interview
The success in the Berlin State Cup makes TuS Makkabi the first Jewish club in the DFB Cup. The title is also something special for veteran coach Wolfgang Sandhowe. Only on the dance floor was everything as usual.
rbb|24: Wolfgang Sandhowe, congratulations on winning the Berlin State Cup with TuS Makkabi! Was it a wild celebration or did you leave it to the team?
Wolfgang Sandhowe: Normally you are not allowed to drink alcohol at my place. But I said to the team before the final: “We’ve worked hard all season, you have to reward yourself for that guys. And tonight after the game, if we win, we’ll have a good drink!” And that’s what we did.
rbb|24: And you in the middle?
Sandhowe: In the middle. I’m fully involved with that. I dance and sing and scream – everything. Even if I’m not the youngest anymore (69, editor’s note). But I can still keep up with that.
Makkabi beats Sparta Lichtenberg in extra time and wins the Berlin State Cup
TuS Makkabi Berlin beat SV Sparta Lichtenberg 3-1 in the final of the Berlin State Cup and thus entered the DFB Cup. It was an extremely hard-fought game for a long time, and Makkabi only decided the game shortly before the end of extra time.more
rbb|24: How does someone dance who had a reputation as a tough dog for a long time in his career?
Sandhowe: The old German style. I hear the music and then the feeling comes. As a student I was hired as a one-dancer. I’m not a dance scholar, but I can move well. And the boys can dance anyway, they’re sleek. That was totally cool last night, nobody can take that away from me.
rbb|24: Good for you that you can still remember…
Sandhowe: At some point it will end.
rbb|24: They laugh.
Sandhowe: My wife took me home with her. And then it was enough for Whiskey-Cola. I rarely drink, but when I do it’s only whiskey and cola. Like my buddy Hermann Gerland. And yesterday was the right occasion. Believe me, that was really nice.
rbb|24: How did the soundtrack of the evening sound?
Sandhowe: There was one song in particular: “The train has no brakes.” (By Mia Julia Brückner, Lorenz Büffel, Malle Anja, editor’s note.) That was such a hit, I have the impression.
rbb|24: Sounds like it would fit the cup season. You once said: “I always set myself goals. And if these cannot be achieved with one club, then you have to look for a new club.” Be honest: was winning the cup a goal that you had set yourself? With a premier league?
Sandhowe: Yes. I said to my President: If we’re lucky, we can make it to the final. That’s why I made that my goal. Because I know how awesome that is. I was in the final with Berliner SC in 2018. And in 1991 I won the title with Türkiyemspor.
rbb|24: The biggest coup on the way to the title was that Semi-final success over Viktoria Berlin. Her team was the blatant outsider. In the final against Sparta Lichtenberg, on the other hand, they were considered favorites.
Sandhowe: In the cabin there was a mood as if the fire was burning. You can’t imagine how they pushed each other. You can’t believe that if you haven’t experienced it. The absolute opposite of the game against Viktoria. During the meeting, they heard a pin drop. Before the final it was completely different. “We want the trophy, come on guys”, and so on. It was a dreamlike mood.
Finally sporting headlines
Many know TuS Makkabi more for anti-Semitic hostilities than for sporting achievements. Now the German-Jewish club is in the Berlin state cup final and wants to make sporting headlines there and experience something unique.more
rbb|24: Being a favorite often leads to a blockade. That’s what it looked like in the final against Sparta Lichtenberg. After 45 minutes, the underdog led 1-0.
Sandhowe: At half-time I said to the boys: ‘We’re in great shape. They break in the second half, men. Let’s keep going.’ And then we do it 1:1. I ran to the Sparta Lichtenberg bench and shouted: “Now we’ll eat you up!” I got a yellow card from the referee. Of course I take everything back, it happened in the excitement of the game.
rbb|24: Nevertheless, it went into overtime.
Sandhowe: But then I knew: We will win this game. Sparta Lichtenberg got tired. We were still very fit and scored two more goals.
rbb|24: The decisive goal came from a free kick by Can Sakar.
Sandhowe: He’s the absolute free-kick king for us. He makes seven out of ten free kicks, eight in. In the corner. And when we took a free-kick in the 118th minute, my boys on the bench said: ‘Coach, get ready.’
rbb|24: You should be right.
Sandhowe: And everyone in full sprint towards him, faster than me, of course. I had to stop after 15 meters because I couldn’t keep up. But there was a mood! And then the evening couldn’t be compared to other evenings. It was so nice. Koblenz (Makkabi President Michael Koblenz, editor’s note) and I hugged each other. We both had tears in our eyes.
rbb|24: Now TuS Makkabi is actually in the first round of the DFB Cup. Would you rather have a halfway doable opponent or Bayern Munich?
Sandhowe: When my friend Hermann Gerland was still assistant coach at Bayern, I would have called him and said: ‘Pay attention, Hermann. We want you. And then there’s the socks!’ But unfortunately Hermann is no longer there. That’s why I want Hertha BSC now. Union Berlin would also be awesome.
rbb|24: You have trained in so many countries, with so many clubs. How important is this title to you?
Sandhowe: There are two very special events in my long career. Once, in 1988, when we reached the semi-finals of the European Cup against AS Monaco with Galatasaray Istanbul (with assistant coach Sandhowe, editor’s note) in Cologne in front of 64,000 spectators. After that we flew home and I didn’t step onto the airport floor because we were immediately carried on hands. And that cup win with Makkabi.
rbb|24: Thank you for the interview.
The interview was conducted by Ilja Behnisch.
