Football: DFB Cup: 1. FC Kaiserslautern celebrates in Saarbrücken

There was no stopping in front of the guest block: a bunch of players and officials dressed in black and red jumped around for minutes in front of the traveling fans of 1. FC Kaiserslautern, who were already singing about a cup victory. And after this 2-0 win at 1. FC Saarbrücken, that is at least theoretically possible. FCK won the cup for the last time in 1996 – now, 28 years later, the next title could be added for the four-time German champions.

“I never dreamed of going to Berlin again as a coach,” said Lautern coach Friedhelm Funkel, who is now in a cup final for the third time as a player or coach. “Now a dream has actually come true.” Goalscorer Marlon Ritter expressed himself similarly, who spoke of a “childhood dream” that “but one that you never expected in your life that you would ever be able to achieve.” The midfielder paved the way for 1. FC Kaiserslautern to make it 1-0 in the 53rd minute with a header.

“Like a knife to the heart”

The man who played an even greater role in this first goal on Tuesday evening than Ritter had to be comforted by his teammates. Immediately after the final whistle, Saarbrücken’s players surrounded their goalkeeper Tim Schreiber, who had let the poorly placed header slip through his hands and legs. “It felt like a knife in the heart,” said Schreiber, “and that was what decided the game. You just want to sink into the ground afterwards.” The second FCK goal in the 75th minute by Almamy Touré was then just a formality.

When extra time began, in which Saarbrücken’s footballers had scored the decisive goals against the second division team Karlsruher SC and the two first division teams Bayern Munich and Borussia Mönchengladbach on the way to the semi-finals, the game had long since been decided. The third division team, who had previously had a suitably low-level old-school atmosphere competition with the unpopular Palatinate team, only had to thank their team with encouraging applause for a remarkable cup course.

“Incredibly shitty ending”

Saarbrücken’s captain Manuel Zeitz later rightly described the five games in the DFB Cup as an “unbelievable journey with an unbelievably shitty end” – because the third division team was the much better team for at least one half on Tuesday and with a flying header three minutes before the half-time whistle striker Kai Brünker had the best and only chance worth mentioning in the first half.

However, there wasn’t much to be seen from Kaiserslautern for a half, especially not offensively. Funkel had caused astonishment in advance when he made his opponent the favorite and named his previous prominent cup victims as a reason. In the round of 16, Saarbrücken knocked another first division team, Eintracht Frankfurt, out of the competition. In this respect, it was probably logical that Funkel’s team performed as reverently for a half as if they were playing against a favorite.

The fact that sports director Thomas Hengen fired Funkel’s previous predecessor, Dirk Schuster, among other things because his football was too unattractive for Lauterer’s demands seemed somewhat bizarre on Tuesday evening. However, it cannot be denied that Funkel’s tactics worked in this all-or-nothing game. Although it would have been exciting to watch this semi-final if Schreiber hadn’t favored FCK with his mistake. Either way: In the second round, Kaiserslautern earned victory and a place in the final.

Palatinate love of traveling

The final on May 25th in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium could be a home game for the Palatinate team. The guest contingent for the game in Saarbrücken was only 1,800 tickets, so almost 20,000 fans saw the game at the public viewing on the Betzenberg. Thousands of FCK fans had already booked a hotel stay in the capital before the semi-finals, and they no longer have to cancel it.

Meanwhile, around the cup final, there may be further bookings for Lauter fans who love to travel: If FCK remained third from bottom in the second division, they would have to play their relegation games against the third in the third division three days before and four days after the final. It is still possible that the DFB Cup winner of 2024 will play in the third division next season. And that even after the elimination of 1. FC Saarbrücken.