The season is underway in Germany with the first round of the cup played last weekend. 1.FCN secured a 5-1 away victory at Arminia Bielefield.. On Saturday their league season starts with the challenge of newly promoted Hertha Berlin in the capital's Olympic Stadium. It will the first of 34 encounters as Nuremberg aim to build on the relative success of 2010-11. Overcoming the low expectations of recent history will play a major part in moving the club forward and taking FCN to the next level.
Last season's sixth place was higher than anyone expected, and with a handful of games remaining, Nuremberg were even in a position to challenge for a Europa League slot. With a young side bolstered by the experience of goalkeeper (and new captain) Raphael Schaefer, left-back Javier Pinola, and Belgian midfielder Timmy Simons, one could be excused from thinking that FCN could reasonably expect to push for a similar position or better in the coming season.
Many Clubberer however will not hear a word of it. Such is the combination of Franconian pessimism and previous experience supporting Der Club. Many would settle for simply avoiding relegation, others considering somewhere between 10th and 14th as a realistic expectation. A few have dared to suggest a top ten finish but it is only the most optimistic who think that the level of last season (and in 2011-12 sixth will guarantee a Europa League place) can be achieved again.
High quality players have depatered in the form Ilkay Gundogan , Andy Wolf, Mehmet Ekici and striker Julian Schieber. However, Wolf, despite a semi-legendary status, was prone to silly defensive mistakes and bookings, and it should not be unreasonable to expect the management of FCN to have unearthed other young talents as replacements for the other big movers.
Faith has to be placed in coach Dieter Hecking. He has created a team which plays attacking, flowing football, not only carving-out results but also paying homage to the beautiful side of the beautiful game. He has brought in young and highly-rated Stuttgart midfielder Daniel Didavi on a season long loan, Swiss U-21 centre-half Timm Klose and added the exciting prospect of Czech striker Tomas Peckhart to the squad. The master stroke however may prove to be the signing of Markus Feulner.
Injury has kept Feulner's profile lower than it might have been with spells at Bayern Munich, Cologne, Mainz and, most recently, Dortmund but there is no doubting his talent, something underlined by three wonderfully struck goals against Bielefeld last weekend. If Feulner can avoid further injury then surely the whole team, and particularly players with huge potential such as Almog Cohen, Markus Mendler, Robert Mak and Jens Hegeler will reap the benefits.
In many respects it is almost unthinkable that FCN will finish lower than midtable. Much will depend on how well 22 year-old Phillip Wolscheid and 23 year-old Timm Klose gel at the centre of defence, and how regularly Peckhart (just 22) and supporting strikers such as another newcomer, Alexander Esswein (21), can find the net. It's a big ask but a prolific season from the forwards is needed, and if one can weigh in with 15-18 goals and several other players add a handful each, then sixth place could be in the grasp of Hecking's team. The maturity of the players will be put to the severest test but if Dieter Hecking has got the balance right and keeps his charges level-headed, last season's achievments could represent the start of something not witnessed in Nuremberg since the 1960s.
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
Monday, 9 May 2011
Untouchable
A banner in 1.FC Nuremberg's Frankenstadion reads 'Unantastbar' (untouchable). It is accompanied by an image of Slovakian footballer Marek Mintal. On Saturday, after eight years at 1.FCN the skillful goalscorer played his last game in Nuremberg.
His time at Der Club has been documented extensively elsewhere - his goals, his injuries and his Fussballgott (football god) status in Franconia. Had anybody in the Frankenstadion on Saturday never heard of Mintal before the game, after a couple of hours in the stadium, it will be a name they are unlikely to forget. Nevermind that Mintal only came on as substitute for the final 26 minutes, nevermind the fact that he did not score, or that of late he has only played a minor role for 1.FCN. And no need to worry about the fact that his team were defeated 2-1 by Hoffenheim in the final home game of the season. Nothing else seemed to matter because this was Marek Mintal's day.
From the time the stands started to fill with the red and black of the fans, Mintal's name was chanted almost constantly. It continued after the final whistle as the team lapped the pitch receiving their deserved applause after an excellent season. The players then approached, as is the custom after every game, the terraces of the Ultras and the die-hard Clubberer. They stopped and allowed the hero, the living Nuremberg legend, to make the last few steps to the corner of the pitch alone. His name reverberated even louder, the player applauded his adoring public and his tears started to flow. The crowd reciprocated with tears of their own, and on and on it went.
