“Footballers live for games like today”

Salomon Kalou, Karim Rekik, Fabian Lustenberger and Davie Selke spoke to the media after their draw with Borussia Dortmund.

In a highly competitive game, Hertha Berlin drew 2-2 with Borussia Dortmund on Saturday (27/10/18) after a last minute equaliser from Salomon Kalou. It was a game full of emotion, end to end and very entertaining. Herthabsc.com summarised the player interviews.

Fabian Lustenberger: Against Freiburg, we were a bit unlucky and were unable to get the victory. This time, we earned a point by fighting until the end, passion and we had a bit of luck. The point isn’t completely down to luck though. Dortmund clearly had the better chances but we gave everything until the end. We had three or four decent chances too. We knew we had to stay in the game and not concede because if they went 3-1 up, it would have been difficult. However at 2-1 anything is possible and Davie did superbly to win the penalty and Salomon was ice cold. We are happy to get an away point from here and it gives us confidence for the upcoming weeks. We’ve had a good few weeks. We need to get three points but one point in Dortmund gives us confidence.

Karim Rekik: If you come here, you know that it will be up against a very strong side. At times we lost the ball too many times in the middle of the pitch and Dortmund were able to counter with speed and that made the job for the defenders extremely difficult, but games like today are what footballers live for. We were lucky at the end to get the penalty. Now we all have to rest. I feel like we all ran around 12 to 13 kilometres! (laughs)

Salomon Kalou: I only had one thought on my mind when I took the penalty. After all the practice penalties, there was no way I could miss (grins). I was concentrating and I thought that I would put it in the right corner. The point was important for us as it was against such a strong opposition. We played very well; stayed disciplined, defended as a team and used the chances that we created. I’ve been waiting to score again and it’s even better that it was against such a strong opposition!

Davie Selke: My pulse is still racing! It was an amazing game! In the second half, both teams went for it. There was a phase where it was extremely difficult for us to defend against them. It was very important that we did not concede the third goal. In the end we were lucky but I think it was a definite penalty as he took me down. Kalou probably has no heartbeat, he is ice cold! I believed he would score and it was extremely important for us today. It was a great moment to win the penalty today. We are currently doing well and are tough to beat. It was important to keep the game open for a long time. We believed in it until the very end and at the end we scored to claim one point. That is outstanding for us!