It had to happen that the Saarbrücken lawn made one last point. For weeks, the space on Camphauser Strasse was the most discussed meadow in Germany. And at the moment when the playing surface no longer seemed to be an issue, when the cup semi-final between Saarbrücken and Kaiserslautern was able to kick off in dry conditions – the ball in front of goalkeeper Tim Schreiber did not bounce on the spongy surface like a ball normally does jumps off.
“The ball didn’t come up anymore,” observed Lautern’s coach Friedhelm Funkel correctly; instead, Lautern’s Marlon Ritter Schreiber’s less powerful header bounced flat through his legs – the 1-0. The young goalkeeper tried to keep his composure in the ARD interview after the game, but he only managed to do so with great effort. “You want to sink into the ground,” said the 21-year-old. “Personally, I’m sorry that it ended like this because of my mistake,” said the goalkeeper: “That decided the game.”
No one else made the accusations he made against himself. Only the scorer of the goal was merciless in his judgment. “That’s how it is, if the lawn is shit, then it goes in,” said Ritter: “If they had had a decent lawn, he would have taken it in. But then they probably wouldn’t have been here anymore.”
The spectators in Ludwigspark celebrate their team, but the players’ frustration predominates
But what annoyed Saarbrücken even more than the goal they conceded was the fact that, after victories against Bayern, Frankfurt and Gladbach, shortly before Berlin, they failed against an opponent who had beaten them at their own game. “Lautern has just put itself at the back,” said Saarbrücken’s captain Manuel Zeitz: “If a first or second division team comes here and plays us four or five points apart, then that’s the way it is, that’s the difference in class.” But it’s doubly bitter when you’re eliminated “without being the worse team.”
The spectators in Ludwigspark celebrated their team, the pride about the cup season was there in the stands, but in the words of the players there was only frustration about the missed chance to reach the final. “It’s our own fault, we made the mistakes. Yes, it sucks,” said Lukas Boeder.
Coach Rüdiger Ziehl now has seven competitive games left in April – mainly because of the postponed third division games due to the pitch. This is a fuller program than, for example, European Cup participants Bayer Leverkusen. In the third division, Saarbrücken is far beyond the relegation and promotion ranks – and the most important April game for the club has not yet been scheduled. In order to be able to play in the DFB Cup next year, the FCS must either finish fourth in the third division, which only seems possible with a winning streak – or win the Saarland Cup. In order to beat Bayern, Frankfurt or Gladbach again, they first have to get past FC Hertha Wiesbach in the quarter-finals.