Berlin (AP) – In the faces of Urs Fischer and Timo Schultz you could not really see who was the winner and who was the loser.
Union Berlin’s head coach Fischer also admitted that it would take him a while before his joy at the next historic coup with the Irons was visually noticeable.
For the first time in 21 years, Union Berlin is in the semi-finals of the DFB Cup. The incredible football success story of the Köpenicker continues under Fischer with a new facet. The goal of the cup final on May 21 in the Olympic Stadium is becoming more and more concrete.
“I really congratulated the boys. Even if I haven’t shown it yet, I’m really happy,” said the Swiss after the hard-earned 2-1 win over FC St. Pauli.
Pauli trainer Schultz: “We weren’t good enough”
His Hamburg colleague Schultz had realized that too many details had not worked for his Kiezclub team for another magical cup evening after the round of 16 coup against Borussia Dortmund. “It’s a shame that the journey is over, Union would have fit in well with us, it wasn’t impossible, but we weren’t good enough,” said the ex-professional.
Union played out its experience advantage on a quite atmospheric, sporty but limited cup evening. The goals from Sheraldo Becker (45th minute) and cup specialist Andreas Voglsammer (75th) only came about through slips by Pauli goalkeeper Dennis Smarsch and defender Jakov Medic, who later burst into tears. The lead from the free kick by St. Pauli’s Daniel Kofi Kyereh (21st) was turned around.
“We have one day to be sad, then we’ll continue in the second division. We still have a lot to do there,” said Schultz. Of course, he means the possible promotion to the Bundesliga with opponents Karlsruher SC on Saturday as the next task. With his words, Schultz also initiated the exchange of niceties. “I have a gut feeling that they will do it,” Fischer said of the opponent’s ambitions.
Schultz, in turn, set the opponent’s goals a little higher for the rest of the season. “And now, Champions League and cup victory,” he whispered to Fischer after a warm hug after the press conference. The Union coach only thinks of a win on Saturday against VfL Wolfsburg and the renegade Max Kruse. Even if he doesn’t immediately show his joy about it.