Herr Mike in Deutschland

For the first time in 45 years FC Nuremberg have lifted the German Cup. After a thrilling final the trophy will be coming to Frankonia, the icing on the cake after what has been an incredible season for Der Club.
Back in September the pundits tipped for another typical Nuremberg season, a fight against relegation at the bottom of the table. How wrong they were! A UEFA Cup place and the coveted Pokal Trophy have been won through sheer determination and character, fuelled by some of the best, most dedicated fans I have ever seen.

I first went to watch FCN just to get a football fix and was captivated. I had previously thought I would use FCN as an excuse to watch some of the better teams in the Budesliga but instead I have seen the best teams come to the Franken Stadion and lose - Champions Stuttgart and Bayern Munich included. It isn't through having star players that FCN have achieved so much, in fact quite the opposite - solid players who work for each other, chase every ball and give 110% every game. Credit must be given the the manager Hans Meyer as well, who must be an incredible motivator.

For the final itself VfB Stuttgart were of course favourites, having just taken the Bundesliga title. And they started like champions.
On 20 minutes, after some great use of the ball, striker Cacau latched onto a precise through ball and steered it past Raphael Schafer in the Nuremberg goal. 1-0.

But in typical Nuremberg fashion er Club kept their heads up and pushed for an equaliser with Stuttgart looking a little complacent. Just seven minutes after Cacau's opener Marek Mintal slid onto a ball across the box to equalise.

It has been a nightmare injury filled season for Mintal who is certainly the most technically gifted player that FCN possess. Unfortunately for him and Nuremberg the injury curse struck again only minutes after the goal. A rough challenge from Fernando Meira saw Mintal stretchered off and replaced by Jan Polak.


This saw things turn a bit nasty and the game swung fully in Nuremberg's favour when Cacau was sent off for throwing a punch. This got FCN really fired up and when they game out for the second half they caught VfB by surprise. Marco Engelhardt, a revelation since he came back from a long injury layoff, hit a peach of a shot into the roof of the Stuttgart goal to give Nuremberg the lead.

In turn this stung Stuttgart into action and they threw men forward. Andy Wolf at centre half held off the onslaught until the 80th minute when he mis-timed his jump to head a long ball. Goalkeeper Schafer was off his line quickly to intercept but in doing so he tripped Gomez and the referee pointed to the penalty spot.

Disaster for Nuremberg. Pardo stepped up and slotted the ball home, a real blow for the Club which took the game into extra time.

Both teams looked very cautious during the extra period and didn't create much - it looked like penalties were a certainty unless someone could come up with some magic. And they did.
Nuremberg right midfielder Jan Kristiansen held the ball up on the edge of the Stuttgart penalty area and was closed down immediately by a wall of defenders. With little other option available to him he pivoted and took a shot. It seemed to take an eternity as the ball came sweetly off his laces and thumped past Timo Hildebrand into the top corner - a dream goal. They had surely done it!

FCN held on for an incredible victory which will live long in the memory. The party in Erlangen afterwards was really something to behold.
It was the perfect end to my FCN experience and it has been a great honour to see FCN's best season in nearly 50 years. German football might not be able to compete with the English Premiership in terms of superstars but what it lacks it money it makes up for in passion. Exactly what football is really all about.

Labels: FCN