No surrender for ragged Hertha
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Article summary
Hertha BSC Berlin coach Falko Götz is still hoping for UEFA Cup success at AFC Rapid Bucuresti despite a long injury list and a 1-0 deficit from the first leg.
Article body
Hertha decimated
After losing 1-0 at home to Rapid on 15 February, Hertha could go into the second leg in Romania missing no fewer than nine players. Marko Pantelić, Alexander Madlung, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Yıldıray Baştürk are suspended, while Josip Šimunić, Oliver Schröder and Andreas Neuendorf are injured.
Extra problems
Dick van Burik and Niko Kovač could yet be added to that list of non-starters after both sustained injuries during Hertha's 2-1 home reverse against FC Schalke 04 on Saturday – their seventh successive Bundesliga game without victory.
No surrender
Nonetheless, Götz is not about to concede defeat. "We lost the first leg after playing badly," he said. "We can still reach the next round. Success would be a massive boost for us. We have to battle against our opponents and simply go for goal."
Lucescu wary
Rapid, meanwhile, are wary of getting too confident. "It will be a very difficult match," said coach Razvan Lucescu, who celebrated his 37th birthday at the weekend. "We are favourites after our 1-0 victory, but this makes our situation more difficult. The Germans have nothing to lose and, as we all know with the German mentality, they will fight until the last second."