SYou left an impression. Eintracht has come even more into focus across Europe in recent weeks. In addition to Oliver Glasner’s Bundesliga team, the club’s juniors also made a contribution to promoting Frankfurt as a football location beyond the borders. For the first time, a team from Hessen took part in the Youth League. The competition has existed for nine years, in which the youngsters of the 32 clubs involved in the Champions League group stage can compete and compete in the same constellation as the professionals.
Damir Agovic, who returned to Riederwald in early summer to primarily look after the U19s, put together a group of talented players as head coach, who harmonized from the very first moment. She qualified early for the knockout round, which will be played after the winter break. “We’ve achieved more than we expected,” Agovic said in an interview with the FAZ, but now that they’ve got a taste for it, he and his boys want more. “We found each other and improved bit by bit”; The 33-year-old describes the behavior as “brave, offensive and aggressive”, which will also characterize the youngsters in the final group game on Tuesday at Sporting Lisbon, which was lost 0-1. The basic rule is: “We attack for ninety minutes” – and that impressed all opponents.
Support from Ervin Skela
Agovic has a best-of selection available as candidates: the Montenegrin, who is supported in his job by former professional Ervin Skela, nominates teenagers from the U17, U19 and U21. UEFA guidelines applied for this 18 squad to be considered. Only those who had been playing for Eintracht for two years could be called up, and there was a general upper limit of six newcomers who had to have been signed before July 1, 2020. “We did a lot of tinkering,” Agovic said of the compilation. Despite all the respect they were able to acquire on the unfamiliar stage in the contest “with the best” peers in Europe, something else was more important to him: “We want to develop players at Eintracht. Preparing for the professional game was our primary goal from the start and not progressing.”
The home game against the Portuguese (1:1) as well as the encounters with Olympique Marseille (2:2, 2:0) and Tottenham Hotspur (1:0, 3:2) strengthened the impression in many scenes that Eintracht on the The right way is to teach their substructure skills so that they can take the big step from youth football into the upscale men’s business. “We saw that we have the level and can keep up the pace,” said Agovic with satisfaction, “we gained more self-confidence.”
Alexander Richter, who took over the management of the youth academy in June as the successor to Andreas Möller, said that in his eyes it is important to ensure that “the day-to-day business doesn’t fall behind, regardless of the “top constellation”. After the 2-2 draw in Augsburg at the weekend, the U19s are only in 13th place in the Bundesliga Southwest and are therefore still lagging behind their own claims; the U17s, on the other hand, won 2-1 in Hoffenheim and are in second place behind FC Bayern on course for the Bundesliga title, while the U21s, who definitely want to be promoted to the regional league, are third after beating Neuhof 2-2 lost to leader Giessen.
Lecture and great burden
The Youth League is both an experience and a course for everyone involved – but also a “great burden”, as Richter emphasized. “Travelling, staying in hotels and paying attention to what you eat” meant a multitude of unfamiliar experiences for the young people, “they have to learn to use their strength sparingly”. There were game days when some people “almost fell asleep standing up” during the obligatory meal with the opponent when queuing for the buffet, said Richter. “We have a great responsibility that we live up to,” he said, adding that the 40-strong delegation always includes teachers.
In coordination with the Carl-von-Weinberg-School in Frankfurt, which is integrated into the pedagogical concept, exams were already written on the way, he described the double burden that the adolescents had to shoulder. But they would all have “a sparkle in their eyes” when they slipped into their Youth League suits for the meeting before the games: “It’s nice to see how happy they are,” said Richter.
For Dario Gebuhr, as a central defender and captain of one of the leading players in the squad, the experience that is particularly worth mentioning is “that we surprised ourselves. The success is a nice confirmation.” For him, the Youth League is “a real adventure”. And it goes further.
