Post-Match Report
More Than Just a Football Game: BVB’s Away Match Creates Moments to Last a Lifetime
Niko Kovac was simply beside himself with excitement over what happened before, during, and after the 90 minutes at Volksparkstadion. “The lads are enjoying this, and I’m really happy,” he said, addressing the amateur players from Eimsbüttel: “The group photo shows that this was a great game with a great atmosphere. This will stay with them—and with my lads—for the rest of their lives.”
“That’s what the cup is all about!”
For the group photo—and this is almost unique—players and staff from both teams gathered after the final whistle. “You could tell from them that something like this is almost one-of-a-kind,” Julian Ryerson said afterward: “That’s what the cup is all about: beautiful, special moments for many who don’t get to experience this every weekend.” The pro could have added, “just like us,” and emphasized: “It’s also good for us to take something like this home as a memory.” Niko Kovac expressed a similar sentiment in a conversation with World Cup champion and TV analyst Lothar Matthäus: “We all started small at some point.”
Very few players on the Hamburg fifth-division team, however, can hope for a repeat of such an event in front of 45,917 spectators at the Volksparkstadion. Goalkeeping heroes Jannik Schoon (26) and Nils Ahmann (33), who split the 90 minutes as planned and were subjected to a barrage of shots (38 BVB shots on goal), stated: “We’ll never play against Dortmund again.” One is a preschool teacher, the other a schoolteacher. For both of them, the cup match was an evening to remember: “Having that crowd behind you and then making a save—it’s an incredible feeling!”
Ryerson would have liked to see even more goals
It took BVB 30 minutes to break through the dense defensive wall of the Hamburg team, which had lined up in a 5-4-1 formation. Julian Ryerson was involved in all four first-half goals with three direct assists and one indirect assist. “Three assists is great, but I would have liked us to score even more goals,” said the Norwegian, before summing up after the convincing 5-0 victory: “All in all, the job is done. There were a lot of positives.”
Boris Rupert
