“Everybody gave everything”
“Everybody gave everything”
It was the most dramatic game that the Olympiastadion has seen in a long time. Hertha lead twice against Dortmund but in the end, the away side grabbed all three points, leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of the Hertha players. Jordan Torunarigha and Vedad Ibišević were both sent off. “The team played really well. Everyone gave everything. Therefore, we are very disappointed, that we didn’t get any points,” said Niklas Stark.
Niklas Stark: The team played really well. We played some really good football but of course we also defended very well in the first half. Everyone gave everything. Therefore, it is very disappointing that we didn’t get any points. It’s a shame. I knew that the Germany coach was at the game and so I knew I had to concentrate even more. Of course my inclusion into the national team has given me confidence. Regardless, this match against Dortmund was very important to me, as it was the last game before the international break. I said before the game that we had to start a winning run in order to get a place in Europe for next season. It didn’t happen but we will not give up.
Karim Rekik: It’s difficult to find the right words so soon after the final whistle. We played well, had chances and scored two nice goals. The first goal was simply unlucky – I deflected the ball with my leg and Rune was left with no chance. It wasn’t like they made their goals through great play, perhaps only their last one. Overall, I think we put in a good performance and were unlucky in the end.
Maximilian Mittelstädt: It’s hard to put this into words right now. We started well and put Dortmund under pressure early on. We deservedly went ahead twice, so it’s so annoying to have thrown the game away. We put everything on the line. Everyone who has played football knows how annoying it is to concede a goal in the 90th minute. We are so frustrated as we deserved much more than that.
Valentino Lazaro: It was a wild end to the match. Everyone knew that Dortmund wanted to return to the top of the table so pressed for a winner in the closing stages. You don't need to be a sport scientist to know that. It was clear they would do anything possible to win. I said to the other players that the Dortmund wingers are extremely quick and anyone who didn't have a yellow card against them should try to keep the ball so that their opponents would waste energy trying to get the ball back. We simply were not clever enough to prevent them from doing this. We allowed the Dortmund players to get into our box and we gave them too much room, allowing them to get their shots off. It simply isn't fun to lose a match so late on
Ondrej Duda: Of course it is frustrating to lose a match in the dying seconds. Before tonight's match, I said that we could take something against Dortmund. It definitely would've been better if we had played poorly and still secured points instead of playing well and leaving empty handed, which was the case tonight. It is always disappointing to concede a decisive goal so late on. I can honestly say I'm not sure how we didn't receive a penalty in the second half. However, I need to watch a replay of what happened to decide for sure. It is ultimately the referee's decision whether it is given or now.
Salomon Kalou: The most important thing for me is the team performance. We couldn’t hold them until the end today. They have many quality players like Marco Reus. We had to defend better in the end. If you make mistakes against a top team, you know you will suffer the consequences. We did try until the end of course. We are all very disappointed because we should have got at least one point today. We played excellently in the first half and still had chances in the second half. We simply had to use our chances. I don’t know what happened. We couldn’t control the game like we did in the first half. We now need to focus on the next game. We have to win the next game and then we can go on the run and hopefully get into Europe.