FC St. Pauli

Head coach Fabian Hürzeler: “It was a tough away game here at the Betzenberg. It’s always special in this atmosphere. There were lots of things we could have done better in terms of our play, especially in the first half. We took a while to get into the game, we weren’t as consistent in our play as I’d like. We couldn’t find any dynamism or exploit the space, but we did that better in the second half and took a deserved lead. We then conceded a goal out of the blue, and the key thing for me is the way the team responded. You can’t defend everything, so the reaction is important. I’m very satisfied as far as our mentality and desire are concerned.”

Director of sport Andreas Bornemann: “The whole ground goes wild every time Kaiserslautern win the ball. The atmosphere was superb. It was hard work for us today. We’ve had a few changes and have to work hard for everything again. We want to have a good season and think we’re well set. Obviously, it’s always a question of how you bring the things you worked on in pre-season to the pitch. We’ll have to put in a similarly good performance at home next week if we’re to take anything from the game. We have a very good coach and a good structure from which to build.”

Andreas Albers: “We were all fired up going into the game. We switched a lot of things round in training during the week and everyone felt ready for the game, both on and off the ball. And that’s exactly what you saw from the players who came on today. They were fired up and worked hard for the win.”

Marcel Hartel: “I’m delighted with the three points; the first game is always tough. It was hard work, as Lautern made it difficult for us. I’m very grateful that Fabian thinks I’m so versatile. I always try to do my best and have high ambitions for the season. I want to assume responsibility in the team and that’s why I took the penalty. We made good use of pre-season because holding your own here against a team as good as Kaiserslautern is very difficult. That shows just how strong we are.”

Dirk Schuster (Lautern head coach): “Congratulations to Sankt Pauli on the three points. It hurts because we performed well against a good footballing side. We worked very hard in the first half and gave very little away when they were in possession, but on the other hand we weren’t precise enough to create chances whenever we won the ball. We had a big hand in both their goals and those mistakes were punished in clinical fashion, but I can have no complaints with my team as far as their willingness to fight is concerned. Sankt Pauli will be in contention at the top again this season, but we can match teams like them, as we saw today. The result feels bad in view of the performance, but I’m convinced we’ll give a good account of ourselves at Schalke.”

Erik Durm: “We’re very disappointed to lose, as we saw the game and the result going differently. We implemented the boss’s tactics well for the most part, but issued St. Pauli two invitations to score, including one where I undid the offside trap. That was very unfortunate. We threw everything at it towards the end but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.”

Photos: FC St. Pauli