An emotional, relieving goal

It was a brave performance from Schmidt, who had a total of three attempts on goal, one of which found the back of the net and made it 2-0 to SVW, after being played through cleverly by Anthony Jung. It came as no surprise to head coach Ole Werner that the midfielder was feeling confident in front of goal. “He played well and was solid both on the ball and out of possession.”

The midfielder spoke to stadium announcer Arnd Zeigler after the game, who asked Schmidt whether he cares for the ratings he receives from the press for his performances. “I’d give our team performance day top marks,” countered Schmidt, who wanted to highlight the team’s performance in particular. “We played with a lot of heart, opened up the pitch well and then scored some good goals.”

Niclas Füllkrug was one of the first to congratulate Schmidt after his goal, and he also had plenty of praise for his teammates after the full-time whistle. “He shown glimpses of this quality in the past – he maybe also needed these games from the beginning as well,” commented Füllkrug, who, just like like Schmidt, made the step up from the Werder academy into the first team. “I hope he carries on like this, it’d really help us out them.” Schmidt’s long, exciting day finally came to an end after holding several interviews. It’s a day he won’t forget quickly, and a sort of day he’ll be looking to experience again very soon.