Fortuna Düsseldorf’s coach Daniel Thioune criticized the casual execution of the decisive penalty after the dramatic victory in the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup at FC St. Pauli. “Completely inappropriate, I’m not a fan of it and I don’t think it’s respectful towards the opponent,” said Thioune on ZDF about his player Christos Tzolis, who came last in the 4-3 penalty shootout on Tuesday with a so-called “Panenka”. had met. The Czech Antonin Panenka gently lobbed the ball into the goal in the final of the 1976 European Football Championship and has since then repeatedly found imitators.
Thioune said he was “unbelievably happy” about the victory. “But not about the manner” of the last penalty. If Tzolis hadn’t scored, he would probably have had “relatively long ears” from him, the coach added. “Now I have to take it. Then maybe don’t scold him.” With the victory, Fortuna reached the cup semi-finals for the first time in 28 years.
Hürzeler protects Burchert
Meanwhile, Thioune’s counterpart Fabian Hürzeler stood protectively in front of his goalkeeper Sascha Burchert. “Mistakes happen. And I don’t blame Sascha in particular because he tried everything. I don’t think he wants to let the ball bounce,” said the 30-year-old.
Burchert was responsible for the penalty before Vincent Vermeij made it 0-1 (38th minute). A long-range shot that he unfortunately blocked forward put Ao Tanaka (99th) in the goal. The leaders of the second Bundesliga ultimately missed their second place in the cup semi-finals since 2006.
Burchert himself described the evening as an emotional “rollercoaster.” The 34-year-old from Hertha BSC’s youth team saved another shot in the penalty shootout. “He is so important to me, he has my complete trust,” assured Hürzeler and reiterated: “He has my total support because he is not only extremely important to me as a player, but also as a person. We will continue to benefit from his experience.”
Daniel Theweleit Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 115 Alexis Menuge and Julius Müller-Meiningen Published/Updated: Recommendations: 10 Johannes Müller Published/Updated: Recommendations: 2
This Wednesday (8.45 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the DFB Cup and on Sky) the two second division clubs Hertha BSC and 1. FC Kaiserslautern will meet in the next quarter-finals. On Tuesday next week, Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen will welcome VfB Stuttgart (8:45 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the DFB Cup, on ARD and on Sky), before the third division club 1. FC Saarbrücken and Borussia Mönchengladbach the fourth and final the next day Contest the quarter-finals (8.45 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the DFB Cup, on ZDF and on Sky). The semi-finals will take place on the 2nd/3rd. April, the final will take place on May 25th in the Berlin Olympic Stadium.
