After his fantastic coaching debut in the Bundesliga, Bo Henriksen jumped in celebration, then congratulated his protégés on their long-awaited breakthrough in the relegation battle.
With the 1-0 (1-0) against FC Augsburg, the penultimate FSV Mainz 05 ended its negative series of eleven games without a win and has new hope of staying in the league.
“It was a pure relegation battle. We urgently needed these points. That gives us self-confidence,” said Mainz sports director Christian Heidel and paid great praise to Henriksen, who was brought in from FC Zurich at the beginning of the week: “He is an incredibly positive guy and has the heads of the team He said all week that we would win the game. He was so convincing that in the end the players were convinced of that too.”
Henriksen relieved: “A fantastic day”
The 49-year-old Dane himself was visibly relieved about his successful premiere. “It was an emotional game and a fantastic day for the team and me,” said Henriksen. “I’m proud of the players who played with energy. We’re enjoying this moment, but we only won one game and we have to keep working hard.”
The football teacher was the big driver on the sidelines. He applauded every good move by his protégés and time and again he whipped Mainz forward. “He is full of emotions and energy. He gives us strength and belief in ourselves,” said Sepp van den Berg.
The defender became the match winner with his header in the 44th minute in front of 24,800 spectators. Thanks to the success, the Rheinhessen moved within one point of 1. FC Köln in the relegation place. “That gives the boys a lot of confidence because we need points,” said Heidel.
The last three points for Mainz came on November 4th last year in a 2-0 win against RB Leipzig. There was correspondingly great jubilation over the result, which could have been even higher. Jae-Sung Lee hit the crossbar from eight meters and Nadiem Amiri hit the post with a penalty.
New mentality in the Mainz team
“We played at full throttle and fought for every ball. I didn’t see any fear on the pitch, that’s the most important thing,” said Henriksen and added: “I’m very happy about this performance.”
The coach’s engagement as the successor to the hapless Jan Siewert proved to be a successful move, at least in the short term. “We had to flip the switch. We succeeded,” said Heidel with satisfaction. “Bo is a whirlwind and brought fire to the store. We’ll see where this goes.”
Representing the team’s new mentality was Brajan Gruda, who played despite a serious training accident the day before. “Half his face was torn apart. I thought he wouldn’t play football for ten weeks. And then he runs up and makes such a statement,” said Heidel.
“That was incredible. We need this courage and fighting spirit. Fantastic,” Henriksen also raved about the 19-year-old before he said goodbye to the end of the day: “I’m a little tired, but I’ll definitely treat myself to another beer.”
