On 29th April, third division side Arminia Bielefeld will host Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg in the semi-finals of the DFB Cup. Only six other third division sides have ever got this far in the history of the tournament. Three of those have gone on to reach the final, but none have ever won the title in Berlin.
Bielefeld are the only side from the 3. Liga, which was started in 2008, to reach the semi-finals. The previous side from the third tier to get to the same stage was FC St. Pauli in 2006. A team from the fourth division or below has never reached the last four. Today, DFB.de interviewed Rudi Thömmes, who with Eintracht Trier in 1997/1998 knocked two winners from Europe out of the DFB Cup.
DFB.de: Mr Thömmes, Arminia Bielefeld are another third division side to reach the semi-finals of the DFB Cup: can you imagine what’s going on there at the moment?
Rudi Thömmes: Yes, of course as we did the same thing. The euphoria and the anticipation are both huge. I’m convinced that Bielefeld will also have a chance against Wolfsburg if they are brave and committed. Arminia are on a run and you can’t underestimate that. They are going to get promoted to the 2. Bundesliga. Unfortunately we couldn’t do that back then because the DFB Cup took a lot out of us. But we made up for it later on.
DFB.de: Let’s go through each round from the 1997/1998 season. First up you faced SpVgg Unterhaching…
Thömmes:…back then they were in the second division so we were outsiders. However, we started the game well and I realised that we could come away with something. We won 2-1 in the end, which was deserved.
DFB.de: And then came the first big test as FC Schalke 04 travelled to Trier.
Thömmes: They had won the UEFA Cup only a few weeks before. It was a huge game for everyone. I was amazed that Schalke didn’t take us seriously and they were punished for that. Schalke defender Johan de Kock was sent off and then I scored the winner with fifteen minutes to go. We could hardly believe our luck.
DFB.de: What happened after that?
Thömmes: There was a huge party and everyone celebrated together. Then we looked forward to the draw for the last 16.
DFB.de: And your opponents were Borussia Dortmund!
Thömmes: Yes, the current Champions league holders. We didn’t know what to expect. It was unbelievable. But we prepared intensively for the game.
DFB.de: When during the 90 minutes was it clear that another upset was on the cards?
Thömmes: Straight after kick-off. Dortmund underestimated us too, despite our previous wins. I can still not understand that today because we were an ambitious third division side. I made it 1-0 and then Marek Czakon made it 2-0 from the penalty spot. BVB then pulled one back through Jürgen Kohler’s wonderful header however we weren’t put in anymore danger and suddenly we were in the quarter-finals.
DFB.de: And there you played in a derby against Waldhof Mannheim.
Thömmes: At the time, it was a huge game with a lot of prestige. We were on a great run and came into the game on a high. We didn’t give much away at the back and scored the winner. It was unbelievable that we had reached the semi-finals as a third division side…
DFB.de…where you suffered a bitter defeat to MSV Duisburg.
Thömmes: Yes bitter is the right word for that. It was a rollercoaster of emotions. Dirk Fengler scored the equaliser with a minute to go. We looked to be out of it but suddenly we were back in the game. We were comfortably the better team in extra time. We had more chances to get through to the final but unfortunately we couldn’t take them. That’s when the dramatic penalty shootout took place.
DFB.de: Eintracht Trier lost 11-10 on penalties. How do you look back on that today?
Thömmes: It was unbelievable. I still remember how I had to take a penalty with the score at 9-8. I wasn’t thinking anything else at that moment, other than the fact that I had to score. Luckily I did that, although the keeper did go the right way but my penalty was too precise.
DFB.de: Why did you take your penalty so late on?
Thömmes: To be honest, we had practiced at training and there were better takers than me. I never thought that I would have to take one but it kept going on.
DFB.de: Right up until Eintracht goalkeeper Daniel Ischdonat had to take one…
Thömmes: …and unfortunately he missed. At that moment, our world was broken and our dream over. But no one ever placed any blame on Daniel. Everyone knew that we had him to thank for getting as far as we did. It made things even more dramatic the fact that he missed the deciding penalty. It was typical of football and typical of the DFB Cup.
DFB.de: You have finished your playing career now and are assistant manager at Eintracht Trier. What ist he current situation at the club?
Thömmes: We’re currently trying to stay up in the Regionalliga. We had to reduce our budget and now have an extremely young squad. The mid and long term aim is to be back in the 3. Liga.
