Kevin Trapp leaves Eintracht Frankfurt and changes to Paris. Even if the finish hurts – Trapp has become a legend in Frankfurt, its legacy is historical.
You can hardly see this scene three years later. The 118th minute of the game in the European Caupine between Eintracht Frankfurt and the Glasgow Rangers runs. In Seville it is still over 30 degrees, the players are standing, the fans too, this evening demands everything from all and the outcome of the game has long been with the gods. A last long ball of the rangers is beaten, it is more of one of these laying passes that rarely lead to something. Only that Dylan Roofe still reaches the ball, on the right outside on the baseline, it cannot be endured and brings with the last strength in front of the goal.
At that moment everything stands still. An entire stadium stops the air, hundreds of thousands of hearts, in Seville, in Frankfurt, elsewhere, expose it, it is a moment like under water, like in slow motion, the crackling before the lightning strikes, a moment of the concentrated fists and not yet screamed scream, this one second fear before the heart breaks. Ryan Kent has been sprinted in the middle, he comes to the shot from three meters. When he meets, Eintracht Frankfurt is empty -handed, but it would be more than that. All the tears, the pain, all the lower heads. Football, this traitor, and all this damn in vain. But then Kevin Trapp flies in between and holds the most unsustainable of all balls.
A hero under heroes
A few minutes later, Eintracht Frankfurt is a European Cup winner, it is a century event for Eintracht, the first international title in 42 years. “Look at that, we are all heroes,” says Trapp after winning tears in his eyes with a view of the curve. But of course this is only half the right. The unity of fans and players can also be felt in the final, but Trapp held the unsustainable and also Aaron Ramsey’s penalty in penalty shooting alone. He is the hero under heroes. “We knew we are on,” he says. But in the 118th minute only he knew for a second.
Seville was already three years ago And when Trapp finally turns back to the club these daysthis is perhaps a good time to step back and to expand the view. This is the only way to understand the importance of Kevin Trapp for Eintracht Frankfurt.
One of the largest of the Club history
Because it is like this: the parades of Trapp in Seville are among the greatest moments in club history. They stand on a level with Don Alfredo and the masters of 1959, with Grabi on the shoulders of his teammates in 1980, with Gacinovic’s run into eternity 2018. There is his heroic deed as a poster, people have been tattooed, it is an iconic picture in a not exactly poor Eintracht history. What does that do from him? No less than one of the largest in club history.
It is the fate of legends that their farewell sometimes does not go as appropriate to their status. The injured Grabwowski 1980. The suspended Anthony Yeboah and Jay-Jay Okocha. Had Trapp deserved it for the sake of his historical legacy to cede one day as number one in the goal of Eintracht? Certainly. But the football world is not that, or not anymore, and maybe it was never.
A moment forever
But what does that do when one speaks of truly historical achievements? Parades like those in the 118th minute in Seville are great moments, moments forever. Change of goalkeeper, transfers, regular place duels are everyday life, in great whole, actually completely unimportant, you widen your view for a historical perspective. With this in mind, it naturally hurts the fans that Trapp will end his career in Paris and not in Frankfurt, where he played for nine years. And probably the same. However, he will always remain a hero in Frankfurt.
Note: This text was published in another version in 2023.
