Kübler after second brace of the season: “Feeling extremely confident.”

Serving as the unlikely hero in SC Freiburg’s 3-2 Friday night win over Wolfsburg, oft forgotten and certainly under appreciated SCF fullback Lukas Kübler found himself in the uncommon position of being the center of attention in the Europa Park Stadion mixed zone. 

A second career brace for 32-year-old German veteran fullback/wingback Lukas Kübler could not have come at a better time on Friday evening. The Bonn-native helped the club he has served since 2015 – with whom he has also recently signed a contract extension – take all three points of VfL Wolfsburg and move up to fifth place in the Bundesliga table. 

The “Doppelpack” scorer isn’t exactly known for his goal scoring prowess. Last year, Kübler managed just one tally in 26 league appearances under previous SCF trainer Christian Streich against Stuttgart on match-day 20. Like so many veterans under Streich, it looked to be the case that Kübler would be permanently making way for younger talent. 

New Freiburg gaffer Julian Schuster nevertheless gave Kübler a vote-of-confidence this year based on his set-piece training. Schuster’s move immediately paid dividends when the hard-tackling and scrappy player bagged a brace in the opening day upset of VfB Stuttgart on match-day one. After serving as a the hero in yet another pivotal match on Friday, Kübler radiated confidence. 

“We put in a lot of work on set-pieces,” Kübler remarked in the mixed zone, “the balls off corners fell right for me and I thankfully had the right instinct to put them in. I’ve earned the right to be a part of the mix with my goals.” 

“We analyze and practice on dead balls,” Kübler also said, “It’s great when something like that bears fruit. I’m feeling extremely good and self-confident. I can help the team a lot. This is a great team and its fun to be with them.”