SVWW vs. Schalke @ 2023-09-02

On this game, some in my circle of friends have feverishly awaited, especially my neighbor and friend, who for years is an ardent fan of one of the traditional clubs Schalke 04. We got six additional tickets for the game in time and with a crowd of 11,003 fans, this was also urgently necessary. The stadium (12,566 standing and seated) was full to the roof. Only one of three blocks of the guests was empty. Some Schalke fans seem to have expected nothing from the game in Wiesbaden. No wonder after table position 15 after the last match day.

Since season ticket holders get into the stadium a little faster and my friends sat a little scattered in different blocks, I lost sight of them at some point, but that was not tragic, because they had fun.

To my delight, the booth operators, who I had to criticize last time, actually did a better job today. Two cash registers: one for cash and another for card/smartphone/watch payers. The sale of beer and bratwurst went much more quickly, only I had to stand in line a bit at the fan shop, because I was not yet recognizable as a fan: it had to get a cap and a jersey, of course, finally.

My fellow fans in row 1 were rather quiet today, despite the good weather and the atmosphere around. In my back there was now and then a comment like “Now RUN!” or “Go ahead. The goal is in THIS direction!”, but I could understand them, because our team hardly dared to cross the center line in the first half. I still don’t know the name of the nice lady next to me, but I will. She suffered today like many rather quietly.

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The Game

In the first half we were, as they say in the jargon “compact in defense”, which means nothing else, that no one dared to run forward with the ball. Except for once, when after about 20 minutes Kianz Froese, our Canadian striker, ran into the box on the left side at full gallop, but unfortunately missed the goal by a hair’s breadth. Damn! Our team let the opponent play and again straddled every ball off their feet.

It wasn’t, however, that Schalke dominated the game. We carelessly let them just do it and the fans had their fun when they shot the ball into the clouds again after a lot of roaring and stomping. Funny.

At the beginning of the second half, this continued seamlessly, even if you noticed that the coach in the cabin must have yelled at one or the other and these were now somewhat more active … and suddenly the ball was in our net … 0:1! What? How? A goal in the 54. minute for Schalke out of (almost) nothing! I have to watch that again on TV … :|

After our guys had digested the shock, after 10 minutes or so, they began … yes indeed … to play football! Also because Kauczinski had replaced a few snoozers. In the last 20 minutes it went with steam on the opponents goal, but we ran slightly out of time. In the 90th minute, 6 minutes of injury time were displayed and it was almost hectic … kick and rush. With success! In the 95th minute it was 1:1, thanks to the leg of Reinthaler, from which bounced a defensive attempt, and in the 97th almost 2:1 … huuuuh, damn close.

Before the game I had bet on a 1:1 and was unfortunately/fortunately right. It felt like a victory.

⇾ Match report on kicker.de

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Conclusion

Today we are in 6th place in the table and I don’t really understand why the team was so anxious. Yes, it’s Schalke 04, but they’re further down so far and we certainly don’t need to hide!