Catching the right time is an art, as difficult as scoring goals. Sheraldo Becker knows what we're talking about. Over the past few weeks, he has repeatedly wanted to surprise the audience in a special way: by pulling a mask over his head while celebrating a goal. Just like Marco Reus and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang once did during their Dortmund days. The two cheered dressed as Batman and Robin.
The 28-year-old Becker is also at home in the world of Marvel heroes, but he prefers spiders instead of bats. He had a mask of the comic character Spiderman sent to him from the mail order business for 15 euros. Becker had doubts about the business, which have not completely disappeared even today. "Pretty expensive," he said after he had shown them to the audience at the Alte Försterei on Saturday.
On the other hand, it was worth it, and he couldn't have found a better time. The 4-2 win of 1. FC Union Berlin against SC Freiburg bore Becker's name. More than any game ever before. The Dutchman scored two goals himself, the other two he set up. Four scorer points, i.e. goals plus assists, have not yet been scored by a professional footballer from 1. "Today I can be proud. I always want to help the team and I think I did a good job today," said the striker.
After making it 1-0 through Kevin Behrens, he made it 2-0 himself by smashing the ball through the legs of Freiburg goalkeeper Mark Flekken. Becker ran along the sidelines, where family members and friends were sitting in the stands, and suddenly took out the mask from under his jersey. In the first exuberance, he even put it on the wrong way around, but corrected the mishap immediately. He was shown a yellow card by referee Marco Fritz and understood by coach Urs Fischer. Of course, the warning was "unnecessary," said the stern Mr. Fischer, only to be lenient a moment later. "I thought the jubilation was good," said Union's coach, who outed himself as a fan of the character and a moviegoer.
Freiburg's Christian Streich also praises
As far as the classification of Becker's performance was concerned, Fischer fell into an unusual state of ecstasy by his standards. "It was extraordinary, he played an amazing game, was involved in all the dangerous actions," said the coach. Fischer's counterpart Christian Streich even thought that it was impossible to stop the insanely fast Becker if he was given too many spaces. Freiburg did this extensively, especially in the first half, much to the displeasure of Streich. He later took the blame because he had set up Lukas Kübler, who had fallen ill during the week, from the beginning. "We then played with one man less," Streich said.
But that alone was not the reason why Union led 3-0 at the break after goals from Behrens and twice from Becker. Until then, the Berliners offered a basically perfect lecture. Tackling, intensity, conversion of chances, everything was at a dizzyingly high level. "It was certainly one of the best halves this season," said defender Robin Knoche. In the second half, Union was not quite as focused, Manuel Gulde and Vincenzo Grifo from the penalty spot brought Freiburg back closer, but then followed the renewed appearance of Becker. On the right side, he escaped faster than any spider and then also had the overview to see the running and much better positioned Aissa Laidouni, who scored to make it 4-2.
With the win, Union have a three-point lead over fifth-placed Freiburg with two matchdays to go and the better goal difference. A win against Hoffenheim or finally against Werder Bremen – and qualification for the Champions League would be perfect. Participation in Europe's most important club competition would not only guarantee Union a lot of money, but also increase the likelihood that the courted Sheraldo Becker will stay in Berlin beyond the summer.