Holstein Kiel is confidently entering the hot phase of the promotion race. Two former Hamburgers believe in the great opportunity.
Plop, plop, plop. At Holstein Kiel they don’t give up. “We always treat ourselves to one or two celebratory beers after a win,” said Lewis Holtby, co-captain of the second division leaders, in the “Copa TS” podcast: “We bring in a bit of the district league mentality.”
Things are down-to-earth in the far north. The stadium is smaller than the big competition in Hamburg or Düsseldorf, and the team isn’t really full of stars. But there is a solidarity that could become a trump card in the promotion race against financially strong opponents. After a picture-perfect first half of the season, the Kiel team now want to forcefully knock on the door to the Bundesliga.
Kiel pushes the pressure away
Promotion is “of course our big goal now, no question about it,” said striker Jann-Fiete Arp to “Sport Bild” before the start of the second half of the season on Friday (6:30 p.m.) against Eintracht Braunschweig. The former professional from Hamburger SV and Bayern Munich is currently missing with a torn tendon in the adductor area. He played strongly in the year-end spurt and played a key role in five wins in a row.
The reward was the autumn championship in front of the very consistent FC St. Pauli and Hamburger SV. Fortuna Düsseldorf, SpVgg Greuther Fürth, SC Paderborn, Hertha BSC and Hannover 96 are also still aiming for promotion, and an exciting second half of the season is on the horizon. With Holstein in pole position.
The Kiel team feel well prepared to build on their 35 points and are working with great concentration on the really big coup. “Basically, we have a good training culture in our team. The boys always give it their all,” said coach Marcel Rapp. “Everyone here has a knife between their teeth,” Holtby said. The belief that they will be the first club from Schleswig-Holstein to make it into the Bundesliga is there.
The competitors have a lot of pressure to move up. “The ball is in the court of the others, the big clubs like HSV, St. Pauli, Düsseldorf, Hertha or Schalke,” said Holtby: “They have a certain pressure to act. Some of them have defined promotion as a clear goal.”
But Kiel is far from quenching its thirst for success.