Waldemar Anton cheered with joy and at the same time doubled over in pain. "I got a cramp when I shot," reported the defense chief of VfB Stuttgart after his last-minute winning goal to make it 2-1 (1-1) against FC Augsburg.
It was another success for Stuttgart's caretaker coach Michael Wimmer. The 42-year-old has won three of his four compulsory games as interim boss of the Swabian Bundesliga club. "The record speaks for itself," said VfB striker Luca Pfeiffer. Wimmer collects arguments to remain head coach beyond the World Cup break.
Anton about Wimmer: "A great guy"
The Stuttgart players credibly assured them after the second league win of the season that they would try to hide the coaching question. They weren't stingy with praise for their former assistant and current head coach either. "He's a super guy. He knows every player, that's an important point," said Anton about Wimmer, who according to sports director Sven Mislintat is one of three candidates currently to take over the VfB professionals permanently from mid-November. "Michi approaches the players very much, has a lot of conversations, gets everyone on board," praised Pfeiffer. You are on a "good path".
Of course, that's still a long way off. With only eleven points, the Stuttgarters are just ahead of the relegation places. "Not everything was good" against Augsburg either, said Wimmer. "We didn't show a convincing super win, but also had phases in the game in which a lot could be improved." At the beginning of both halves, VfB had problems - albeit not as big as the 0:5 debacle in Dortmund a week earlier. In the 57th minute he was also lucky that the guests didn't get a penalty. Borna Sosa got the ball on his arm.
VfB with a power play in the last 20 minutes
Towards the end, however, the Swabians got into a real frenzy. Supported by the home fans, they created chance after chance in the last 20 minutes. The goal was "like locked", said Pfeiffer, who himself had hit the crossbar in the 86th minute. After another early deficit by Florian Niederlechner (4th minute) and the equalizer by Serhou Guirassy (15th), it looked as if VfB would have to settle for a point despite their furious final sprint. Then goal scorer Anton redeemed himself, the coach and his colleagues.
Whether such an emotional victory can also be a turning point? "Definitely," said Anton. "He is enormously important for our minds and our self-confidence." After the first two successes under Wimmer against Bochum (4:1) and Bielefeld (6:0), the Stuttgart team suffered another major setback at BVB. "Something like Dortmund might happen once in 20 games, at least I hope so," said Anton. "We have to make sure we get our points against other teams." The next opportunity to do so is on Friday at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