Mintal was eventually handed a microphone. He addressed the crowd. More applause, more chanting of his name, more tears. He led the fans in the singing of the club anthem. The noise intensified and eventually, after some 30 minutes or so, Marek Mintal walked towards the Frankenstadion tunnel for a final time. An incredible era was ending, and as his name still rang out as he disappeared from the pitch, the farewell could not have been more fitting.
For a player who has a status which is Unantastbar it is just what he deserved. 1.FCN and the Bundesliga will be poorer for his departure. Fortunately, the memories of Marek Mintal and the send-off given by the fans will last for a long, long time.
His time at Der Club has been documented extensively elsewhere - his goals, his injuries and his Fussballgott (football god) status in Franconia. Had anybody in the Frankenstadion on Saturday never heard of Mintal before the game, after a couple of hours in the stadium, it will be a name they are unlikely to forget. Nevermind that Mintal only came on as substitute for the final 26 minutes, nevermind the fact that he did not score, or that of late he has only played a minor role for 1.FCN. And no need to worry about the fact that his team were defeated 2-1 by Hoffenheim in the final home game of the season. Nothing else seemed to matter because this was Marek Mintal's day.
From the time the stands started to fill with the red and black of the fans, Mintal's name was chanted almost constantly. It continued after the final whistle as the team lapped the pitch receiving their deserved applause after an excellent season. The players then approached, as is the custom after every game, the terraces of the Ultras and the die-hard Clubberer. They stopped and allowed the hero, the living Nuremberg legend, to make the last few steps to the corner of the pitch alone. His name reverberated even louder, the player applauded his adoring public and his tears started to flow. The crowd reciprocated with tears of their own, and on and on it went.
Mintal was eventually handed a microphone. He addressed the crowd. More applause, more chanting of his name, more tears. He led the fans in the singing of the club anthem. The noise intensified and eventually, after some 30 minutes or so, Marek Mintal walked towards the Frankenstadion tunnel for a final time. An incredible era was ending, and as his name still rang out as he disappeared from the pitch, the farewell could not have been more fitting.
For a player who has a status which is Unantastbar it is just what he deserved. 1.FCN and the Bundesliga will be poorer for his departure. Fortunately, the memories of Marek Mintal and the send-off given by the fans will last for a long, long time.
Sunday, 17 April 2011
Let the champagne flow
The time has come to celebrate the fantastic season for 1.FCN - the performance of the team as a whole and the leadership of coach, Dieter Hecking. The combination of exciting, attacking football, excellent results and the transformation of several players into highly desirable targets for other clubs, is a long way from most things that have happened at Der Club since the 2007 Cup Final victory.
With four games still remaining in the Bundesliga season, some may consider this post to be four weeks premature. Unthinkable defeat in each of those four games would indeed take the edge off the ecstasy felt by the fans, but now is the right time to celebrate because the remaining games threaten to be overshadowed by hopes and fears as Nuremberg fight for Europa League qualification.
At the beginning of the season, there were few Clubberer who would have been dissatisified with a mid-table position come May. They would have settled for the last four games being little more than drab end-of-season affairs, with nothing to gain, nothing to lose. Mid-table mediocrity would have made a pleasant change after the previous three seasons - an unsuccesful relegation battle, followed by a promotion via the play-offs, and then another brush with relegation, eventually only avoided as a result of a second consecutive play-off victory. Certainly as the Bundesliga paused for the winter break with 1.FCN still having plenty to do to avoid being sucked into the turmoil at the bottom of the table, even a fourteenth place finish would have been welcome.
But Hecking had started building something special long before Christmas. Ilkay Gundogan was attracting attention from the Bundesliga and beyond, as were the on-loan Julian Schieber and on-loan Mehmet Ekici. Attractive passing, attacking football rapidly became the signature of Hecking's team, and young players were entrusted with several games to bed-in and make their mark.
Surely if Der Club can hold on to six or seven from a growing list of accomplished performers including the aforementioned Gundogan, Schieber and Ekici plus Jens Hegeler, Phillip Wollscheid, Timothy Chandler, Almog Cohen, Andy Wolf, Raphael Schaefer, Timmy Simons and Javier Pinola, then next season could be equally as good, and fans will expect it to be.
