The special thing about these cup matches in the country is that everything is very close. The additional stand that had been installed on Wednesday at FC Pipinsried was less than five meters from the goal where the only goal of the day would fall. And at the end of a memorable cup match, the TSV 1860 Munich players could hear exactly what their fans were thinking.
“Take off your shirts,” one shouted, pulling at his own shirt as if to say: I’m a real lion. It was easy to see in the players’ faces what those statements provoked in them. And that in a place you would really like to return to. Five years ago Sixty won the regional league championship in Pipinsried.
The third division team had lost the quarterfinals of the Bavarian Toto Cup to the Bavarian league team; Daniel Gerstmayer, 20, marked the victory with a header in the fifth minute. Neither a red card for Pipinsried (66th) nor a penalty (83rd) helped the Sixties avoid misfortune, in the end these circumstances only made them grow.
“It wasn’t a B team,” says 1860 coach Jacobacci. He did not underestimate FC Pipinsried
So Lions coach Jacobacci, 60, sat in front of a club crowd that was wildly celebrating local coach Martin Weng and said: “I can only apologize for the performance my team put in.” Pipinsried coach Weng said shortly after that before the match he had shown his players the results of the 1960s Toto Cup from previous years; last year, for example, they were eliminated against FV Illertissen. “From the beginning,” said goalscorer Gerstmayer when asked when he started to believe in victory. So maybe the ’60s weren’t, per se, the favorites they thought they were. In other words: they underestimated Pipinsried. Of course, no one admitted it afterwards.
Weng described the penalty that Sixty’s Albion Vrenezi hit the crossbar as “the last push. You realize what a big difference your head makes. What the boys could still run, I wouldn’t have thought they could do it myself.” .
Where were the lions’ heads then? Especially in the 24 minutes in which he was in the majority, after the somewhat dubious expulsion of Ludwig Räuber for an emergency braking? Sixty continued to act as if everything among the 2,500 spectators was too small for them. The passes seemed as if the teammate was ten meters further away than he really was, the shots on goal landed on the metal fence or in the parking lot behind it. “We just couldn’t cause them problems, they caused us problems,” 1860 defender Leroy Kwadwo had to admit.
Coach Maurizio Jacobacci did not find an answer either. He listed the names of the players, such as goalkeeper Marco Hiller, who returned to goal for the first time after a three-week injury layoff, to underline: “It wasn’t a B team.” In other words: he did not underestimate FC Pipinsried. Jacobacci had said the day before that he wanted to avoid the fate that befell his city rival, FC Bayern, at 1. FC Saarbrücken in the DFB Cup. However, he rested his captain Jesper Verlaat and put attacker Fynn Lakenmacher on the bench. It’s hard to compare Lakenmacher to Harry Kane, if only because Lakenmacher came on as a substitute and missed his chances.
Due to the bankruptcy, the 60s also lost their best chance to participate in the next DFB Cup.
“In principle,” Jacobacci said of his players, “they are prepared to perform,” and some non-regular players also have the opportunity to “present themselves for higher tasks.” But the Swiss coach also had his delicate moments in the packed club headquarters. For example, when he was asked why he only called up one player from the starting eleven that won 3-2 in Saarbrücken a week ago. “Is Hiller a B team? Is Glück a B team? Is Vrenezi a B team? These players have no chance of surviving against Pipinsried?” he asked. And he added sarcastically: “Then it’s my fault I put together a team like that.” As there was a lack of a sports director in the summer, Jacobacci played a key role in forming the team. These days he is asking more and more for a sports director.
The elimination of the team that played 0-0 against TSV 1860 Munich II in the summer was not only embarrassing. Given the distance to the top of the third division standings, the 60s have missed their best chance to participate in the DFB Cup next season. The new momentum after an important away victory in the league has also faded, so the derby against SpVgg Unterhaching next Saturday once again points the way.
After the match, the argument that had caused the sale of tickets broke out again between the referees. In Pipinsried it didn’t go as well as the Lions would have liked, in fact it wasn’t a home game for sixty in terms of atmosphere. One more win and Pipinsried would definitely make it to the final as the lowest ranked team. The draw will take place next week, but the Pipinsried team does not care much about the opponent. “We have nothing to lose,” said goalscorer Gerstmayer, very happy.
The Würzburger Kickers and reigning champions FV Illertissen are still in the competition; The fourth participant is still missing after Türkgücü Munich had to cancel their match against FC Ingolstadt: the grass of the alternative stadium in Rosenheim was under water. According to information from SZ, Türkgücü submitted a request to the BFV on Friday to play Sunday’s match in Ingolstadt. But it was obviously too short notice. On Saturday Schanzer announced that the game would probably not be played until February. Where is still unclear.