"Was provoked!"
“Krone” journalist shot Kühbauer unconscious!
WAC coach Didi Kühbauer in hospital - and the freelance "Krone" sports journalist Ewald Türmer is to blame! When and why the sparks flew - and whether the two have made up? Plus: Kühbauer talks about his opponents and former club Rapid ("There's always stress and pressure from outside here") and can repeat his masterstroke from September 14, 2014 this Saturday, exactly ten years later: Celebrating the top of the table with WAC!
Violent scenes. Didi Kühbauer staggers, falls to the ground, is unconscious - and has to go straight to hospital! Ewald Türmer is to blame - because the current freelance sports journalist for the "Krone" seriously knocked out the current coach of Bundesliga club WAC!
But don't worry, Didi is fine again. Because the whole thing happened in 1990 - on the last Bundesliga match day in the match between Admira Wacker and Sturm Graz. That's when the sparks flew between the two.
Kühbauer was already no pushover as an 18-year-old in the service of Admira. And Ewald Türmer from Lavanttal, a seven-time team player and a member of the legendary Austria Vienna and Klagenfurt clubs, already had a certain reputation with Sturm at the age of 28. The rebellious "Küh" didn't really care - as Türmer recounts: "Didi provoked me verbally throughout, but with hidden unsportsmanlike conduct - it was madness! As an established player, I never knew such behavior against me!"
"A full-on grenade to the face"
And so it came as it almost had to. "I first warned Didi, then punished him!" With a full-stretch shot from five meters right into Kühbauer's face. "A full-blooded grenade after a throw-in - that's how I hit him one out of 100 times! That was enough for me, Didi went down like a boxer!" And had to be replaced. With a diagnosis of concussion!
"He was lucky that . ."
At the most recent WAC press conference, the "Krone" then asked Kühbauer about the scene. And Didi - jokingly, of course - started again: "Ewald was lucky that I couldn't continue playing - otherwise he wouldn't be here today asking me questions! I was deadly at the time, you would have fallen!" To which Türmer countered: "Oh go on, you only weighed 40 kilos back then!"
Before the sparks flew again, the quarrellers agreed on a reconciliation photo. All's well that ends well.
Didi Kühbauer wants to plaster the next "ex"! Before the international break, Wolfsberg's coach took on LASK, dismantling his former employer 5:1. This Saturday, he wants to eat the Rapid team at home with the WAC - but the Hütteldorf legend is also playing with more emotions. An interview with the coach:
141 games as a coach, including a Europa League appearance and two second places, 184 as a player - when it's against Rapid, it's always something special for you, isn't it?
Yes, of course. I was a Rapid player as a child, had some great times as a player and then also as a coach. The fans there alone - it's a different world. It is and remains a club that moves people.
How do you see your former club positioned?
Rapid has brought in some players with good quality - but that must also be the goal. I don't believe that Rapid's goal is just to finish sixth, as I heard a few years ago. They belong in the top three - and that's where they have to be in my opinion. You've spent a lot of money.
Compared to your time between 2018 and 2021?
There was always a lack of money. Now you know that you have to find some.
So you had a harder time back then?
Yes, it was also the coronavirus era. I lost a lot of players back then and got very few. Nevertheless, we always managed to finish second, did well and were a close-knit team. There's always stress at Rapid and a lot of pressure from outside. I've come to terms with that. But it was always the case that a lot of people had a say. And my credo is always to become one with the club. But it's difficult at Rapid - after losing two games, people who don't know much about soccer came forward and tried to push their views into the team. They've got a better handle on all that now - Mecki Katzer (note: Managing Director Sport) is doing a very good job.
In your first time at the WAC between 2013 and '15, you only lost once against the Green-Whites in Lavanttal, winning three and drawing one.
Rapid are still the favorites. They are in very good shape and will be up front. We'll do everything we can to beat them and need a top performance at the highest level.
The WAC is the goal machine of the league with 14 goals so far - nobody has scored more.
I've always said that I'd rather win 3:2 than a tired 1:0. Things are going quite well. But there will probably be times when we don't score like that. Rapid are also offensively oriented - it will be a match with open sights.
September 14, 2014 - a day that the WAC will remember forever. Back then, on that historic Sunday, the "Wolves" took on the Salzburg Bulls - and ate them up 1:0 in front of almost 20,000 fans in the Wörthersee Stadium. Thanks to a Trdina goal in minute 26 - and despite being outnumbered, as Wernitznig had seen red in minute 44. After that, the WAC became the first Carinthian club to finish top of the Bundesliga table - for 35 days in a row. And with Didi Kühbauer on the touchline.
This Saturday is September 14, 2024, and exactly one year later, "Don Didi" has the same chance again. Because: If the WAC wins against Rapid in the Lavanttal Arena and Sturm loses at Austria Vienna, Kühbauer and Co. can laugh from first place again. The chance is certainly there.
"Of course I can remember the game from back then very clearly. But the table is just a snapshot at the moment. I just want us to deliver a good match - then we'll see which way it goes," said the coach.
It will not only be a special game for Rapid legend Kühbauer, but also for Maxi Ullmann. Wolfsberg's left-back played 103 games for the Hütteldorfer: "It will be special because I still have a bond with Rapid and felt a lot of affection from the fans back then. A fantastic time," emphasizes Max.
Pink before 200th league game
The pitch should hold up despite the rain. Scherzer is missing, Baumgartner is fit again. For Pink - who is about to play his 200th Bundesliga match - the starting eleven is still too early. New signing Nwaiwu, who caught the eye in training with his tough style of play, could be in the squad for the first time.
Ullmann's recipe for victory: "Accept duels, take advantage of transitional situations and convert the chances!" So that history can be written again.
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
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