Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – A victory was hardly to be expected, but the Stuttgarter Kickers still did self-promotion. “We wanted to win hearts, we did that very impressively,” said Kickers coach Mustafa Ünal after a big fight between the fifth division soccer team in the DFB Cup and Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt. Although the leaders of the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg lost to the Champions League participants on Tuesday evening with a deserved 0: 2 (0: 2), the clear class difference could not be seen in the second round game in this form.
“We showed a super performance,” said Kickers President Rainer Lorz. “The team tried to score until the end. That was really strong. And it shows that we are developing a lot.”
With this “spirit”, as Lorz put it, the former Bundesliga club and DFB Cup finalist from 1987 now also wants to achieve its actual goal for the season: next spring, the Swabians want to at least return to the regional league after five years in the fifth division – and later maybe in the 3rd league. Eintracht captain Sebastian Rode has already certified the Stuttgarters as “regional league level”.
“It was a great game in front of a great crowd,” said Kickers sporting director Marc Stein. And the more than 600,000 euros brought in by moving into the second round of the cup are also good for the indebted traditional club from Stuttgart-Degerloch.
