DFB Cup
Funkel: Lautern “biggest outsider” in cup history
If you add up all the finals as a player and coach, Funkel is in the DFB Cup final for the fifth time. photo
© Uwe Anspach/dpa
Kaiserslautern against Leverkusen, this is the duel between a team that was almost relegated from the second division and the undefeated German champions. For Lautern coach Funkel, this is an unprecedented constellation.
The distribution of roles in the DFB Cup final between second division club 1. FC Kaiserslautern and German champions Bayer Leverkusen is, according to Lautern coach Friedhelm Funkel as clear as never before.
“We are the biggest underdog in a final in the history of the cup. We are playing against one of the three best teams in Europe,” said Funkel in an interview with “Sport Bild”. Echoing a statement by former coach Otto Rehhagel, the situation for Lautern on Saturday in Berlin is not hopeless. “You always have a chance in a single game,” said Funkel.
If you add up all the finals as a player and coach, the 70-year-old is in the DFB Cup final for the fifth time. As a player for 1. FC Kaiserslautern, he lost against Eintracht Frankfurt in 1981, and he was also on the pitch when outsider KFC Uerdingen won against FC Bayern Munich in 1985 and celebrated his only title win. As a coach with MSV Duisburg and Eintracht Frankfurt, he lost the 1998 and 2006 finals against the German record champions.
Funkel joined Kaiserslautern in February as a kind of emergency helper and ultimately secured early relegation. The cup final will be his last game as coach for the Palatinate, Funkel’s contract is expiring.