display
Simon Engelmann grinned.
He thinks, said the cup hero from Rot-Weiss Essen, that he will have “one or the other cold drink”.
Then the man, who had shot Bayer Leverkusen out of the competition with his goal in the 117th minute, stepped into action: He ended the television interview and went to the cabin - to the cold drinks.
Because there was apparently a little more of it, coach Christian Neidhart was gracious: On Wednesday morning, the players of the fourth division could sleep a little longer.
It is not known whether their fans could too - but in any case they must have wished for it.
Because shortly after RWE had created the sensation thanks to Engelmann and beat the federal lists 2-1 (0: 1, 0: 0, 0: 0) after extra time, the party began: At the stadium, up to 250 vehicles gathered for a parade, who hooted from Hafenstraße in the north of the city to the center.
It was one of those rare evenings when the emotions of some fans were just too overwhelming to comply with all corona protection regulations.
The following day, the Essen police announced that 27 investigations had been initiated - some also because pyrotechnics had been burned down.
"Overall, however, it remained quite calm," said a police spokesman.
"It is tragic that no fans could be there"
display
It was an evening of great emotions - even if the game had to take place in front of empty seats.
“It's tragic that no audience could be there.
But in Essen we play especially for our fans.
We are a spectator club, ”said RWE CEO Marcus Uhlig, who dedicated the victory to the fans.
Neidhart, however, thanked his players.
"We are extremely proud of the boys that they delivered such a fight," said the coach and looked back on the drama of the extra time - with Leverkusen leading through Leon Bailey (105th minute) and equalizing by Oguzhan Kefkir (108.) and finally Engelmann's stroke of genius.
The striker, who tops the list of goalscorers of Regionalliga West with 20 goals, was barely visible for almost the entire game, but three minutes before the end he started into the opening space at the crucial moment, walked between two defenders and managed to to put the ball from an acute angle over the storming keeper Lukas Hradecky.
Simon Engelmann celebrates his goal that brought Rot-Weiss Essen into the DFB quarter-finals
Source: AP / Martin Meissner
display
Engelmann, who scored the only goal in the first round against first division Arminia Bielefeld (1: 0) and also scored in the second round against second division Fortuna Düsseldorf (3: 2), explained his qualities in a relatively simple way: “I know when I have the ball on my feet it can always ring.
This time I didn't have a lot of chances, but shortly before the end I had him on my feet - and the doorbell rang. ”The 31-year-old attacker, who only came from league rivals SV Rödinghausen at the beginning of the season, is a goal phantom : Regardless of the league - Engelmann never played higher than fourth class - there are only a few strikers with such a pronounced instinct and such a strong shooting technique.
Essential income from the DFB Cup
For Engelmann, who had already considered ending his career before signing in Essen and looking for a “real” job, RWE is a matter close to his heart.
He had always wanted to play at least in the third division and preferably for a club with many fans.
He hopes to be able to fulfill this late career dream in the coming season.
It was seen on Tuesday that the team, which is currently two points behind the leader of the table, Borussia Dortmund's second team, is in second place in the table, is able to do better.
“After the 0: 1, many believed that the thing was through.
But we always believed in ourselves.
That is simply amazing, ”said Engelmann.
Engelmann has now brought the traditional club further, not insignificant income.
The Esseners have already collected 960,000 euros from the first three rounds - in the quarter-finals there will be at least as much again.
display
“Our whole cup story helped us a lot in the Corona context.
The fact that there is now a million added helps a lot, ”said Uhlig, who has skilfully led RWE through the crisis in recent months with the temporary league shutdown and the extensive exclusion of viewers.
The 49-year-old was just as emotional as the players and fans on Tuesday evening.
“I struggle with the words to describe it.
We will only understand what happened in a few days.
I take off all my hats to our team - to be 1-0 down against a Champions League contender and then turn the game around is great, ”he said.
The third cup success against a higher-class opponent in a row should also increase self-confidence with regard to the big goal of promotion.
Next Sunday there will be a top game against the BVB amateurs.