Timo Baumgartl grinned broadly, then the acclaimed returnee raised a painless counter-question. “Besides my second testicle?” he asked the reporter, who wanted to know what else was wrong with him. The central defender from Union Berlin finally has a good laugh again. More than four months after his testicular tumor surgery, he was back on the pitch for the next coup against VfL Wolfsburg.
It was a fairytale day for the hottest man of the afternoon. If he had placed his header better in the 33rd minute, the story would probably have become too cheesy. Even without a goal of his own, Baumgartl was the celebrated hero in the 2-0 (0-0) victory in the An der Alten Försterei stadium.
“Hardest Moments of My Life”
Baumgartl’s doctors, many friends, the family: they all experienced the day he had been looking forward to for months, celebrated it with more than 20,000 Unioners at the planned substitution after an hour with standing ovations. “I imagined this during chemotherapy, during the hardest moments of my life,” said the 26-year-old, who was diagnosed with cancer in May.
His surprising comeback in the starting eleven also revealed how strong Union is now. As the right part of the back three, Baumgartl, apart from a few wobbles, fit seamlessly into the collective, which has now been undefeated for 14 league games across the seasons.
Coach Urs Fischer, who attested his team’s “very mature” performance, received another personnel alternative earlier than expected. This is exactly what he had hoped for before the upcoming six English weeks in a row with the Liga, DFB-Pokal and Europa League.
In purely sporting terms, the accurate duo Jordan Siebatcheu (54th) and Sheraldo Becker (77th) again stood out against the wolves. With their goals, the two strikers Union secured the well-deserved victory in the second half.
Before the mammoth program, Fischer’s fantastic score comes in very handy. “We’re going through a very difficult phase, it won’t always be successful,” he predicted: “The 17 points are good for that.”
And Baumgartl? He then revealed without a wink what he still lacks for full performance. “Play practice,” he said: “Then I’m optimistic that I’ll quickly get back to 100 percent.”