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On 29th April, third division side Arminia Bielefeld will host Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg in the semi-finals of the DFB Cup. Only six other third division sides have ever got this far in the history of the tournament. Three of those have gone on to reach the final, but none have ever won the title in Berlin.
Bielefeld are the only side from the 3. Liga, which was started in 2008, to reach the semi-finals. The previous side from the third tier to get to the same stage was FC St. Pauli in 2006. A team from the fourth division or below has never reached the last four. Today, DFB.de interviewed Rudi Thömmes, who with Eintracht Trier in 1997/1998 knocked two winners from Europe out of the DFB Cup.
DFB.de: Mr Thömmes, Arminia Bielefeld are another third division side to reach the semi-finals of the DFB Cup: can you imagine what’s going on there at the moment?
Rudi Thömmes: Yes, of course as we did the same thing. The euphoria and the anticipation are both huge. I’m convinced that Bielefeld will also have a chance against Wolfsburg if they are brave and committed. Arminia are on a run and you can’t underestimate that. They are going to get promoted to the 2. Bundesliga. Unfortunately we couldn’t do that back then because the DFB Cup took a lot out of us. But we made up for it later on.
DFB.de: Let’s go through each round from the 1997/1998 season. First up you faced SpVgg Unterhaching…
Thömmes:…back then they were in the second division so we were outsiders. However, we started the game well and I realised that we could come away with something. We won 2-1 in the end, which was deserved.
DFB.de: And then came the first big test as FC Schalke 04 travelled to Trier.
Thömmes: They had won the UEFA Cup only a few weeks before. It was a huge game for everyone. I was amazed that Schalke didn’t take us seriously and they were punished for that. Schalke defender Johan de Kock was sent off and then I scored the winner with fifteen minutes to go. We could hardly believe our luck.
DFB.de: What happened after that?
Thömmes: There was a huge party and everyone celebrated together. Then we looked forward to the draw for the last 16.
DFB.de: And your opponents were Borussia Dortmund!
Thömmes: Yes, the current Champions league holders. We didn’t know what to expect. It was unbelievable. But we prepared intensively for the game.
DFB.de: When during the 90 minutes was it clear that another upset was on the cards?
Thömmes: Straight after kick-off. Dortmund underestimated us too, despite our previous wins. I can still not understand that today because we were an ambitious third division side. I made it 1-0 and then Marek Czakon made it 2-0 from the penalty spot. BVB then pulled one back through Jürgen Kohler’s wonderful header however we weren’t put in anymore danger and suddenly we were in the quarter-finals.
DFB.de: And there you played in a derby against Waldhof Mannheim.
Thömmes: At the time, it was a huge game with a lot of prestige. We were on a great run and came into the game on a high. We didn’t give much away at the back and scored the winner. It was unbelievable that we had reached the semi-finals as a third division side…
DFB.de…where you suffered a bitter defeat to MSV Duisburg.
Thömmes: Yes bitter is the right word for that. It was a rollercoaster of emotions. Dirk Fengler scored the equaliser with a minute to go. We looked to be out of it but suddenly we were back in the game. We were comfortably the better team in extra time. We had more chances to get through to the final but unfortunately we couldn’t take them. That’s when the dramatic penalty shootout took place.
DFB.de: Eintracht Trier lost 11-10 on penalties. How do you look back on that today?
Thömmes: It was unbelievable. I still remember how I had to take a penalty with the score at 9-8. I wasn’t thinking anything else at that moment, other than the fact that I had to score. Luckily I did that, although the keeper did go the right way but my penalty was too precise.
DFB.de: Why did you take your penalty so late on?
Thömmes: To be honest, we had practiced at training and there were better takers than me. I never thought that I would have to take one but it kept going on.
DFB.de: Right up until Eintracht goalkeeper Daniel Ischdonat had to take one…
Thömmes: …and unfortunately he missed. At that moment, our world was broken and our dream over. But no one ever placed any blame on Daniel. Everyone knew that we had him to thank for getting as far as we did. It made things even more dramatic the fact that he missed the deciding penalty. It was typical of football and typical of the DFB Cup.
DFB.de: You have finished your playing career now and are assistant manager at Eintracht Trier. What ist he current situation at the club?
Thömmes: We’re currently trying to stay up in the Regionalliga. We had to reduce our budget and now have an extremely young squad. The mid and long term aim is to be back in the 3. Liga.