This season, a mid-table finish is now unlikley to be achieved, to the obvious joy of all involved. But this joy should come with a health warning. The final games will not be calm affairs. The fans, and surely the players too, will have their nerves placed on a knife edge as every goal for and against will either add a new twist in the quest for European competition, or twist the knife into a faltering campaign. These games will not be for the faint-hearted and results from other fixtures will probably be just as significant as those for 1.FCN. As each game plays out in front of our eyes, it will be hard for us as supporters to remember the previous eight months or so. Each moment of each game will indicate triumph or disaster with hearts firmly set on fifth place.
So now is the time to reflect on what has been achieved at 1.FCN this season. There may be more to come and anyone watching can be forgiven for wanting this now. However, all Clubberer should be more than happy with what Dieter Hecking has built so far, irrespective of what happens in the nerve-wracking finale. And soon we might not only be considering which on-field talents we want Der Club to hold onto for the foreseeable future. Hecking has also considerably raised his own profile and done so to the point at which he is clearly as important to the future of 1.FCN as any other individual. Europa League football would be a fitting tribute to what he has achieved already but let's also be happy that we're in a battle at the right end of the Bundesliga, and that it looks like it might become a more regular occurence.
With four games still remaining in the Bundesliga season, some may consider this post to be four weeks premature. Unthinkable defeat in each of those four games would indeed take the edge off the ecstasy felt by the fans, but now is the right time to celebrate because the remaining games threaten to be overshadowed by hopes and fears as Nuremberg fight for Europa League qualification.
At the beginning of the season, there were few Clubberer who would have been dissatisified with a mid-table position come May. They would have settled for the last four games being little more than drab end-of-season affairs, with nothing to gain, nothing to lose. Mid-table mediocrity would have made a pleasant change after the previous three seasons - an unsuccesful relegation battle, followed by a promotion via the play-offs, and then another brush with relegation, eventually only avoided as a result of a second consecutive play-off victory. Certainly as the Bundesliga paused for the winter break with 1.FCN still having plenty to do to avoid being sucked into the turmoil at the bottom of the table, even a fourteenth place finish would have been welcome.
But Hecking had started building something special long before Christmas. Ilkay Gundogan was attracting attention from the Bundesliga and beyond, as were the on-loan Julian Schieber and on-loan Mehmet Ekici. Attractive passing, attacking football rapidly became the signature of Hecking's team, and young players were entrusted with several games to bed-in and make their mark.
Surely if Der Club can hold on to six or seven from a growing list of accomplished performers including the aforementioned Gundogan, Schieber and Ekici plus Jens Hegeler, Phillip Wollscheid, Timothy Chandler, Almog Cohen, Andy Wolf, Raphael Schaefer, Timmy Simons and Javier Pinola, then next season could be equally as good, and fans will expect it to be.
This season, a mid-table finish is now unlikley to be achieved, to the obvious joy of all involved. But this joy should come with a health warning. The final games will not be calm affairs. The fans, and surely the players too, will have their nerves placed on a knife edge as every goal for and against will either add a new twist in the quest for European competition, or twist the knife into a faltering campaign. These games will not be for the faint-hearted and results from other fixtures will probably be just as significant as those for 1.FCN. As each game plays out in front of our eyes, it will be hard for us as supporters to remember the previous eight months or so. Each moment of each game will indicate triumph or disaster with hearts firmly set on fifth place.
So now is the time to reflect on what has been achieved at 1.FCN this season. There may be more to come and anyone watching can be forgiven for wanting this now. However, all Clubberer should be more than happy with what Dieter Hecking has built so far, irrespective of what happens in the nerve-wracking finale. And soon we might not only be considering which on-field talents we want Der Club to hold onto for the foreseeable future. Hecking has also considerably raised his own profile and done so to the point at which he is clearly as important to the future of 1.FCN as any other individual. Europa League football would be a fitting tribute to what he has achieved already but let's also be happy that we're in a battle at the right end of the Bundesliga, and that it looks like it might become a more regular occurence.
Saturday, 5 March 2011
Your Eyes Are Not Deceiving You
Football clubs the world over often 'flatter to deceive' - they make their fans believe that they are about to witness something special only to throw it all away by the time the fat lady sings. The England national team are particulalry adept at this, Arsenal managed it on a small (although my no means insignificant) scale throwing away a 4-0 lead at Newcastle a few weeks ago, and 1.FC Nuremberg are masters at finding the cloud when the silver-lining is there for the taking. Just look back to the 2007-08 season. Having finished sixth in the Bundesliga and won the German FA Cup the previous May, expectations were primed for another wonderful season and great things in the UEFA Cup. The European campaign lasted into February but the league form was dire and relegation was almost a relief when it finally came.
