Fürstner: "Now we have more confidence"
Munich - What a rollercoaster it's been for Bundesliga newcomers SpVgg Greuther Fürth - and that just two weeks in to the 2012/13 campaign.
"Tough week"
The Clover Leaves bounced back from a curtain-raising humbling at the hands of Bayern Munich with their first-ever Bundesliga win at Mainz on Friday night, but are already looking ahead to Matchday 3's showdown against Schalke 04 after the international break.
"It was a tough week - we worked very hard after the loss against Bayern," said Stephan Fürstner. "We stayed strong and didn't let Mainz have too much space."
It was a tactic that worked well for the Bavarians, with Mainz dictating the show for large periods of the contest but failing to make the breakthrough goal. Goalkeeper Max Grün also played his part either side of Felix Klaus' historic 67th-minute strike as Mainz unleashed one onslaught after the next.
"Little bit lucky"
They had more chances, [but so did we]", said Fürstner. Indeed, Fürth could have opened their account much earlier but for Djiby Fall's first-half miss, with the new boys giving as good as they got in the face of wave after wave of Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting-led charges.
Fürth aren't called the Clover Leaves for any old reason and were all too aware of the misfortune that befell their opponents in front of goal. "It was a little bit lucky of course," added Fürstner. "We had to fight more than in our stadium and show what we'd learned in the game against Bayern. Now we have a little more confidence."
Plethora of chances
As for Mainz, their attentions turn to a Matchday 3 trip clash against Bayern, with striker Choupo-Moting a little lost for words as to how his side failed to take anything from the game on Friday night. "We had 300 chances and I think Greuther Fürth had three and a half". 300 might be over-egging it, but they still had ample opportunities to get off the mark - none better than when Choupo-Moting rounded the goalkeeper only to hit the side netting in the first half. And how they were made to pay.
Christopher Mayer-Lodge
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