1. FC Köln are through to the last 16 of the DFB Cup. The 2-0 win in Stuttgart had a lot to do with the large-scale rotation that coach Steffen Baumgart opted for – but in the end it was once again Anthony Modeste who made the difference.
Confidence plays an important role in the professional life of striker Anthony Modeste. Early in the season, during the training camp in Donaueschingen, the attacker hinted that something could go with the new coach. Modeste said at the time about Steffen Baumgart: “The exchange with him is good. He is straight and he is the right guy. In football, there are rarely straight guys. He says things to your face and doesn’t talk behind your back.”
The assessment was obviously right. Things are going well between the two, and the Frenchman set the temporary high point of this special relationship in Stuttgart. Substitute, two touches, two goals: It was a spectacular performance by Modeste, who was supposed to be spared and now, as a short-timer, shot FC into the next cup round.
Modeste brimming with confidence
“I’m enjoying it at the moment,” said Modeste after his impressive performance, the course of which he sees as the result of a development that gives him one thing above all: “It’s nice when you have so much confidence. I invested a lot, the coach gave me confidence and I try to give it back.” That works excellently, Modeste bears witness to it in almost every game and literally blossoms: “We did well, especially the second half was good. And we changed well.”
The 33-year-old was not only referring to the substitutions during the game, the starting line-up also commanded respect. Only three players who had also played against Leverkusen last Sunday were on the pitch for the kick-off in Stuttgart: Salih Özcan, Jonas Hector and Dejan Ljubicic. Baumgart rotated the rest into the team. What seemed risky was based on trust – and in this case, too, the professionals paid back.
“You can already see in training that everyone is stepping on the gas. “
LOUIS SCHAUB
Louis Schaub was one of the newcomers in the starting eleven. “We still struggled in the first half, didn’t always have the grip. But things went better in the second half, that’s when we earned the win,” said the Austrian international. Schaub was not surprised by the overall performance: “You can already see in training that everyone is giving their all. That’s a great sign for the coach, who knows that the next one is already there if someone drops out.”
On Thursday, the team will train once again in Stuttgart before returning to Cologne at noon. There, the hot phase of preparation for the match in Dortmund will begin. Schaub may be back on the bench at Signal-Iduna-Park, but that won’t stop him from thinking about the team – and the success we can all achieve together: “We have to bring the same intensity over 90 minutes, maybe we can take something with us.
