Schmidt after Heidenheim's late collapse: "Like a bad dream."
After their team squandered an excellent opportunity to capture their first ever win in the German top flight, 1. FC Heidenheim trainer Frank Schmidt and goal-scorer Jan-Niklas Best were left to ponder what might have been.
| Frank Schmidt | Alexander Böhm CC-BY-SA 4.0 |
"I don't have any explanations at the moment," FCH trainer Frank Schmidt noted in consternation during his Sky interview shortly after the full-time whistle, "It was a bit like being in a bad dream. We played a really good game. The 2-0 wasn't fitting. We could have been up 3-0 or 4-0. Even if had ended 2-2, I wouldn't have been satisfied."
"Madness that we lost," Schmidt continued, "We could have also equalized [on a late Philipp Mainka chance in injury time]. We did something wrong in the build-up. I can't explain it any other way. We're happy to be in the Bundesliga, but must do better to remain in it."
One player who did have a chance to ensure that Heidenheim built up a larger lead was attacker Jan-Niklas Beste. The 24-year-old missed a penalty in the 16th. Though he would later atone for his error with the fames opening goal ten minutes later, the Bundesliga debutant echoed his coach's sentiments.
"We played a great game for 75 minutes, but that's just not enough in the Bundesliga," Beste told his interviewer, "and then you lose a game like that, where you think you have everything under control. We have to work on this and learn from such games."
