Dimitrios Grammozis was not tempted by the question about May 25th. “I’ll be in Elversberg on Sunday, I know that,” said the 1. FC Kaiserslautern coach and couldn’t help but grin.
Of course, the 45-year-old knows the date of the DFB Cup final. And of course he would like to come back to Berlin with his team at the end of May for the big finale. He had just been able to experience the “great force” of the Olympic Stadium in a positive way in the 3-1 win against Hertha BSC in the quarter-finals.
But Grammozis knows that the cool appearance in the capital is worth little if the Red Devils’ new spirit of optimism is not preserved in the second division. 4:1 against Schalke, 3:1 in Berlin. Suddenly the world of the Palatinate is rosy. “I would warn you against it,” the FCK coach began with a sentence that was important to him. A short time ago “everything was in ruins”. Now suddenly everything is great. He won’t play this game.
Remaining in the league must remain the goal with just one point ahead of a relegation zone. And the next stop is called Elversberg and not Berlin – the maximum difference in terms of size in the German football topography with the duel with the cheeky newcomer in the Saarland neighborhood. The town has a good 7,000 inhabitants, and ten times as many fans witnessed FCK’s success in the Olympic Stadium alone on Wednesday evening.
Return home by bus instead of plane
“It’s clear that a win like this is extraordinary for us. The players should enjoy it,” said the former professional. His team was already singing about winning the cup with the fans. When Kaiserslautern was last in the cup final in 2003 against FC Bayern Munich (1:3), Grammozis had to watch as a player; he was suspended after a red card.
He himself had to think about the next task, he described his current work. And this is made more difficult by the latest strike at Berlin’s airport. Shortly before midnight, the people of Lauter made their way home by bus instead of by plane. 651 kilometers. Across Germany at night. Not exactly ideal for the regeneration of professional athletes. The arrival at Betzenberg was planned for the early hours of the morning and regeneration training was scheduled there immediately. “We have to prepare very well so that we can survive,” said Grammozis.
