1. FC Saarbrücken creates a cup sensation against Bayern Munich. After the moment for the history books, there is pure ecstasy in Saarland.
The Saarbrücken heroes around Marcel Gaus danced to the sounds of Ballermann in the dressing room, coach Rüdiger Ziehl enjoyed the magical moments – and the fans celebrated the cup miracle with a motorcade: After the triumph against the great Bayern, there was pure ecstasy in Saarland. “A game for the history books,” enthused Gaus, the winning goalscorer: “There are games that people still talk about decades later. And that was one of those games.”
After the crazy 2:1 (1:1) in the second round, Ziehl spontaneously gave his team a day off from training on Thursday and personally gave the order to party. “If we don’t celebrate today, you can never celebrate,” said the otherwise so level-headed coach: “Everyone would think I was crazy if I said that they should go home after two beers.” Many players obeyed obediently and mingled with the joy-drunk supporters at the St. Johann market until late into the night.
The winning song, specially created by the band Schaafa Senf, resounded again and again through thousands of throats in Saarbrücken’s party district. “Because in the most beautiful city, blue and black are also crushing Bayern,” says the rewritten version of the classic ‘Scandal in the Restricted Area’: “The FCS was well trained and Thomas Müller was smeared.” Already in 1977, the Saarbrücken team had humiliated the record champions led by Gerd Müller and Franz Beckenbauer 6-1.
Cup heroes can hardly believe their luck
The new sensation will give the club “a billion-dollar reach, which is not an everyday occurrence. That’s the case all over the world,” exulted Gaus, who sent the Ludwigspark into a state of emergency in the sixth minute of stoppage time. Even more important, however, is the realization that “we can achieve a lot together.” The cup heroes could hardly believe their luck.
“A highlight in life,” said Calogero Rizzuto, overwhelmed: “How many teams win against Bayern? Things have looked bleak in the last few weeks. I’ve never had a better evening yet.” He “cannot yet realize what he has achieved” and will definitely “not sleep”. Patrick Sontheimer (45th + 2) equalized Thomas Müller’s lead (16th) for the underdogs, who were at least equal in the first half.
Keeper Schreiber: “Simply awesome!”
In the second half, Tim Schreiber surpassed himself as Bayern stormed. “I can’t believe it. It’s crazy,” the keeper shouted into the “ARD” microphone: “Simply awesome.” Remarkably, Ziehl even switched to attacking in the final phase despite constant pressure from Munich. “It was clear that we would lose extra time,” said the 46-year-old: “We had to score the goal because we wouldn’t have made it for 120 minutes – an incredible feat of will.”
However, in contrast to the euphoric fans, he is “not yet giving any thought” to a possible sensational run to the semi-finals like in 2020, emphasized Ziehl. With a performance like that against Bayern, the Bundesliga founding member in the Ludwigspark Fortress can do anything.