The soccer players of Eintracht Frankfurt start the new season against Bayern Munich. The disappointment about missing the Champions League should unleash new strength.
It was probably the most bitter moment in the young history of the Eintracht Frankfurt women. It’s been almost four weeks since the Hessians were in the qualifying round for the Champions League competed at Ajax Amsterdammissed the best chances and conceded defeat in added time with an overhead kick – and had to bury the dream of participating in the Champions League.
For the time being, one would like to say, because in Frankfurt people have been looking ahead for a long time. On Friday (7.15 p.m.) the Hessians will welcome FC Bayern Munich to kick off the Bundesliga season. The club is expecting a historic setting in the stadium. “We’re all really looking forward to it. A game under floodlights, we’re expecting a lot of spectators, it’s going to be a huge experience,” said captain Tanja Pawollek at a press conference on Tuesday.
“It broke our hearts”
Wipe your mouth, carry on, that’s what they call football-speak. And indeed: Despite all the disappointment, the Eintracht footballers have not forgotten what a great season there is behind last year’s third. No wonder that the players from the Quali-Aus Draw energy for the new season.
“The end broke our hearts, the dream has burst,” says Pawollek. “But after the game we sat down and said: We want to achieve that again. We mourned together, we celebrated together. Now we want to attack again.”
“We want to defend third place”
A challenge to the competition from the top of the table, to which Eintracht was able to “close the gap”, according to coach Marko Arnautis. “It’s tough competition for the championship, but also for the places behind it. We made good progress with third place and we want to defend our place.”
It won’t be a sure-fire success. Not against Bayern on Friday, who travel to Frankfurt “with a new coach, new motivation and a new game system,” said Arnautis. And not on the track either, because “the league has become much tighter in recent years,” says Pawollek. “Wolfsburg and Bayern are the top teams, but what’s behind them has also gotten better,” said the captain, who also thinks Leverkusen and Cologne can play a good role.
“It was a preparation with huge hurdles”
Eintracht is weakened in the round when national goalkeeper Merle Frohms left the Hessians. Arnautis does not want to reveal who will replace her just yet. The preparation didn’t go well either. “We were only together for two weeks, through the European Championships and the U20 World Cup, that was preparation with huge hurdles,” said Pawollek. “But that’s how it is for a lot of teams. And we made great use of the time we had.”
There’s no need to worry anyway, it’s more about showing that you can stand up to the two top clubs from Munich and Wolfsburg this season. Ideally already on Friday. Pawollek also wants to take some of the euphoria with him that arose from the good Eintracht season and the European Championship.
“We play football for the love of the sport”
And gain new fans too. “We have honest football. We play football for the love of the sport, there isn’t that much money in the company yet. We train and have fun, I would say we’re more honest,” the 23-year-old said emotional words the advertising drum. Arnautis agrees: “We want to be successful in sport. But we also want to get people involved and inspire them for women’s football. We’re in good hands with this club.”