After last season's all too familiar (but just about successful) battle against relegation, expectations for this season were not high. Most would have settled for Bundesliga survival, preferably without having to go through the play-offs again. A promising start gave way to a more familiar mediocrity and as the second half of the season started, fans still had one eye on the bottom three places. There looked to be a handful of 'must win' games to make sure the trap door below remained shut. One of those games was arguably the first after the break at home to bottom club Moenchengladbach. 1.FCN managed to lose it.
Since then, the season has taken a miraculous turn. Five wins and two draws in the last seven games have transformed survival hopefuls into realistic contenders for a top five, Europa League qualifying position. Flattering to deceive? The evidence would suggest not. This is a team who are playing high quality football, rather than just about managing to eek out impressive results. There is a clear confidence and a refreshing lack of arrogance. A balance of the young and the more experienced, and a coach who has created a squad playing attractive, flowing, attacking football, has made European competition next season something more than a slight possibility. And even if it is not achieved, it is difficult to see Nuremberg finishing outside the top eight, something that in itself would be remarkable after the peformances and wilderness years since May 2007.
Do not adjust your sets. Your eyes, and Dieter Hecking's fantastic 1.FCN, are not deceiving you. There are few teams playing with the fluidity and spirit of Nuremberg at the moment. Enjoy it while it lasts but don't bet against it lasting longer than it usually does this time.
After last season's all too familiar (but just about successful) battle against relegation, expectations for this season were not high. Most would have settled for Bundesliga survival, preferably without having to go through the play-offs again. A promising start gave way to a more familiar mediocrity and as the second half of the season started, fans still had one eye on the bottom three places. There looked to be a handful of 'must win' games to make sure the trap door below remained shut. One of those games was arguably the first after the break at home to bottom club Moenchengladbach. 1.FCN managed to lose it.
Since then, the season has taken a miraculous turn. Five wins and two draws in the last seven games have transformed survival hopefuls into realistic contenders for a top five, Europa League qualifying position. Flattering to deceive? The evidence would suggest not. This is a team who are playing high quality football, rather than just about managing to eek out impressive results. There is a clear confidence and a refreshing lack of arrogance. A balance of the young and the more experienced, and a coach who has created a squad playing attractive, flowing, attacking football, has made European competition next season something more than a slight possibility. And even if it is not achieved, it is difficult to see Nuremberg finishing outside the top eight, something that in itself would be remarkable after the peformances and wilderness years since May 2007.
Do not adjust your sets. Your eyes, and Dieter Hecking's fantastic 1.FCN, are not deceiving you. There are few teams playing with the fluidity and spirit of Nuremberg at the moment. Enjoy it while it lasts but don't bet against it lasting longer than it usually does this time.
Saturday, 29 January 2011
Masterpieces
After 118 minutes of last Tuesday's German cup quarter-final match between Schalke 04 and 1.FC Nuremberg, a fascinating, hard-fought and thrilling encounter was heading for penalties - cruel, but with time about to expire, it looked like a decisive, match-winning moment would elude the weary players and the nerve-wracked crowd. In the 119th minute, a 17 year-old schoolboy by the name of Julian Draxler changed all that. His glorious strike of the ball was worthy of winning any game of football. One set of fans were elated, the other devastated, yet all could admire the brilliance of the goal itself.
There are many aspects of the 'beautiful game' which make it just that. Flowing passing moves, mesmerising dribbles, impossible saves, even stoic defensive performances - they are all specialised areas of the art of football. Their beauty is often open to some subjectivity and different aficionados will appreciate different things. Yet there is something so straightforward about a wonder-goal. The simplicity is plain for all to see - a player strikes the ball and propels it into the net in spectacular fashion. It even looks easy, yet for the average person it is also almost impossible to recreate. It's a bit like a Van Gogh. A painting of a vase of sunflowers or an untidy bedroom - instantly recognisable, iconic pieces, surely within reach of anybody at first glance, but then look at the intricacies of the individual brush strokes and think again. Curling a ball from 25 yards, while running forward, avoiding the challenges of brutal defenders, transferring enough energy to the ball to give a highly trained custodian of the goal absolutely no chance of saving it. An element of luck maybe, but a huge slice of skill too.
