Thorup: "We’ll take the game extremely seriously”
First round of the DFB-Pokal on Sunday at Viktoria Berlin
First Team
16.08.2024, 14:30
After six weeks of intense pre-season preparations, FC Augsburg begin the 2024/25 season on Sunday (13:00 CEST) away to fourth-division side Viktoria Berlin. FCA will be hoping to reach the second round with a convincing performance.
“We’re really excited to get started again,” said FCA head coach Jess Thorup, who described the DFB-Pokal as “a great competition.” After the disappointing exit in the first round at Unterhaching last season (2-0 defeat), Thorup’s team have set themselves the goal of staying in the competition for as long as possible. “We’ve prepared well and we’ll take the game extremely seriously," he added.
Thorup is expecting a focused performance across the full 90 minutes on Sunday. FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin have started their Regionalliga Nordost campaign with four points from three games. “We’re focusing on ourselves and the way we want to play football,” stated the 54-year-old Dane, who won the domestic cup as both a player and a coach back home.
Jakić and Wolf in full training
Aside from Robert Gumny and goalkeeper Finn Dahmen, Thorup has a full squad available to him. Kristijan Jakić, who recently had a knock, and new signing Marius Wolf have been in full training all this week. Thorup said that “Wolf feels good.”
“Our full focus is on the cup game in Berlin. We want to start the season positively,” explained Thorup. The Fuggerstädter were beaten 2-1 at home by Olympique Marseille in their last pre-season friendly. Jeffrey Gouweleeuw, who was on the scoresheet at the WWK ARENA, will captain the side on Sunday.
Over 1,500 FCA fans will make the trip up to the capital for the start of the season. The match will be played at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark, which will be demolished later this year.
