SC Freiburg is back in the cup semi-finals for the first time in nine years. At that time, the highly acclaimed team collapsed. Ex-players now reveal why the 2013 final failed.
17 April 2013: 59,000 spectators watch the semifinals of the DFB Cup in the Mercedes-Benz Arena, home of VfB Stuttgart. In the end there was no stopping the Stuttgart fans. The team defeated a young team from Freiburg 2:1. SCF coach Christian Streich and players like Oliver Baumann, Matthias Ginter, Jonathan Schmid, Daniel Caligiuri, Max Kruse, Julian Schuster and Jan Rosenthal have to admit defeat. Despite a great season, the team left the field as losers.
On April 19, 2022, almost nine years later to the day, SC Freiburg is back in a cup semi-final for the first time. The coach of the Breisgauer is still Christian Streich. The former player and captain Schuster is now the liaison coach. Players like Jonathan Schmid and then substitute Christian Günter are back again. The starting position is similar. The opponent this time: Hamburger SV. Another away game awaits the team. And yet there are differences and situations from exactly this game on April 17, 2013, from which Freiburg can learn.
t-online spoke to current players and ex-professionals about the parallels between the two seasons and why they could make it into the semi-finals this time.
“Would love to see it in a final”
The current team around Vincenzo Grifo is looking forward to the game. The winger says to t-online: “It means a lot to me because I’ve never been in a semi-final. The cup is a competition in itself and it’s really cool to get that far. We want to get the maximum out of it. I’m also at a certain age where I would like to see being in a final one day, but it’s not just me that sees it that way, the whole team does.”
Vincenzo Grifo: The winger has already scored eight goals and provided seven assists this season. (Source: regios24/imago images)
The team can learn from the mistakes of the 2013 team. “It was a fairly warm April evening, a floodlit game with an emotional atmosphere in the stands in a sold-out Stuttgart stadium with 60,000 spectators,” remembers then goalkeeper Oliver Baumann, who is now under contract with TSG Hoffenheim. He continues to t-online: “In a competitive game we were able to quickly equalize the very early VfB lead. A good 10,000 Freiburg fans supported us on site at the time. But I still have the scene in mind when Martin Harnik per head then scored to make it 2-1 for VfB. Very annoying, but looking back it was a great experience, the semifinals.”
Oliver Baumann (r.): The goalkeeper was 22 years old at the time, went through the youth teams of the SCF up to the professionals. (Source: Sven Simon/imago images)
Friborg 2013? “Game was too emotional”
Freiburg were in top form in the 2012/13 season. A young and successful team. Before the semi-finals, the Streich team had just defeated Hannover 3-1 in the league and were in fifth place. Why didn’t you win in the decisive game? Jan Rosenthal, the then open player who scored against VfB, says to t-online: “The problem with the game was that the game was too charged and emotional. Also from the coaching team. We saw a motivational video on the bus. That was simply too much for the quite young and very sensitive team.” National player Matthias Ginter was 19 at the time, Christian Günter 20 and Baumann 22.
Ginter himself remembers t-online, saying: “Of course it was a huge experience – especially since it was also a derby. We felt there was more in this game, but in the end it was very unfortunate for us.”
Rosenthal adds: “The team worked so well back then because they played without pressure. Many players who had had a great season up until then were in extremely bad shape in the game and nothing worked that day. We believe that it had a lot to do with putting too much pressure on that game, more than was necessary.” The long-time Freiburg professional Karim Guédé on t-online, who is now a scout at SCF, remembers similarly: “We didn’t get into the game well and you couldn’t really enjoy it. Our own nervousness inhibited us at the time.”
Matthias Ginter (left) and Christian Streich: The coach had to comfort his player after the 2013 semifinals. (Source: Michael Weber/imago images)
Could that also be fatal for Christian Streich’s team this time? The SCF is currently in fifth place and is having an outstanding season. Vincenzo Grifo says: “We bring a certain amount of experience with us and can be confident. But we play in Hamburg. They’re a great team that also has quality and plays at the top. They also have the fans behind them, who have an incredible amount of power . It can be very uncomfortable and we will fight against it.”
“We’re happy that we can prove ourselves”
Rosenthal sees differences in the current team compared to back then, which could be decisive. “Freiburg has more players available than we did back then. We had a starting eleven and a maximum of 14 players available. Christian Streich can currently fall back on 18, 19 players and is currently attacking with Petersen, Demirović, Jeong, Grifo, Höler and Schade rotate and there is still no big drop in quality,” said the club’s ex-attacking player. However, he also emphasizes: “It’s now about making what they can do available. Tactically and playfully, the team will be superior to HSV.”
Although Hamburg also has exceptional players like Sonny Kittel in the squad, the individual quality is greater across the board on the SCF side. And HSV coach Tim Walter’s more offensive style of play could also suit the prank team. “We were 2-1 down very early after a long season and couldn’t go any further in the second half. I think that’s different now because Streich could bring other people on board. I’m very optimistic,” says Rosenthal . Grifo adds with regard to the season played by SCF so far: “We’ve been very consistent this year and keep proving our performance. I can’t remember when we had a bad phase this season. We’re very happy that we can prove it to ourselves.”
“I wish you with all my heart”
As for the stadium, the situation is similar to nine years ago. 57,000 spectators go to the Volksparkstadion. The HSV fans are also known for their passion, similar to the Cannstatt curve. Christian Streich has now been with SC Freiburg for ten years and won the second division championship with the club in the 2015/16 season. Again and again he builds a functioning team from young, new players and leads them to success.
Peter Neururer said a few years ago about Streich: “Would he become champion with Bayern? I think yes. Would Pep Guardiola get back up with Freiburg immediately after being relegated and pack Europe? I think no.” Streich can beat Hamburger SV with SC Freiburg and would then be in the final in Berlin. A perfectly conceivable scenario. “I would begrudge every single person and every single player to reach the final. I sincerely wish them the best,” says Guédé.
“I hope all the more that Freiburg will have luck on their side this time,” says Ginter. “I wish Christian Streich’s team every success, that they do better than we did back then and get into the final,” says Oliver Baumann and has one more piece of advice: “SC should focus on themselves and their strengths, everything around them and the Hide the pressure of being knocked out and, if I may say so, enjoy the game.”