Art lovers queue to look at masterpieces in art gallery exhibitions. They remember the best paintings for years to come. Football fans love goals, and the great ones live in the memory for a long time. Just prior to writing this piece I watched Nuremberg beat Hamburg 2-0 in the Bundesliga. A penalty and a tap-in were celebrated at the time as though they were the greatest goals ever scored. The result will be remembered long after the goals themselves have been forgotten. On a week-to-week basis this is probably the norm for any football fan. But every once in a while there is a special strike. Something out of the ordinary that is either highly spectacular, highly significant or a combination of the two. Everybody has their favourites - for many present day Nuremberg fans, Jan Kristiansen's cup winning goal in extra-time of the 2007 final will be their personal number one. Even the defeated Stuttgart players and fans will remember this footballing moment.
That Nuremberg were on the wrong end of another great cup goal, should not detract from the quality or indeed longevity of the memory of Draxler's effort for Schalke. The significance may be more long-term than simply knocking 1.FCN out of the cup. Another young, exciting, and obviously very talented German footballer should set warning bells ringing in the international footballing arena too, as well as having agents, scouts and the media working themselves into a frenzy.
Personally, while 'gutted' at the defeat, it felt less heartbreaking to lose in this manner than through a penalty shoot-out (although at least if you get to that stage you still have a chance of winning). All that is left for a football fan on the 'wrong end' of such a moment, is to hope that their team do not leave it too long before they next score a goal so beautiful and significant that it might even over-shadow the game itself. We can all appreciate great goals against us, but we don't want to have to do it too often.
There are many aspects of the 'beautiful game' which make it just that. Flowing passing moves, mesmerising dribbles, impossible saves, even stoic defensive performances - they are all specialised areas of the art of football. Their beauty is often open to some subjectivity and different aficionados will appreciate different things. Yet there is something so straightforward about a wonder-goal. The simplicity is plain for all to see - a player strikes the ball and propels it into the net in spectacular fashion. It even looks easy, yet for the average person it is also almost impossible to recreate. It's a bit like a Van Gogh. A painting of a vase of sunflowers or an untidy bedroom - instantly recognisable, iconic pieces, surely within reach of anybody at first glance, but then look at the intricacies of the individual brush strokes and think again. Curling a ball from 25 yards, while running forward, avoiding the challenges of brutal defenders, transferring enough energy to the ball to give a highly trained custodian of the goal absolutely no chance of saving it. An element of luck maybe, but a huge slice of skill too.
Art lovers queue to look at masterpieces in art gallery exhibitions. They remember the best paintings for years to come. Football fans love goals, and the great ones live in the memory for a long time. Just prior to writing this piece I watched Nuremberg beat Hamburg 2-0 in the Bundesliga. A penalty and a tap-in were celebrated at the time as though they were the greatest goals ever scored. The result will be remembered long after the goals themselves have been forgotten. On a week-to-week basis this is probably the norm for any football fan. But every once in a while there is a special strike. Something out of the ordinary that is either highly spectacular, highly significant or a combination of the two. Everybody has their favourites - for many present day Nuremberg fans, Jan Kristiansen's cup winning goal in extra-time of the 2007 final will be their personal number one. Even the defeated Stuttgart players and fans will remember this footballing moment.
That Nuremberg were on the wrong end of another great cup goal, should not detract from the quality or indeed longevity of the memory of Draxler's effort for Schalke. The significance may be more long-term than simply knocking 1.FCN out of the cup. Another young, exciting, and obviously very talented German footballer should set warning bells ringing in the international footballing arena too, as well as having agents, scouts and the media working themselves into a frenzy.
Personally, while 'gutted' at the defeat, it felt less heartbreaking to lose in this manner than through a penalty shoot-out (although at least if you get to that stage you still have a chance of winning). All that is left for a football fan on the 'wrong end' of such a moment, is to hope that their team do not leave it too long before they next score a goal so beautiful and significant that it might even over-shadow the game itself. We can all appreciate great goals against us, but we don't want to have to do it too often.
Thursday, 20 January 2011
The Pokal - Glory in Berlin, 2007
As 1.FCN prepare to meet Schalke 04 in the quarter-final of the DFB Pokal, and while Glubberer still hang on to hopes of another trip to Berlin in May, it's worth looking back to the final of four years ago. when Hans Meyer's team ended a glorious season with a marvellous cup victory.
…From the once great shores of the UK flew a great bird bearing the island’s cream of football supporters. These brave pioneers headed to the imposing metropolis of Berlin. For it is here that they slogged their way through beer and wurst to arrive at the stage that was once the dream of all Olympians.
