Over the last few weeks, the popularity has increased, and every new success has also attracted a new audience. Don’t miss anything when Alemannia plays a home game.
A club becomes fashionable
At the Tivoli, at least club history, but certainly football history, is being written. Around 29,000 fans are expected on Saturday in the top game against Fortuna Cologne. It’s still the 4th wallflower league, where such attendance records will probably be set for eternity. A club suddenly comes back into fashion after eleven years in obscurity.
The team is currently trying to emancipate itself a bit from all this widespread enthusiasm, they want to concentrate on their fight for championship and cup victory. But by game day at the latest, the affection is palpable. “There’s always the “wow” factor when we come onto the pitch to warm up,” says Dustin Willms. “It gives you goosebumps.”
There’s always the wow factor when we come onto the pitch to warm up.
Dustin Williams
Alemannia player
It’s actually a “wow-wow effect.” The atmosphere can’t always be really expressed in words. For the players, this phase is a career highlight in their professional lives. Tens of thousands make the pilgrimage to Tivoli to cheer on their team. “That certainly wasn’t foreseeable at the beginning of the season,” says Willms. “That’s incredible.”
The winger will slide into the starting line-up against his old team on Saturday. Most recently in the cup game he replaced Uli Bapoh at halftime. During his time in Aachen, Willms is a reliable supplier in the second half. “His second 45 minutes were always better, even when he was in the starting line-up,” says coach Heiner Backhaus.
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The striker also observes the phenomenon without being able to explain it. As soon as the rooms get a little bigger, Willms also regularly blossoms. “He has brutal speed and technique that is outstanding for this league,” his coach praises him. Willms probably has the best first touch of the ball in the league. This can be seen in Alemannia’s cup goals against Düren, which the 24-year-old scored with a short pass in the penalty area.
Alemannia’s first halves have often been the topic of debriefings recently. Because the start wasn’t always good. The opponents regularly enthusiastically threw themselves into the battle against the big favorites. The backdrop didn’t irritate the challengers; for them it was the “game of the year”. They sought salvation in flight. Fortuna Cologne is now expected to do something similar. Only with a win at Tivoli can the third-place team develop some imagination. “We’re going to Alemannia to win,” announces Fortuna’s interim coach Matthias Mink.
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Backhaus demands even more intensity from his team from the first kick-off. The coach immediately creates a new word for this: “We have to be even more homely. The opponent must immediately feel that there can never be a winner here.” The spark should jump from the team to the stands, he says.
In the last cup game he recorded a game with “Regional League volume” in the first half. As his team got up to speed, things got louder and louder. “In the end it was Bundesliga volume,” grins the coach. Backhaus wants to experience this strong voice again against Fortuna; the team should “provoke” them with performance: “The madhouse always has a pace that suits it. And the players have to exemplify that.”
Possible setup: Johnen – Hanraths, Rumpf, Afamefuna – Heister, Müller, Pagliuca, Strujic – Scepanik, Heinz, Willms
referee: Tobias Severins (Rheda-Wiedenbrück)
Balance sheet: 14 wins/21 draws/15 defeats/52:50 goals
Internet: Live ticker, picture gallery and game report at az-web.de
2024-03-29 16:00:00
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