This post is a little late, but it’s not a case of better late than never. It’s more a case of I can’t stand to do anything out of order, so this one has to be done before the new Jogi stuff. Not that uploading pictures of Stefan isn’t fun, then again DFB Pokal draws are always fun. It’s just Stefan makes it even more so. And he worked his usual magic on the draw right away by drawing his own team first out, 1.FC Kaiserslautern. Even more amusingly their opponents in the next round are 1.FC Nürnberg. First two teams out and already there’s a DFB related duel going on. Not just a current DFB connection there but a past one too, with Stefan and Andreas both being part of the 1996 EM tournament winning team. This is exactly the kind of stuff I love about DFB Pokal draws, not just the stories between the clubs but making the Jogi/Hansi/Stefan connections between any of the teams.
That was the first such connection but happily enough it was not the last, the next special connection came in relation to Stefan’s home-town team 1.FC Saarbrücken (who knocked out 2.Bundesliga team Jahn Regensburg) who found themselves drawn with 1.FC Köln. Double trivia fun here, Hansi used to play for Köln and their current coach Achim Beierlorzer was last season Jahn Regensburg’s coach. Fun fact, his brother Betram Beierlorzer played for three teams, 1.FC Nürnberg, Bayern Munich and VfB Stuttgart. Nice little trifecta there.
Then comes one of the big guns, title holders Bayern getting drawn with VfL Bochum, which you’ve guessed it, is another DFB connection, a Stefan team going head to head with another Hansi team. Something which is more amusing because Hansi actually works for Bayern now. Speaking of big guns Gladbach have a nightmare of a pairing, the only thing worse than getting Dortmund in the second round of the cup is getting Bayern. Last season Gladbach went out in the second round, getting smashed 5-0 by Leverkusen, hopefully they can avoid a repeat of that this season. Then again if Union Berlin can pull off a shock win against Dortmund, why not Gladbach?
As for Freiburg. well speak of the devil, because they got none other than Union Berlin. I thought that was tough draw before the Dortmund game, Freiburg do however have one major advantage, they have the home right, so they won’t have to run the gauntlet at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei. Playing against Union will mean a reunion with a former Freiburg player as well, Rafal Gikiewicz. He only made two league appearances for Freiburg, but they were two very important ones. Let me put it this way, last weekend wasn’t the first time he’s helped to pull off an upset against Dortmund.