There were different gladiators there that day, all dressed in white but still with that same look
Rarely does a cup final live up to it's big match billing as did the 2007 meeting between 1.FCN and Stuttgart. Hans Meyer had turned his team into UEFA Cup qualifers after taking the helm just 18 months previously with relegation looking likely. Stuttgart, already crowned league champions, had lost their two Bundesliga encounters with 1.FCN but were favourites to lift the cup and complete the 'double'.
The odds, however, were upset and Nuremberg lifted their first trophy for 39 years. The story of the game was best captured on the original 1FCNUK website in the words of Jason who, with several other UK-based fans, was in the Olympic Stadium that special day...
…From the once great shores of the UK flew a great bird bearing the island’s cream of football supporters. These brave pioneers headed to the imposing metropolis of Berlin. For it is here that they slogged their way through beer and wurst to arrive at the stage that was once the dream of all Olympians.
There were different gladiators there that day, all dressed in white but still with that same look
of determination and steely grit in their eyes. And it was these great champions that the British pioneers came to see.
A brave contest ensued between the graceful Whites and the savage Reds. Misplaced footings and sublime finishing resulted in an early blow from the Reds. But this was just the tonic needed to force the Whites into action, an incisive move down the right flank ensured the quick thinking Slovak [Marek Mintal] punished a flat-footed defence. And then the Reds showed their true colours and took to Neanderthal methods to stop the rampaging Whites, their talisman taken from the field of play [Mintal after a vicious foul]. But still the Whites pressed, moved by their mountain of support… forward, forward.
A break from the battle came.
The general on the sideline pushed his troops forward and a victory seemed inevitable. GOAL. [Marco Engelhardt]
.
The Franconians, euphoric (the British heroes too) applauded their warriors. The end seemed in sight, but a cruel blow was to come... tired legs retreated and a penalty came. Was this the end of the battling Franconians and their faithful hordes? No! No! Wir Sind Der Club!! That was the cry! And the Whites poured forward with one final push. GOOOOOOOAL [Jan Kristiansen]
… This was too much to bear for our British heroes, who went into a frenzy.
The golden chalice was won. Legends were born. And one lived on…Der Club.
Sunday, 16 January 2011
At least Dick Turpin wore a mask
It would be hard to argue against the feeling that poor decisions from the referee cost 1.FCN at least one point in the first game after the winter break.
Struggling Borussia Moenchengladbach caused Nuremberg plenty of problems, particularly in the first half, and led 1-0 at half-time through Neustaedter's 8th minute effort. 1.FCN certainly had the better of the second half and if Pinola had converted a penalty they would have at least had something to show for their performance.
But unfortunately, and this is a recurring theme with games involving 1.FCN, the performance many will want to discuss is that of the referee, Babak 'Dick Turpin' Rafati. As the infamous English highwayman (for those of you who have never heard of Turpin) stole precious jewels from the upper classes, Rafati robbed 1.FCN of equally precious points. Two strong penalty claims were ignored, and a pefectly legitimate Mendler goal was disallowed, despite Rafati's assistant who was just a few metres from the action, considering there to have been no infringement of the rules.
It has to be hoped that the DFB will take a close look at Rafati's performance. 1.FCN can certainly feel somewhat cheated. Fans of Gladbach's relegation rivals, Stuttgart and Cologne must be wondering how the bottom placed team is not further adrift after round 18.
Struggling Borussia Moenchengladbach caused Nuremberg plenty of problems, particularly in the first half, and led 1-0 at half-time through Neustaedter's 8th minute effort. 1.FCN certainly had the better of the second half and if Pinola had converted a penalty they would have at least had something to show for their performance.
But unfortunately, and this is a recurring theme with games involving 1.FCN, the performance many will want to discuss is that of the referee, Babak 'Dick Turpin' Rafati. As the infamous English highwayman (for those of you who have never heard of Turpin) stole precious jewels from the upper classes, Rafati robbed 1.FCN of equally precious points. Two strong penalty claims were ignored, and a pefectly legitimate Mendler goal was disallowed, despite Rafati's assistant who was just a few metres from the action, considering there to have been no infringement of the rules.
It has to be hoped that the DFB will take a close look at Rafati's performance. 1.FCN can certainly feel somewhat cheated. Fans of Gladbach's relegation rivals, Stuttgart and Cologne must be wondering how the bottom placed team is not further adrift after round 18.
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