Arminia Bielefeld were supposed to have their own area to celebrate. So much for that. The third-division German team had just knocked off Bundesliga giants Bayer Leverkusen in the DFB-Pokal semifinal, and the city had allocated them a separate space to take it all in.
But fans entered in droves. Soon, the team needed to escape.
It was 3 a.m. when the idea was floated to phone up a stadium employee. So, four hours after the final whistle - and long before the reality of victory had sunk in - the team returned to the SchucoArena, technically shut down for the night. The hospitality boxes were reopened. Beverages flowed. The evening dragged on.
And at the center of it all was the captain, an American journeyman, Mael Corboz. His memories of the night?
"I haven't been that drunk in a while," Corboz told GOAL.
Corboz is 30 years old, and largely anonymous in the American soccer system that shaped him. A technical midfielder, he had stints at Rutgers and Maryland before moving to Europe. Now, more than 10 years into his professional career, he is enjoying his biggest moment yet - leading the charge in one of German soccer's greatest underdog stories.
"I grew up with French parents, so European football was always present in my head. Looking back, it's like, 'Damn, did you ever think you would play against Bayer Leverkusen? Like, did you ever think you would beat them?' " Corboz says with amazement.
