Better late than never. The 1. FC Köln sets a thick exclamation mark in the decisive promotion final, emotionizes the fans in the stadium and even celebrates a double championship. Firefighter Friedhelm Funkel again becomes a promotion hero. You will find a strange season happy ending.
At exactly 5:22 p.m. the time had come. All the tension that had been thawed over a whole season had to get out. The stadium spokesman’s pleading announcements not to enter the interior were deliberately ignored by the spectators. Referee Sören Storks whistled the game. In the same second, fans of 1. FC Köln rustled on the lawn of the Müngersdorf stadium from all sides. The starting signal to the wild promotion party.
Effzeh actually did it. With a sovereign 4-0 win over the 1st FC Kaiserslautern in the last home game, the club packs the longed-for and important climb, even becomes a second division champion because the HSV is in Fürth. Curiously, it was even the second FC championship this Sunday – more on that.
Which may be even more astonishing: Effzeh has managed to get the fans back on his side in this game, to regain the goat from the goat. Not an easy undertaking in the past few weeks. And now they stood in masses on the “holy lawn” and cheered their promotion heroes.
Video: FC fans escalate
Less than ten minutes after the storm, captain Timo Hüber’s and the early football pensioner Mark Uth put the second division into the Cologne sky. Behind it, the scolded Tim Lemperle coach Friedhelm Funkel grabbed his shoulder and threw it. “I am the world champions Vum Rhing” from the Bläck Fööss, ballerted out of the boxes. Much more Cologne doesn’t work. The climb is all Kölsch-Like again “Joot Jejange”. The bowl wandered around. At 5:35 p.m. Friedhelm Funkel tore her up.
Aufstege are his thing: Funkel is expanding its record
Sports director Thomas Kessler confessed that he found this “rim” “not so beautiful”, “but the boys had a great pleasure in it,” he said. “As a player, I know how nice it is to give them around and show them the fans.” But much more important: “In the end, the point is that after a year we managed to get back to the Bundesliga.”
This goal had been faltering badly in the past few weeks. The doubts grew. So big that coach Gerhard Struber and sports director Christian Keller had to go about it about two weeks ago. Not necessarily to be expected at the time, but it was possible: a emotion monster grew up from the sadness. Created primarily by Friedhelm Funkel.
Funkel at all – what a story. This Sunday he expanded his own record and celebrated his seventh promotion to the Bundesliga as a coach – by the way, as many as 1. FC Köln (all from 2000). A good two weeks ago he took over the Effzeh as a firefighter. This was followed by two deserved victories and an impressively factual moderation of a tangible scandal around striker Tim Lemperle, who was broken after an alcoholic party tour.
In general, the Causa Lemperle quickly moved into the background on Sunday. After the striker’s substitution, there was a few whistles with a mask, but that was it too. Previously, Funkel had demonstratively hung him. Instead of a Suff batch, double championship was announced today, sometimes it works in Cologne that quickly.
There was very little to see from the Cologne team in the most important game of the season. The hosts took the motivational banner and the emotional announcement of the ultras before the game (“You have everything in your hand! The FC started as powerfully as the spectators and immediately achieved good opportunities. Through remarkable combinations, the Effzeh made almost everything cleared by Eric Martel (14) and Luca Waldschmidt (29th) at half -time.
Grandios farewell for Mark Uth
The second round then got to the show. It was foreseeable early: 1st FC Kaiserslautern was not up to this game, this stage was not up to. Funkel used the phase to give Lemperle a last game in the FC dress (his move to Hoffenheim is stated in accordance with reports) and also to give veteran Mark Uth a glorious farewell. He ended the active career in summer and got his last hurray. The 33-year-old set up the crown with the 4-0. One last time a long “Uuuuuuth” echoed through the stadium.
So everything fit for the club and the fans. So all the better that the U19 had already presented in the morning and defeated 5: 4 Bayer Leverkusen in the master finals in a wild 5: 4. “It sounds strange, but it is true: 1. FC Köln is a German champion,” the stadium spokesman announced before the start of the game. And when the successful youngsters appeared in the 40th minute from their master exit from Leverkusen on the edge of the south curve and shell, they were immediately discovered and celebrated from the entire stadium. “German champion is only FC Köln,” the audience stated. The youngsters were also celebrated during the half -time break.
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So the whole club and the fans rushed towards the jubilee climb. Forget the more than strange season, the setbacks, the many question marks about the future of the club. At least for the moment.
The team celebrated Kölschem songs in the circle, shortly afterwards Funkel was satisfied and with Kölsch in hand towards the cabin. In any case, there was a lot of operation in the catacombs. Sure, Kölsch had to be brought up in XXL glasses.
The kitchen in Cologne is “particularly hot”
President Werner Wolf summarized the relief. “There is a heavy stone,” he said in the mixed zone. Shortly afterwards he received a beer shower from defender Jan Thielmann and grinned anyway.
So how can the season be assessed? “If you are in the kitchen in Cologne, it is particularly hot, you have to have good nerves and good condition. I think we made the right decision at the right time,” he said in retrospect about the coaching. “It was all the time I was that it went out.”
Luca Waldschmidt also emphasized that the important impulse that Funkel brought into the team also emphasized. The offensive player explained that they were more prudent on “your own strengths”.
“Friedhelm said to everyone what the strengths are and they also play. If you see the joy we play with football, the last two victories are very deserved,” said Waldschmidt. Funkel had “experienced and managed” the task in the two games.
FC boss: “He can!”
President Wolf also praised the 71-year-old. “Obviously he can do it! He has proven it for the seventh time that he can do it. He did it,” said the FC boss.
How important the climb is, he makes it clear with just one sentence: “The difference between the first and second division is 30 to 40 million euros.”
But he didn’t want to look too far into the future. Who will be a new trainer? New sports director? “Today we look forward to two championship titles, from tomorrow we will start thinking again what the future will look like.” The new sporting tour is to be found “as quickly as possible”.
The future begins on Monday. Jecker football carnival is still there on Sunday.
Other things were more important for fans too. Many left the outputs with a large piece of ascent turf in the hands of balancing or even in the beer cup.
One corner further roared from the European Cup. That’s how it is in the football carnival. Everything allowed.