Opening round in the Totopokal - with two extremes for TSV 1860. Rarely has a trip in the BVF Cup been longer and an opponent has never played lower class ...
Even Franz Hell, the walking 1860 archive, is committed: SV Birkenfeld, the current leader of the Würzburg 2 district league - it is very likely the lowest-class opponent that a TSV 1860 professional team has ever faced.
Sure, in the 80s there were duels with clubs like Himolla Taufkirchen / Vils or SV Langengeisling, but at that time the BFV-Pokal was structured differently (the Bayern league clubs got on much later), and that's why everything driver Hell, 67, who goes everywhere with the Löwen was and has seen everything: "If I'm not very mistaken, an opponent from the 8th division should be a novelty even for us."
Köllner: Kretzschmar set in goal, Linsbichler should storm
Whatever the case: For 1860 the Totopokal game is a logistical disruptive factor on the one hand: 350 km journey, short rest until the derby against Türkgücü (Saturday, 2 p.m.). On the other hand, coach Michael Köllner says with his big heart for amateur football: “It's a cup, that's part of it. The great thing is: Just as we were happy last year to have a prominent opponent in Frankfurt (first round of the DFB-Pokal / Red.), A regional league team is now happy to have a big number. "
For Köllner, the unequal duel is a welcome opportunity to give players from the second row match practice.
Tom Kretzschmar, for example, the substitute goalkeeper who got a taste for three league games.
Or striker Tim Linsbichler, who is to be brought in after a year of injury.
Köllner says: “It's a great competition for us because we have a lot of young players who can stand up in the BFV Cup.
For Tim Linsbichler, a game like this is something different than if he played in the U21, a team that was not in quotation marks. "
The game is an amazing gift for the whole region - certainly the greatest game in the club's history.
Birkenfeld's player-coach Benedikt Strohmenger (33).
Above all, the trappings will be strange in the sense of being unfamiliar.
Folk festival atmosphere, the fire brigade shows the travelers the way, an entire village (2157 inhabitants) in lion fever.
Player-coach Benedikt Strohmenger (33) reports that on Friday spectators appeared for the first time during training, it was difficult to concentrate on the home game on Sunday: "Everyone had to build up and help out on the side." Nevertheless, it was enough for a 2-0 home win against Retzbach.
“The game is an amazing gift for the whole region,” says Strohmenger, “for sure the biggest game in the club's history.
An incredible number of die-hard Löwen fans live here, eager for tickets.
The Main-Spessart District Office approved 944 spectators.
Strohmenger's great hope is that Köllner will also bring up players “who you know” - and that the result will remain within limits: “A 0:17 would be a shame. It would be cool if it would be over with seven or eight goals conceded. "
