Newsblog for 1. FC Cologne
After four months: FC-Youngster celebrates long-awaited comeback
Updated on 05.04.2025 – 11:03 pmReading time: 46 min.
The 1. FC Köln is the football club from the cathedral city. In the New sticker on T-Online you will find all the important messages about the “billy goats”.
Julian Pauli celebrated his comeback against Hertha BSC on Saturday evening. Almost four months after his serious head injury-suffered against the Hertha in the DFB Cup in early December-the 19-year-old was substituted for Jan Thielmann on matchday 28 against the Berliners in the 73rd minute.
Pauli could not prevent the 0-1 loss. However, after months of fear of his health, his comeback was a positive aspect for Cologne. “For Julian we were all happy today after this long time,” said sports manager Christian Keller after the game.
At 1. FC Köln there is a personal surprise before the home game against Hertha BSC. If coach Gerhard Struber had excluded a comeback from Damion Downs on Thursday, the attacker seems to be able to return to the squad against Berlin on Saturday.
Up to and including Wednesday, the striker was not fully resilient after his broken hand because he was not allowed to fall into the damaged area. On Thursday and Friday, however, Downs was able to complete the entire training content without impairments. Accordingly, the FC is confident that the goal scorer will count on the contingent on Saturday. The same also applies to Dejan Ljubicic: the Austrian had stepped on the foot shorter on Thursday after a blow, but reported fit again on Friday.
Thursday, April 3, 2025
The 1. FC Köln must also do without Timo Hübers against Hertha BSC. This was confirmed by coach Gerhard Struber on Thursday at the press conference before the game. The FC captain had deregistered itself last week before the away game in Paderborn due to a gastrointestinal infection. In addition, another central defender will be missing with Neo Telle due to illness.
For this, with Julian Pauli, Dominique Heintz and Dejan Ljubicic, three players return to the squad, who had recently been injured due to injuries or, as was missing in the case of Ljubicic. Luca Waldschmidt is probably also available after the attacker had recently kicked down due to a blessing.
Meanwhile, Damion Downs is not yet an option. So far, the attacker has only been partially integrated in training because he is not yet allowed to fall on his hand. The 20-year-old should then be able to get back completely on Monday. In addition, Jacob Christensen (deficit), Luca Kilian (cruciate ligament rupture), Jusuf Gazibegovic and Linton Maina (both ankle) are missing.
The 1. FC Köln drives its professionalization in women’s and girls’ and girls. With Philipp Backes, the club has now installed a squad planner for its female performance area for the first time. The 36-year-old recently worked for four and a half years for the male license area of Fortuna Düsseldorf, previously in the same function at Schalke 04.
The native Cologne and graduate of the German Sports University is now responsible for the scouting and squad planning area with FC women. “We are pleased that we were able to win an experienced scout with Philipp Backes. The scouting and squad planning are among the most important pillars of the license ball. With the support of Philipp, we want to further exhaust the potential of this area,” says division manager Nicole Bender-Rummler.
The 1. FC Köln has started the new training week with good and bad news. With Damion Downs (after a hand break) and Dominique Heintz (after muscle fiber tear), two top performers returned to team training on Tuesday morning, they can hope for a comeback on Saturday evening in the home game against Hertha BSC.
Captain Timo Hübers, who had missed the last game in Paderborn at short notice due to gastrointestinal problems, and Luca Waldschmidt, who had held a injury in the 2-1 victory in East Westphalia, was missing from the unit on Tuesday. With these two regulars, the FC must now see from day to day when it comes to use against Berliners. In addition to the long -term injuries, Jacob Christensen (muscular problems) could not take part in team training.