Schmidt orders all of Heidenheim to party after beating Bayern: "Paint the town or we'll throw you out!"
Following his side's historic comeback victory over German giants FC Bayern München, 1. FC Heidenheim trainer Frank Schmidt gave one of the goofiest post-match interviews in the history of German football on Saturday afternoon.
Schmidt spoke on injuring himself in the post-match celebrations, made specific reference to his shoe size, and gave clear instructions to the slightly less than 50,000 citizens of his club's town.
FC Bayern München trainer Thomas Tuchel was reported to have broken his toe during a motivational address prior to his team's 3-0 win over Lazio in the second leg of a UEFA Champions League tie against Lazio last month. This Saturday, it was 1. FC Heidenheim head-coach Frank Schmidt's turn to injure himself off the field of play following his side's dramatic 3-2 comeback win over German giants FC Bayern München on Saturday afternoon.
Schmidt spoke on injuring himself in the post-match celebrations, made specific reference to his shoe size, and gave clear instructions to the slightly less than 50,000 citizens of his club's town.
The 50-year-old revealed in his post-match interview with Sky Germany that he slipped and tore a muscle fiber in his right leg during the post-match celebrations. The long-time FCH trainer - who actually once upset Bayern as a TSV Vestenbergsgreuth player in a famous 1994 Pokal match - remarked that it was "nice feeling to finally have a torn muscle fiber again."
This was only part of a total goofball post-match interview given by the excited Schmidt. The club's second ever trainer since the 2006 consolidation revealed that he had delivered an impassioned half-time speech when his team entered the locker room trailing 0-2. While not revealing exactly what he said and did, Schmidt insinuated that his shoes either flew across the cabin or found a few choice backsides.
"I fired up the team," Schmidt told his Sky interviewer, "Everyone thought the game was over. I let my emotions run wild. I have size 47 shoes [12 in UK, 13 in US] and I used them today. The team believed in itself, shed its shyness, and played football the way we want to see football played."
Matters got stranger still when Schmidt was pressed for comment on what it felt like for the small town of Heidenheim (population less than 50,000) to knock off the German record champs in such a fashion. Never in Bundesliga history has a newly promoted side come from two goals behind to beat the mighty Bavarians. The fact that it took a minuscule club with a 15,000 seat Arena to make it happen astounded Schmidt.
"The fact that this game was taking place at all was unbelievable," Schmidt noted before giving all of the denizens of Heidenheim an der Brenz their direct orders for the evening, "Go out on the town or we'll throw you out!"