Roman Weidenfeller received praise all-round after he was the man of the hour in BVB’s DFB Cup clash against 1. FC Union Berlin. The world champion helped Dortmund secure a 3-0 victory on penalties with two saves during the shootout in a match that lasted more than two hours. The second-tier side from Berlin surprised everyone as they held Dortmund to a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes.
Thomas Tuchel’s team will take on another outfit from Berlin in the last 16 of the DFB Cup on 7th/8th February, namely Bundesliga rivals Hertha BSC. Weidenfeller has been the chosen man between the posts for Dortmund during this season’s cup competition. The winner of five domestic titles speaks in an interview with DFB.de about the lottery of penalty shootouts, BVB goalkeeping coach Wolfgang “Teddy” de Beer’s best bits of advice and the support from the Yellow Wall.
Interviewer: Mr Weidenfeller, you couldn’t have written last night’s cup thriller any better, could you?
Roman Weidenfeller: Probably not. These sorts of things only happen in football. But we shouldn’t have let it get so tense at the end. We can be pleased that we made it through to the next round. I think we didn’t get into the game well and we weren’t convincing on the ball. We got the goal just before half-time with a stroke of luck, which was really important. However after the break we failed to take control of the game.
Interviewer: What would be your main criticism of the team’s performance?
Weidenfeller: We missed a lot of chances and we had spells when we just didn’t play well. You could tell it was going to be a tight game. Union Berlin got themselves back on level terms with a great long-range strike but in my view, this match didn’t have to go all the way to penalties, we should have won it in normal time.
Interviewer: Did penalties play a role in the team’s preparations before the game?
Weidenfeller: We are always ready for anything. Thomas Tuchel and his coaching team are always thinking about what could happen next right up until the final whistle, so we are fully-prepared before every match. We knew that it would not be easy against Union Berlin and that we would have to perform at our best. I have to say I didn’t think it would be that close a game though. You have to give credit to the Berliners, they played really well and were incredibly strong in their challenges. They also had a fantastic goalkeeper and got the luck they needed. But we simply should have done a lot better with the chances we had.
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Roman Weidenfeller received praise all-round after he was the man of the hour in BVB’s DFB Cup clash against 1. FC Union Berlin. The world champion helped Dortmund secure a 3-0 victory on penalties with two saves during the shootout in a match that lasted more than two hours. The second-tier side from Berlin surprised everyone as they held Dortmund to a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes.
Thomas Tuchel’s team will take on another outfit from Berlin in the last 16 of the DFB Cup on 7th/8th February, namely Bundesliga rivals Hertha BSC. Weidenfeller has been the chosen man between the posts for Dortmund during this season’s cup competition. The winner of five domestic titles speaks in an interview with DFB.de about the lottery of penalty shootouts, BVB goalkeeping coach Wolfgang “Teddy” de Beer’s best bits of advice and the support from the Yellow Wall.
Interviewer: Mr Weidenfeller, you couldn’t have written last night’s cup thriller any better, could you?
Roman Weidenfeller: Probably not. These sorts of things only happen in football. But we shouldn’t have let it get so tense at the end. We can be pleased that we made it through to the next round. I think we didn’t get into the game well and we weren’t convincing on the ball. We got the goal just before half-time with a stroke of luck, which was really important. However after the break we failed to take control of the game.
Interviewer: What would be your main criticism of the team’s performance?
Weidenfeller: We missed a lot of chances and we had spells when we just didn’t play well. You could tell it was going to be a tight game. Union Berlin got themselves back on level terms with a great long-range strike but in my view, this match didn’t have to go all the way to penalties, we should have won it in normal time.
Interviewer: Did penalties play a role in the team’s preparations before the game?
Weidenfeller: We are always ready for anything. Thomas Tuchel and his coaching team are always thinking about what could happen next right up until the final whistle, so we are fully-prepared before every match. We knew that it would not be easy against Union Berlin and that we would have to perform at our best. I have to say I didn’t think it would be that close a game though. You have to give credit to the Berliners, they played really well and were incredibly strong in their challenges. They also had a fantastic goalkeeper and got the luck they needed. But we simply should have done a lot better with the chances we had.
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Question: Did Borussia Dortmund goalkeeping coach, “Teddy” de Beer, provide you with information on who was taking penalties and where they might shoot?
Weidenfeller: Of course. Nowadays we have a very good scouting system and are generally very well prepared. I’m no expert penalty-saver, but everyone knows that I have made important penalty saves in my time. Ultimately it’s about instinct and feeling. You also have to remember that it is a big challenge for those taking the penalties, in front of all those fans. The stadium is buzzing at this point. We were able to capitalise on that and also had that little bit of luck on our side. It was important for me to keep my cool in the shootout.
Question: How influential was it, to have the support of the yellow wall in the shootout?
Weidenfeller: I think it does make a difference. I have a lot of respect for the fans who support us day and night, through thick and thin. We can always count on our fans and that is the most important thing.
Question: How important will the fans be on Saturday against Schalke? It is a derby day Bundesliga clash and for the fans, it is the game they most look forward to.
Weidenfeller: Absolutely. The game against Union Berlin was a really tough game and the game on Saturday will be no different. It is important, for both the moral and the team unity, to know whether you can get through difficult games. We want to do the fans a huge favour by winning the game. We will do all that we can to achieve our goal.
Question: In terms of the emotional ride you went through, where does the game against Union Berlin rank in your over 400 games for Dortmund.
Weidenfeller: It’s definitely up there. It was an emotional evening for sure. Not many would have predicted such a game beforehand. We can be satisfied that we got through the game together and that the outfield players put away all of their penalties.
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