Afterwards, the beaming Jan-Niklas Beste was hugged and hugged for a long time by his colleagues and his trainer Frank Schmidt. While the 1. FC Heidenheim offensive player could hardly get out of the hugs, one could ask oneself the question of taste as to which is more spectacular: the best left foot with this remarkable shooting technique or his similarly impressive beard? In any case, the former once again attracted a lot of attention on Saturday in the 1-0 (0-0) win against 1. FC Union Berlin and ensured that promoted team Heidenheim gained further recognition in the Bundesliga.
This was largely due to the best direct free kick from around 25 meters. The ball hit almost exactly at the angle and bounced off the bottom edge of the crossbar into the goal, accompanied by a clatter that sounded like a hint of a dream goal. After his first goal in the first home game against Hoffenheim, Beste quickly drove to the hospital to see his wife and his newly born son. Now, his coach Schmidt said, the little one was in the stadium for the first time, “and he wanted to show him something.” Schmidt smiled, and Beste also happily reported about his son Charly. “That’s a lucky charm, he has to go to every home game now,” said Beste, still beaming with joy.
The 24-year-old has now scored in each of the three home games, and this time Schmidt made him the deciding factor in the game. “If there isn’t this free kick, the game will probably end 0-0,” said Schmidt, “but there was the free kick and we have Jan-Niklas Beste. It’s unbelievable how confidently he goes to these balls.”
At 1. FC Union there isn’t much fun at the moment. This is mainly due to the fact that the Berliners are experiencing their most difficult phase so far since promotion in 2019 due to their fifth competitive game defeat in a row. In fact, they have never lost so many times in a row in coach Urs Fischer’s five years in office. The Swiss seemed a bit perplexed afterwards, but at least he hadn’t lost his sense of humor. “Thanks again for your book,” Fischer said to his colleague Schmidt at the press conference: “I will try to read it as quickly as possible. Maybe there will be a tip on how we can get out of this situation.”
At Union Berlin, important pillars are injured
Things had always been going up under Fischer right up to the Champions League, in which the Berliners will face Sporting Braga on Tuesday. It will be their first home game in Europe’s elite league, although it will not take place in the Alte Försterei, but in the Olympic Stadium, which otherwise serves as the home of city rivals Hertha BSC. But there was little anticipation of the premiere after the next setback in Heidenheim, which saw Union even overtaken by the newly promoted team in the table.
“We’re really having a hard time,” said Fischer about the lack of goals after only one goal in the last five games. In addition, there are injuries to pillars of the team such as Robin Knoche and Rani Khedira. “We’re not efficient at the moment and always get hit at the back,” said captain Christopher Trimmel and added: “We know that things don’t always go uphill. We’re having a difficult season with the double burden, we’ve had another big upheaval.” Nevertheless, he is confident that things will improve again soon.
Committed to fighting, but things aren’t going as well as usual for Union and captain Christopher Trimmel (left).
(Photo: Robin Rudel/Imago)
It was also a comparison of two teams and clubs that, despite all their peculiarities and unique selling points, certainly have some similarities and parallels. 1. FC Heidenheim can even be viewed a bit as a new version of 1. FC Union in the Bundesliga. Even with the current newcomers from Ostalb, they trust their manageable structures and their sporting leadership from trainer to management with full conviction and for even longer.
There is also an overlap between the small, narrow stadiums and the strong identification of the audience with their respective clubs. And if you like, you can even see similarities between the small town in the east of Baden-Württemberg with 50,000 inhabitants and the district in the east of the megacity of Berlin with 70,000 inhabitants. The connection to the homeland and Hellenstein Castle is just as pronounced in Heidenheim as it is in Köpenick with the town hall and the captain standing in front of it as a bronze sculpture.
Beste shoots a free kick as if an artist were drawing a sweeping brush stroke
“Sustainability, cohesion and values play a big role at Union. When it comes to team unity, there are definitely parallels,” Schmidt said before the sporting comparison, but also pointed out differences. “We can’t compare ourselves with Union because everything is much bigger in Berlin, because Union has taken a completely different path than us,” said Schmidt and stated: “We are going our own way.” However, the Union could serve as a role model, at least in part. The Berliners have also made a development that one would not have expected of them, said Schmidt.
Some overlaps could also be seen in the first game against each other in the Bundesliga. This affected both the offensive orientation of both teams and the defensive deficits. The fact that it was 0-0 at the break was due to the wasteful use of scoring opportunities and the good spirits of goalkeepers Kevin Müller (Heidenheim) and Frederik Rönnow (Union). The second half continued just as briskly, but initially goalless.
The series of missed big chances only ended after just under an hour, although initially there were no big chances to marvel at. On the other hand, 25 meters in front of Union’s goal, Heidenheim’s best, also Heidenheim’s best so far this season, had prepared the ball for a free kick. And anyone who hadn’t forgotten the best artificial free kick from a very acute angle into the corner for the first Bundesliga goal in the club’s history in Heidenheim’s first home game against Hoffenheim suspected that Rönnow’s goal was under acute threat despite the great distance. Beste ran up and gave the ball a trajectory with his left foot, as if an artist were drawing a sweeping brush stroke. “There’s no better way to win than with a goal like that,” Schmidt said later.
It was the best third goal of the season, of which the first and third were Heidenheim’s goals in the months of August and September. Maybe they were simply Best Brush Strokes of the Month.