Frankfurt wins the Cup!
Sensations in the Bundesliga, as I pointed out a few posts back, are just rare these days. Some years back, you could count on at least Borussia Dortmund giving Bayern a run for its money, but not anymore. And if Dortmund can't compete with Bayern anymore, what does that say about other teams? What does it say about the league?
RB Leipzig, behind sponsor giant Red Bull, was thought to be the heir apparent after last year, but they dropped all the way to sixth place and barely salvaged a place in next year's Euro League, which is wide beyond expectations. Wolfsburg, between equally powerful sponsor VW, barely avoided being relegated this year. Money in today's football world certainly helps, although it is never a guarantee for success.
Enter Eintracht Frankfurt, the local team here. Frankfurt has certainly improved over the years, although this year, they looked like a sure-fire bet to qualify for the lucrative Champions League following an impressive streak of good results over the first half of the season. A late season slump saw them sink all the way to eighth place, which would likely see them miss out on playing on the European stage altogether. Luckily for them, there was the cup final, the last game of the year to be played in Berlin. Only one problem: they would be meeting with powerhouse Bayern Munich, who is not in the business of losing domestic titles, let alone cup finals. One game, winner-takes-all, up against the best team in the league, who, in addition to winning the Bundesliga for the sixth straight time, also hawked Frankfurt's young head coach, Niko Kovac, for next year, much to the fans' chagrin here in Frankfurt.
But miracles do happen.
Frankfurt pulled off the stunner by beating Bayern, 3-1. What exactly happened to Bayern? Were they lacking motivation after another semifinal exit in the Champions League? Were their players, all seasoned nationals, merely anticipating the World Cup in Russia? We'll never know, and the Eintracht Frankfurt fans really don't care after winning their first cup of any kind in 30 years. Only one year ago, Frankfurt had lost the cup final to Schalke. This year, the city would celebrate in style.
The Römer here in Frankfurt, the central market place in front of the town hall, was sheer pandemonium when it received their victorious team the day after winning the cup, on a warm Sunday afternoon. The tradition for any German football club is to present any freshly won title to its fans at the town hall of the city, usually from the balcony. Tens of thousands of Frankfurt fans packed the place, even the Christmas Market looked sparsely attended by comparison. One mean tweet even claimed that there were more people at Frankfurt's victory parade than on Trump's inauguration day. Fans sang and danced, it's nice to witness football history being made. For Bayern Munich, a cup victory would have been a mere footnote. For Frankfurt, the victory against Bayern is already legend.
What happens with Frankfurt next year is anybody's guess. They have already lost their goalkeeper, one of their star players. They have lost their head coach, the architect of Frankfurt's renaissance, to Bayern. For now, all of that matters so little. For now, Frankfurt is happy. For now, Eintracht rules and has brought a smile to Football Germany outside of Munich. For now, that's all that matters.
That is, at least until the World Cup starts next month.
RB Leipzig, behind sponsor giant Red Bull, was thought to be the heir apparent after last year, but they dropped all the way to sixth place and barely salvaged a place in next year's Euro League, which is wide beyond expectations. Wolfsburg, between equally powerful sponsor VW, barely avoided being relegated this year. Money in today's football world certainly helps, although it is never a guarantee for success.
Enter Eintracht Frankfurt, the local team here. Frankfurt has certainly improved over the years, although this year, they looked like a sure-fire bet to qualify for the lucrative Champions League following an impressive streak of good results over the first half of the season. A late season slump saw them sink all the way to eighth place, which would likely see them miss out on playing on the European stage altogether. Luckily for them, there was the cup final, the last game of the year to be played in Berlin. Only one problem: they would be meeting with powerhouse Bayern Munich, who is not in the business of losing domestic titles, let alone cup finals. One game, winner-takes-all, up against the best team in the league, who, in addition to winning the Bundesliga for the sixth straight time, also hawked Frankfurt's young head coach, Niko Kovac, for next year, much to the fans' chagrin here in Frankfurt.
But miracles do happen.
Frankfurt pulled off the stunner by beating Bayern, 3-1. What exactly happened to Bayern? Were they lacking motivation after another semifinal exit in the Champions League? Were their players, all seasoned nationals, merely anticipating the World Cup in Russia? We'll never know, and the Eintracht Frankfurt fans really don't care after winning their first cup of any kind in 30 years. Only one year ago, Frankfurt had lost the cup final to Schalke. This year, the city would celebrate in style.
The Römer here in Frankfurt, the central market place in front of the town hall, was sheer pandemonium when it received their victorious team the day after winning the cup, on a warm Sunday afternoon. The tradition for any German football club is to present any freshly won title to its fans at the town hall of the city, usually from the balcony. Tens of thousands of Frankfurt fans packed the place, even the Christmas Market looked sparsely attended by comparison. One mean tweet even claimed that there were more people at Frankfurt's victory parade than on Trump's inauguration day. Fans sang and danced, it's nice to witness football history being made. For Bayern Munich, a cup victory would have been a mere footnote. For Frankfurt, the victory against Bayern is already legend.
What happens with Frankfurt next year is anybody's guess. They have already lost their goalkeeper, one of their star players. They have lost their head coach, the architect of Frankfurt's renaissance, to Bayern. For now, all of that matters so little. For now, Frankfurt is happy. For now, Eintracht rules and has brought a smile to Football Germany outside of Munich. For now, that's all that matters.
That is, at least until the World Cup starts next month.
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