What an outcry it was at FC St. Pauli when coach Timo Schultz had to leave during the winter break. With an unbelievable winning streak, Fabian Hürzeler has silenced the critics. With a victory in Heidenheim, St. Pauli would set the next record – and should dream.
Nine wins in the last nine games – when a second division team last managed that, no current St. Pauli player was born. And the successful coach Hürzeler, who was born in 1993 and is therefore younger than some players, had not yet seen the light of day. In the 1986/1987 season, Karlsruher SC even won ten times in a row and thus supposedly set a record for eternity.
“The more often we win, the more the opponent wants to defeat us.”
— St. Pauli coach Fabian Hürzeler
Hürzeler already improved the record for victories when starting as a coach. The club record has long since been broken. Will St. Pauli now equal KSC’s historic record with a win at 1. FC Heidenheim tonight (8.30 p.m., in the NDR Livecenter)?
“Of course, we gained confidence from the nine wins. A team spirit emerged that you can see in the dressing room, but also on the pitch,” emphasized Hürzeler, who has just completed the UEFA Pro trainer license course with the DFB and on Wednesday evening received his certificate. “Successes are not to be equated with any team events, successes weld together.”
Ironically, the tight Regensburg game encourages
With their ninth win, the 1-0 win over relegation candidate Jahn Regensburg, the Hamburgers have moved up to six points to the promotion relegation rank. And even though Hürzeler told NDR that he didn’t want to be a HSV hunter, the city rival is currently in third place. At the Millerntor they would jump in the air if they still intercepted HSV. And by his own admission, Hürzeler is an optimist.
The series almost ended against Kellerkind Regensburg. But it is precisely the rather weak game that makes Hürzeler dream of further heroic deeds. “For the game in Heidenheim, I’m optimistic that my boys learned from the Regensburg game. That it doesn’t work like that and that such a performance isn’t enough,” said the 30-year-old. But: The team noticed that they weren’t having a good day and realized “that you can rely on your neighbor”.
All clear for Smith after knee treatment
The only thing the St. Paulians in the Swabian Jura will have to do without is their long-term injuries, recently joined by the Brazilian Maurides (meniscus operation). “He courageously made a bet with our assistant coach about what he plans to do during his rehab. That’s why we’re positive that we’ll still see him on the pitch this season,” said Hürzeler, who was able to give Eric Smith the all-clear: “Everything seems to be fine.” The Swede received brief knee treatment during training on Tuesday. However, Smith was “in a positive mood” and “there was no negative feedback from the medical department either”.
“Still six points behind”
The game in Heidenheim, after all the strongest team in the league at home, can come. A win would not only keep St. Pauli close to HSV, who play against Hannover 96 on Saturday. The gap to second-placed Heidenheim would be reduced to four points. “We’re still six points behind and that’s a lot with only eight games left,” warns Hürzeler.
The coach also warned against striker Tim Kleindienst, the league’s top scorer: “It will be a big challenge for us to defend him together. I can say that: we won’t defend him individually, but together.”
St. Pauli wants to concentrate on its own strengths
Incidentally, Karlsruhe’s winning streak ended in 1987 with a 2-2 win against Alemannia Aachen. However, the team did not let coach Winfried Schäfer dissuade them from their path: At the end of the season, founding member KSC was promoted to the Bundesliga again. St. Pauli had to be third in the relegation – and failed at FC Homburg.
But Hürzeler is far from looking back or ahead to the end of the season. The fact is, says Hürzeler: “The more often we win, the more the opponent wants to defeat us. We know that the opponent will always come up with something, and Heidenheim will too. We have to be prepared, but we don’t know exactly what. That’s why we would do well to continue working on our strengths.”
Possible lineups:
Heidenheim: Müller – Busch, Mainka, Siersleben, Föhrenbach – Maloney – Pick, Schöppner, Thomalla, Beste – Kleindienst
St. Pauli: Vasilj – Medic, Fazliji, Mets – Saliakas, Irvine, Hartel, Paqarada – Metcalfe, Daschner, Afolayan
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NDR 2 Sports | 08.04.2023 | 11:03 p.m
