Frank Schmidt: “Football is always a matter of momentum”

Heidenheim’s coach applauds his team after yet another late win to boost their survival hopes.

Heidenheim won back-to-back league games for the first time this season. Just like last week in Berlin, they came from behind to score the winning goal in injury-time. Frank Schmidt spoke highly about his team’s mentality after the game.

“I’m happy with the performance of my team,” said Schmidt. “In the first half, we wanted to build more pressure, but we didn’t get into counter-pressing properly. In the second half, however, the team became stronger and stronger.

“We knew that if we managed to equalise, we could win the game. Football is always a matter of momentum – you have to believe in yourself, and such senses of achievement help enormously.”

The man of the match Patrick Mainka, who produced a solid performance in defense in addition to his goal, called it a “beautiful victory”. “We don’t always need to win like this. But if it happens, of course, we’ll be happy to take that with us.”

Stefan Schimmer scored in back-to-back games as a substitute, with his latest goal the winner in the 94th minute. “Of course, you always want to be on the pitch from the start,” said Schimmer. “But a short playing time could be enough to help the team. If the opponent makes rare mistakes, you have to be there and use these moments.”

Heidenheim climbed to the relegation/promotion playoff spot with a win, despite St. Pauli’s dramatic draw in Köln simultaneously.