“I’m feeling pretty good right now,” laughed Anthony Jung in an interview following the 1-0 win over Darmstadt 98 at the Weserstadion. Having recently become a father for the second time on the morning of the Frankfurt game, the 33-year-old scored his first competitive goal this season on Tuesday evening and it was a goal to make an entire city dream.
When referee Martin Petersen blew his whistle for kick-off, Jung was probably not expecting to be answering questions from journalists with the Man of the Match trophy in his hand come full-time. Teammate Milos Veljkovic was again given the nod over Jung for the starting spot at centre-half, but he signalled to the bench with just 11 minutes gone that he would not be able to continue. “You’ve just got to deal with it,” explained Jung, who was most successful in duels for Werder (72%) as well as boasting an excellent rate of accurate passing (94.2%). “Overall, the cup clash went as we had expected, but we stuck together and remained calm.”
Werder’s number 3 only just prevented his team from having to work late on Tuesday night, saving his side from heading into extra-time. In the end, Jung managed to latch onto a Marvin Ducksch free-kick delivery and prod the ball over the line from six yards out with his weaker right foot. “It was a fantastic ball in from Duckschi and Tony did a great job too, getting in there and keeping his cool,” praised head coach Ole Werner in his press conference. The scorer of the winning goal may not rank this most recent moment as the absolute best of his life, but he still puts it right up there. “I’m usually not a threat from set-pieces or someone who regularly finds himself in these positions,” said Jung. “It feels all the more special because of that, though.”
What was evident after the final whistle was both the relief emanating from the Green-Whites as well as their desire for more. SV Werder are among the last eight in the competition for the first time in four years. Even during last night’s game, chants of “Berlin, Berlin – we’re going to Berlin” were ringing around the Weserstadion, with fans knowing a final at the Olympiastadion in the German capital is now only two wins away. Nevertheless, the Werder team remain focused on the overarching target. “Anything is possible, that’s the beauty of knockout football,” explained Jung. “We approach things from game to game. We need to remain patient and keep both feet on the ground. If we deliver our best performance, then who knows how far we can go.”
Tony may have another important role to play if that is to happen. His winning strike will have to settle for second place on the goalscorer’s list of greatest achievements, however. When asked which experience triggered more emotions, the defender replied, “I think I’ll go with the birth of my children.”
