In an unforgettable cup night, FC St. Pauli defeated TSG Hoffenheim after extra time and a penalty shootout to advance to the round of 16 of the 2025/26 DFB Cup. The same fixture had been lost 0-3 in their last home game. You might not want to be reminded of it.But last night painted a completely different picture of the lads in brown and white. What an awesome cup match!
Theoretically, the game can be told in three scenes: Mathias Pereira Lage's first goal of the season in stoppage time of extra time sends the Millerntor stadium into raptures. In the ensuing penalty shootout, Ben Voll saves the 18th shot. Everyone celebrates Ben Voll. And here are the pictures 🙂
Everyone who didn't bother to get a ticket is kicking themselves now. Only 28123 people made it to the stadium – there was still room, especially since it was the smallest away fan section I've ever seen at the Millerntor.
But of course, a game like this has many more stories. For example, I was chatting with colleagues on the sidelines during the last league match, and because of an early appointment today, I was worried it would go to penalties. The night gets very short then – which is why the pictures are only appearing here now. I did, of course, send my pictures to others last night. You can see that in the Millernton I've probably seen it before.
One of the colleagues I wrote about in the last paragraph also remembered our conversation and said yesterday after the game: "You were right – it got late."
It was also nice that I realized just before getting to the stadium yesterday that I'd forgotten my accreditation at home. Good thing I don't live too far away. That's what happens when things are different, because I could leave my usual photo-ready t-shirt at home. Different rules apply at the cup.
It wasn't ideal that I was still getting into my seat in the stadium when Wahl scored his first goal. I wasn't paying attention. Wahl's goal was absolutely brilliant. Wonderful. I was just worried I hadn't photographed the most important moment. Of course, I would have gladly accepted that for an uneventful remainder of the match. But at the end of an unforgettable cup night, I'm perfectly happy with how things turned out.
See you again on Saturday. The next cup match will then take place on December 2nd or 3rd. The location and opponent will be determined next Sunday.
Ha! The photo of the "quirky" scoreboard, I knew you'd take it.
Thank you, I can always rely on you!
Vitamin P, by the way.
Continue to recover, Saturday will surely come.