Kickers Emden pulled off a surprise on Saturday with victory over S04. The coach is no stranger to the region. Stefan Emmerling played six years for Wattenscheid and five years for MSV Duisburg

Kickers Emden caused a big surprise at the nervernot Cup on Saturday

The Regionalliga-Nord promoted team not only won the tournament, but also beat FC Schalke 04 1:0.

The coach of the East Frisians is no stranger to the region. Stefan Emmerling played six years for SG Wattenscheid 09 and five years for MSV Duisburg

The 58-year-old has been coach of Kickers Emden since 2019. We spoke to him after the win against S04.

Stefan Emmerling, congratulations on the win against Schalke …

Thank you. Perhaps we were already warmed up, unlike Schalke. We had already played 45 minutes against SV Meppen. We wanted to be compact defensively against S04 and switch gears well, and we did that. We don’t want to hang the victory too high. Nevertheless, a win like this against a second division team after 45 minutes is of course very good for a team promoted to the Regionalliga.

What do you think of S04’s performance?

It’s a newly assembled and newly formed team, whereas we’ve slowly grown as a team and were promoted last season with a 17-point lead. Something like this can happen at this point in time.

You played for MSV Duisburg for five years. How did you experience relegation?

It was very hard to watch. There was a lot of hope that they would still avoid relegation. But now they have to go through the regional league and restructure themselves. I think they have sporting expertise at the club in Michael Preetz, so I don’t think it will be an easy season. But it will all be about MSV. And at the end of the season they will be at the top and promoted again. And yet it’s very hard to watch and it hurts too

“Schalke: Lightning tournament in Meppen July 06, 2024” src=“https://forecasting-sports.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/1.167_norm.jpg” width=“680” height=“438” /☻

In your opinion, could the crash have been avoided?

It’s a gradual process, just like Saturday’s opponents. You think you’ll get out of it at some point, but it just doesn’t get any better. And now both Schalke and Duisburg have started afresh and made a change. Of course, it’s difficult to make a precise analysis from afar. But MSV Duisburg has a charisma, Schalke has a charisma. It would be nice if both were promoted again at the end of the season