1. FC Cologne
Tears at Kwasniok? FC coach explains his emotional reaction
12/7/2025 – 7:33 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
Tears from Lukas Kwasniok after 1. FC Köln’s 1-1 draw against FC St. Pauli? The billy goats’ coach denies it – and fails at the goal wall on ZDF.
Lukas Kwasniok was a guest at the ZDF sports studio for the first time on Saturday evening. The coach of the 1. FC Cologne had to explain his team’s 1-1 draw against FC St. Pauli – with a bitter equalizing goal in the very last scene of the game. The presenter also asked the 44-year-old about the TV images after the final whistle.
In these you could see him sitting on the bench with damp cheeks, wiping his eyes. Were there tears because of the late 1-1 equalizer and the resulting loss of victory? No, Kwasniok clarified. “Too much is being read into it.”
His explanation: “I sweat a lot and very quickly. Those were more like beads of sweat that dripped down,” said Kwasniok at the ZDF microphone with presenter Sven Voss. In addition, Kwasniok had to stand in the constant rain in Cologne throughout the game. This was how the moist cheeks were explained in the end.
However, Kwasniok also made it clear that it was not easy for him to keep his emotions under control this Saturday. The last-second equalizer clearly took a toll on him. “It was grueling because there was nothing to suggest it. Today we lost 1-1.” And then Kwasniok also admitted: “It hasn’t been as bad as today in the past.”
At least Kwasniok was able to smile again at the end of the evening, because then he went to the legendary goal wall in the gym for the first time in his career. “More goals than Zieler and Bülter combined,” Kwasniok decided. The two FC players had not scored a single goal in their appearances at the goal wall in the past.
But in the end Kwasniok also failed to score in the three attempts at the bottom right and three at the top left. “I didn’t want to leave my players in the shadows,” commented the 44-year-old with a smile. In a week, FC has to play in the derby against Bayer Leverkusen. Then you should be able to smile again immediately after the 90 minutes.