Stuttgart table football | Luigi Campagna: He knows how to beat Frankfurt
I have to be honest, before that we had the 0.0 game in mind. It was never an issue in the dressing room. We only focused on the league. A week before the game we start with the press inquiries, with posters, advertising on the Internet and so on – then you slowly realize it.
As someone who has already experienced something like this: how do you go into a game like this?
With great pleasure! These are the highlight games in a career! That’s what games are used for. Of course, you also have a certain tension, which is also good. That day when preparing for game; then you arrive at the stadium and you can already see the people in front of the stadium – and it’s just a state of emergency. That’s how it was back then in Ulm. I think it will be the same here and then you’re happy, you absorb the whole thing – with the interviews and all the trappings. You can tell that a game like this really counts and you take that with you for the rest of your life. That’s how we approach the game: we don’t want to hide, even if it’s David versus Goliath. We’ll enjoy the game and see what’s possible against Eintracht Frankfurt.
So the result is just a side issue?
We definitely want to sell ourselves well. I think the team deserves that too; the whole club with its employees. And the fans deserve it too. That’s our goal: to make people proud, regardless of the outcome.
Of course, a win would be nicer…
Naturally! If my personal winning streak lasts, we won’t say no! (laughs)
With your experience against Frankfurt or generally as an underdog in the cup, can you also give your teammates or the coach a few tips?
If you suspect that the tension is going in the wrong direction and that nervousness is turning into fear, you can definitely give a few tips and say: “We’ll just do our thing!” But we have enough experienced players in the ranks, but it can happen that a young player is perhaps more tense than another. But that is completely normal.
What does it mean to you to be able to play at home – you could have moved to the larger Stuttgart stadium; in the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
I’ll say it very clearly: If there’s a chance against Eintracht Frankfurt, then it’s in a home game up here in Waldau. I think that’s clear for the whole club. Of course we could have sold more tickets elsewhere. But for the fans, for the club and also for us there is nothing nicer than playing at the Waldau. This is our home, our living room.