“For me, coming on was a nice feeling,” says da Costa. “That’s why I’m a professional, to be on the pitch.” When the now 29-year-old returned to Bruchweg from Eintracht Frankfurt after a season in the summer, this time not for a six-month loan but with a three-year contract, the perspective was clear another.

Da Costa was set to compete with Silvan Widmer for a place on the right wing – not an easy task in itself after the Swiss international achieved top dog status last season, scoring four goals and assisting five more. Meanwhile, after a weak first week for the entire team, da Costa had ended up in the second and third rows in Frankfurt, from which he only sporadically stepped forward.

Finally pain free

Back in Mainz, that should change. In da Costa, the team “automatically has another leading player,” emphasized coach Svensson at the beginning of the preparation. In fact, however, it took around two and a half months before the 05ers had a player in the returnee. An inflammation of the pubic bone, which he contracted at Eintracht but had not healed properly, put him out of action throughout the preparation.

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