Anyone who saw Heidenheim coach Frank Schmidt, 49, on Saturday afternoon in Wolfsburg and saw him hours later in a live interview at ZDF’s current sports studio saw a person with emotions that could hardly have been more different. Here’s a man who, after the 2-0 defeat at VfL Wolfsburg, was sent into an interview loop and press conference on an oppressively muggy day, although he would presumably have preferred to search for a shower. There the friendly reception (and sympathetic appearance) in a program that seemed to symbolize for Schmidt what had been talked about so often in the past few days and weeks: the arrival of 1. FC Heidenheim in the Bundesliga.
There, where a man named Schmidt has always felt ennobled, the coach was confronted with the fact that his wife was “a bit afraid of the Bundesliga” because he always returned home in a bad mood after defeats. “That’s what she thinks?!” Schmidt asked, clearly taken by surprise, and admitted that there would most likely be a few more defeats in the Bundesliga “than we were used to”. It’s true: they are unlikely to become champions like last season in the second division in the upper class. “But we have three little Chihuahuas. They’re always happy when I come,” joked Schmidt.
In comparison to the Wolfsburg “Wolves”, the Heidenheimers actually seemed as small as Chihuahuas for a long time, only barking in the second half. They only had problems with biting: when they approached the penalty area, their courage was gone. Afterwards, the Heidenheimer spoke in the finest craftsman German that they had “paid their apprenticeship” – which manifested itself, among other things, in the fact that Wolfsburg goal scorer Jonas Wind was twice “a toe faster” than his guards in the standing air of the six-yard space, explained Captain Patrick Mainka (who himself had been that guard). Schmidt, in turn, is likely to have put his wife on the alert. He said he was disappointed.
There is still a win for Heidenheim coach Schmidt
Nevertheless: The people of Heidenheim could basically count themselves among the few people who were allowed to feel privileged in Wolfsburg on Saturday. For them it will remain a day worth remembering until the end of their lives; everyone else is likely to largely abandon the game on the Mittelland Canal to oblivion. The game was so lacking in sensuality that the referee team exposed itself to the suspicion of indulging in sadistic tendencies with the comparatively short injury time (six minutes after the first, five minutes after the second 45 minutes). Only Wolfsburg’s Croatian last-minute signing Lovro Majer seemed to be striving for some kind of creative self-realization. The rest of the actors indulged in work. On the other hand, Heidenheim had never promised more or less.
The other insights of the day? That Schmidt revealed that he likes to play “Schlager” as a DJ; that as a child he played with plush bears from the “Steiff” company, where his mother worked and the teddy bears were usually missing an eye; and that he “wouldn’t even go to Saudi Arabia for a billion euros.” Oh yes, and this: In goal wall shooting, Schmidt easily won 2-0 against Jan-Henneke Balke from SV Schermbeck. Ms. Schmidt should have taken a deep breath. It seemed like that straightened out his day somewhat.
