The SF Baumberg not only celebrated winning the Niederrheinpokal in 2012/13, they did so without conceding a goal in the tournament. The subsequent DFB Cup draw was also memorable.

In the newly founded fifth-class Oberliga Niederrhein, things initially went anything but well for Sportfreunde Baumberg in 2012/13. In December, the club parted company with coach Jörg Vollack and relied on David Moreno.

The new man on the sidelines, however, did not only have the task of maintaining the Oberliga, because the Sportfreunde were also still represented in the Niederrheinpokal. After victories over the underclass DJK Gnadental (2:0), DJK Vierlinden (8:0) and Viktoria Goch (4:0), Moreno faced the first higher-class opponent in the quarter-finals after the turn of the year – regional league team SSVg Velbert – but even they could not overcome the Baumberg defence (1:0).

“A bit of luck” against Hö.-Nie.

In the semi-final, the Sportfreunde then met SV Hönnepel-Niedermörmter, an upper league rival. “We were certainly a bit lucky at the back to win the game because we were then a man down,” recalls Moreno. But even after the yellow card against Louis Klotz (84th), Baumberg managed to hold on for the 1-0 victory after a goal by Sebastian Michalsky (10th). The reward: the final against Rot-Weiß Oberhausen at the Niederrhein stadium.

“As a coach, I said to myself: now you do your homework. I travelled around a lot, got a lot of support from various coaches who provided me with a lot of information about Rot-Weiß Oberhausen. In particular, a colleague from the NLZ of Borussia Mönchengladbach provided me with some video material,” Moreno looks back on his meticulous preparation. “I lay in bed next to my wife in the evenings and watched RWO’s game situations over and over again to get my team into the mood for this game and set them up with video sequences.”

Moreno didn’t let his cards show against RWO II

But before that happened, Baumberg had to face RWO’s second team in the Oberliga. “I was aware that the Oberhausen team would come to get an impression,” recalls Moreno. However, Sportfreunde had already secured their place in the league after a strong second half of the season. “Then we played mostly with players from the first team who were at the back, from the second team and I think even from the third team, so as not to offer them anything.”

A trick that had an effect. RWO II won 5:1, but the Oberhausen officials present went home without any knowledge. “With the knowledge we had and the little knowledge they probably had of us, we were then also lucky to keep the nil for a long time in the final.” So Moreno’s next plan also worked out. “My impression was that the crowd was already getting impatient at the back because they probably thought: If the second team beats them 5:1 already, then it will be a no-brainer. That’s exactly what I wanted. “

The Oberhausen side did “quite well in itself,” admits Moreno, “but we stood up to it and certainly had the luck you need somewhere in places.” So it remained goalless – until stoppage time.

We had luck on our side. But maybe we deserved it to some extent because we believed in it all the time and held out against it.

David Moreno

In the 92nd minute there was a last free kick from a good 35 metres on the half-left – actually the position for a cross. “But we specifically said we didn’t want to play the free kicks kind of on a head, we always wanted to put the goalkeeper in a situation where he’s like, ‘Can I go out? Do I stay out?” Nils Esslinger followed the advice and put the ball on the short post, where RWO keeper Thorben Krol made a capital mistake and let the bouncing ball bounce into the goal (90.+2) – the decision.

“You have to say we had luck on our side. But maybe we deserved it to a certain extent because we believed in it the whole time and held out against it,” Moreno said, looking back on the scene. The key was clearly the team. “Many players were trained in the NLZ. They were seasoned men who also have a family, so they weren’t boys who wet their bottoms as soon as the crowd came on.” Even at a young age, Moreno took SV Hilden-Nord, who knocked SC Freiburg out of the first round of the DFB Cup in 1990 with a 2-1 defeat, as his role model. Accordingly, it was a special success. However, he did not reap the fruits in the form of the first DFB Cup match. His resignation followed at the end of the season for personal reasons. Markus Kurth took over the job.

Chaos in the DFB Cup draw

By the way: The draw for the 1st round was also more than memorable for Sportfreunde. When Nia Künzer drew the Sportfreunde’s opponent, the logo of RB Leipzig appeared. At that time, however, the current Bundesliga team had only just been promoted to the 3rd division and duels between clubs below the 2nd division were actually ruled out in round one.

The national player had inadvertently put the Leipzig ball into the professional lottery pot during the draw. Draw director and DFB President Wolfgang Niersbach then ordered the RB ball to be put back into the correct pot, and Baumberg was given a new draw: second-division FC Ingolstadt.

In front of 2,488 spectators, the Oberliga team was defeated by the Schanzers 1:4 at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion in Leverkusen. “Nevertheless, it was a nice event for Baumberg,” Moreno, who was also a fan after his retirement, looks back.