When Erik Wekesser, Taylan Duman and Manuel Wintzheimer suddenly lined up on the sidelines with twenty minutes to go, a few people in the stands at the Max Morlock Stadium rubbed their eyes. What did that mean? With the score at 1-0, did Robert Klauss actually dare to replace three players at once and not substitute a defender? Did the 1. FC Nürnberg coach really intend to pull out so many stops that he would only have one option left for the rest of the game?
Robert Klauß, 37, actually allowed himself to make use of his right to change, exchange three Nuremberg players in one fell swoop and then also send players onto the field who tend to prefer being in the opponent’s penalty area rather than in their own. How in the name of football god was that supposed to go well? The pessimists in the wide circle were unanimous: This had to go wrong.
Well, Wekesser, Duman and Wintzheimer were the ones who decided the 269th Frankenderby against SpVgg Greuther Fürth in favor of 1. FC Nürnberg.
In the end, that was the story that these 90 minutes told on Saturday afternoon: The club trusts itself. And because it trusts itself, it wasn’t the Nuremberg team that won this prestigious neighboring duel against the Fürth – won it is the Nuremberg squad that seems to give far more than last season.
At that time you could still have the impression that Klauss only substituted another player shortly before the end because he was allowed to substituted one more. The choice then often fell on Manuel Schäffler, who then mostly played in such a way that the spectators were not sure whether there was even a penalty area where they would like to have him. Schäffler now plays in Dresden alongside Dennis Borkowski, who was also a member of the Nuremberg squad last season, but who was chosen anything but often.
The duo Duah and Daferner bring instinct, dynamism and power
The two who came to the Valznerweiher for Schäffler and Borkowski this summer are now making a name for themselves in Nuremberg: Kwadwo Duah and Christoph Daferner.
In the first two games of the season, the duo showed that they can give the Nuremberg team what they lacked last year. Instinct, dynamism and power: Duah and Daferner bring all of this with them. And it was all of that that paid off in the first half before Duman, Wintzheimer and Wekesser got their feet in the game to make it 2-0.
“We’re playing a lot with long balls at the moment because we have two strikers who have exceptional quality,” said Duman after the Nuremberg derby victory over Duah and Daferner, who lost their head (Duah) and chest (Daferner) in the 1-0 win. had in play. And that’s also what makes this extraordinary quality of the two: They complement each other – and they score with their versatility.
Duah, 25, and Daferner, 24, are not pigeonholes. Duah’s main feature is that he’s quite adept on his feet – but he’s also in the right place at the right time when it matters. So Duah is a sprinter and final striker in one. And Daferner is characterized by the fact that he has the physique to go through as a classic center forward – but he also sprints to the outside line and starts to slide from there to conquer the ball at the level of the center line.
“We knew what Nuremberg was doing,” said Fürth’s left-back Luca Itter after the derby and then spoke of “long balls” and “second balls” where the game association “didn’t get it right on the pitch” to “defend it “. Long balls, second balls: This is a new element that the people of Nuremberg can dig out of their toolbox in the person of Duah and Daferner. The two make it possible that high and far brings not only security, but also superiority.
