Frank Schmidt: “It was our most important game”

Heidenheim’s coach Frank Schmidt was satisfied with his side’s big win over Holstein Kiel.

In the battle of the league’s bottom teams, Heidenheim snatched a 3-1 win over Holstein Kiel. The win takes FCH out of the foot of the table, while the gap is now reduced to only a single point between them and Bochum.

“I knew that today’s game would only have a few scoring opportunities,” said Frank Schmidt at the start of his post-match press conference. “I said it was our most important game because a loss would have made it extremely difficult to maintain the belief that we could still avoid relegation.

“Now it’s all about picking up points so we have a chance of staying up. We had the better chances in the first half. And, today’s decisive factor was scoring the 2-0 early on. It wasn’t an easy game. But, my team didn’t let the pressure get to them. We played the kind of football we need to play to be successful.”

In particular, Schmidt praised Budu Zivzivadze as the Georgian scored for the second week of running. On the day that he lost the official title of “Bundesliga’s Fastest Player to Jean-Mattéo Bahoya, Sirlord Conteh sealed the win for Heidenheim with an injury-time strike.