We can hardly wait,” says midfielder Barbara Dunst. “We hope,” says coach Niko Arnautis, “that the team will just float.” Towards the big dream. Since 2016 there have been no more international women’s football matches at club level in Frankfurt.
It was a hard cut: from the former permanent guest to a permanent teetotaler. The women of Frankfurt Eintracht are now one step away from qualifying for the Champions League via third place in the Bundesliga. A win in the home game against Werder Bremen this Sunday (2 p.m. on MagentaSport) and Turbine Potsdam not winning in the parallel game at dethroned champions Bayern Munich – then it would be done.
At the season finale, the SBU is expecting the largest crowd of over 3,000 spectators that has gathered in the Brentanobad stadium for years. In any case, visitors will see a bundle of energy with a dark ponytail rushing back and forth across the lawn and always preferring to be at ball height.
Successful from afar
Barbara Dunst has made the biggest leap forward in the Frankfurt squad this season. Once somewhat overshadowed by a few teammates and never quite at home on the wing, the Austrian national player has played herself to the fore this season and often carried away her teammates with her drive and shooting power. Her speciality: (Important) goals from a distance.
There are five so far, mostly scored from 14 meters or more goal distance. Dunst’s direct hit in the previous home game against Leverkusen for a late secured home win kept Eintracht in the running in the duel for third place with the Potsdam team, who are now level on points.
“I just really like to gamble. I would love to play football all day,” says the 24-year-old, who started all 21 games this season. The trainers also know “that I like going to the gym,” she adds with a smile. The further improved athletics, her position further in midfield and the newly discovered goal threat have shown the Graz player the way to a complete professional player.
“Always up for kicking”
“She’s a crazy guy who’s always up for a kick,” says coach Arnautis. “She is strong, fast, tricky and technically good. She is exploiting her potential more and more.” Barbara Dunst, who is only called “Baba” at SBU, will continue to do so in Frankfurt for the foreseeable future. She recently extended her contract on the Main until mid-2024.
From now on, Champions League games should be part of the sporting everyday life of the team, which is peppered with national players. Barbara Dunst has had the pleasure of being one of the few in the squad. With her St. Pölten team. “I was just a chick then. But these days I’ve looked back on it frequently. I would love to experience that feeling again with this super great Eintracht team,” says the tireless player from Styria.
With Verena Hanshaw, Virginia Kirchberger, who has been injured for months, and Laura Feiersinger, an Austrian quartet will start on the Main. And after the exciting season finale in Frankfurt, “probably the biggest highlight of my career” awaits her, according to Dunst, who spent her entire youth in boys’ teams and made her debut in the Austrian Bundesliga at the age of 15. Your national team will play the opening game against the English hosts at the European Championships this summer – a tournament that promises to set new standards in women’s football.
“Dream of Europe lives”
But first it is necessary to do the Bundesliga task against the Bremen women who have been saved from relegation. The 1-0 defeat in the first leg against a bulky, defensively strong opponent from northern Germany should be warning enough. If the Eintracht women hadn’t allowed themselves their worst season performance back then on the Weser, they could now regulate the final things of the season on their own. But lamenting about it doesn’t help anymore. Rather: “Our dream of Europe is alive,” says sporting director Siegfried Dietrich. But only if Bayern Munich takes their role as favorites against Potsdam seriously.
