After the grueling DFB Cup evening, Gerhard Struber got it. The coach of 1. FC Köln is lying flat. He had previously appeared highly emotional.
Gerhard Struber seems to be slowly arriving at 1. FC Köln and in the city. While the FC coach was aloof in the first few months, the FC now seems to be putting him under its spell. Rarely have you seen the Austrian as emotional as he was on Wednesday after the victory in the DFB Cup against Hertha BSC.
Struber had to attend the press conference after the game alone because his Berlin counterpart Cristian Fiel was already on his way home with his team. The 47-year-old simply made the stage his show, not only answering questions, but obviously having fun talking about everything that had happened during and before the game.
There was the appearance of Max Finkgräfe, the youngster that Struber had ignored in the previous weeks. And whose use the Austrian had actually ruled out at the press conference on Monday before the game – with pithy words. “There is also a certain strategy on a PK, so I don’t always want to spill the beans,” said Struber, grinning like someone who was caught fibbing.
There was the special praise for Eric Martel, or, as Struber called him on Wednesday evening: “Eric, the fearless!” A player who almost never loses a duel is considered the best player for direct duels in the 2nd Bundesliga and demonstrated this again on Wednesday. “So dominant, such good timing at a special level,” said Struber happily. “Matured”, “reliable”, a “winning DNA that you can’t beat into anyone’s head”. Struber was happy to talk about his “leader”.
Or about Dominique Heintz. “It’s like a red wine that keeps getting better,” Struber said with a laugh. And quite a few people in the room laughed with him. Typical, how Struber explained the advantages of the central defender, who “is cognitively at a very special level”. Just as he praised Heintz’s counterpart in the Hertha team, Toni Leistner, who once played for FC himself and who Struber “don’t want to see against us anymore – he was too good.”
Before the game, the FC fans set off fireworks in the south curve, which will cost the club a lot of money (those responsible are expecting a well-six-figure fine from the DFB). After the game, Struber set off fireworks of emotions and good mood.
“It’s a huge joy that we’ve all achieved something that hasn’t happened at 1. FC Köln for a long time. We’ve achieved a cool number.” After all, FC is in a DFB Cup quarter-final for the first time in 15 years.
“It brings us together,” said Struber. “It takes experiences like this again and again to bring us closer together.” And to get even warmer with the place and the club you work for. On Wednesday evening, Struber was different from the Struber who came to Cologne in the summer. Gerhard Struber seems to have arrived in Cologne, a coach who has realized what is possible with this club.
Struber was able to think about this again on Thursday. Because the day after the victory, Struber was missing from training. The Austrian caught the flu. But he would be happy to accept this for the feeling he was able to experience on Wednesday in front of a sold-out crowd. The 120 minutes in Müngersdorf showed that a football game does not always have to be at the highest level in order to have the most emotional impact.