DFB Cup
“Tingling”: Penultimate test for Hertha’s cup longing
Wants the DFB Cup more than promotion: Hertha goalkeeper Tjark Ernst. photo
© Andreas Gora/dpa
Final home! This longing has driven Hertha BSC for decades. The Berliners want to take the penultimate step in the DFB Cup against Kaiserslautern. The emotions are extreme right now anyway.
The Olympic Stadium is sold out. More than 74,000 fans. Floodlights. And then there is this unfulfilled longing for a balmy evening at the end of May. Right there. The final home. For Hertha’s already extremely troubled football soul, the quarter-finals are in DFB Cup against 1. FC Kaiserslautern is a big test – and a huge opportunity.
“There’s a lot of anticipation. Of course there’s that certain tingling feeling,” said sports director Benjamin Weber before the game against the second division rivals on Wednesday (8.45 p.m./Sky).
For the first time in eight years, the Berliners can reach the cup semi-finals again. At that time, Borussia Dortmund denied the final step to the final with a 3-0 defeat. They have never been closer to the final than the German Wembley since it was moved to the capital in 1985. The sensational final participation of the Hertha amateurs in 1993 against Bayer Leverkusen (0:1) is a pleasant, bizarre club anecdote, but nothing more. “First of all, the dream lives on,” said Weber.
Bernstein’s death as a big shadow
But Hertha will not exist in January 2024 without the big but. The sudden death of President Kay Bernstein two weeks ago still hangs over the club like a lead blanket. The fans will remember the esteemed boss again. Bernstein had described the prospect of a historic Cup win or at least participation in the final on May 25th as a wonderful promise. Now his words are also an order.
The professional business continues anyway. The Hertha bosses know that, coach Pal Dardai also knows that and the team knows that. Bernstein is not discussed at events such as the pre-game press conference. This seems like self-protection. Dardai moderated the difficult days sensitively and yet did not lose focus. His outwardly sometimes harsh but deep down sensitive nature made the right mix possible.
Goal guarantors Reese and Niederlechner on the verge of a comeback
Of all things, he had to pass before the Lautern duel. An infection still had to be cured. His assistant Tamás Bódog, who represented him at the press conference, chose his boss’s odd style. “We don’t expect much. Just one thing, that we will advance. Win.” As a plus, the Berliners can record the fact that Fabian Reese (7 goals, 12 assists) can play again after the consequences of a corona infection and Florian Niederlechner (6 goals) after his red card suspension.
With fan favorite Reese we will have to see how long the strength lasts. But to Berlin ears, all of this sounds promising. But sporting ideas are a thing in the west of the capital. Reality is fickle. As the 1:3 at SV Wehen Wiesbaden on Saturday made clear. The defense was “childish,” said Bódog.
The last realistic chance of promotion may have been wasted. But the cup issue is so huge anyway that the math games are on hold until at least after Wednesday evening. “We want to achieve the highest – and that is promotion in the second division. But if I had to choose, it would be winning the cup,” said goalkeeper Tjark Ernst. And he also gave the reason: “That would be something that would stay forever. Playing and winning the final in your own stadium is something every Hertha fan would agree to.”