European League of Football: Frankfurt Galaxy is ready for more

Frankfurt Galaxy is ready.

Ready for the difficult tasks of the coming weeks and possibly even for the grand final of the European League of Football (ELF), which will take place in Düsseldorf on September 26th.

The opponent in this final could then be called Hamburg Sea Devils again, like last Sunday evening in the top game of the league in the stadium on Bornheimer Hang.

And if you take this recent meeting of the two top teams as a yardstick, Frankfurt would be one of their big contenders for the title in the premier season of the newly founded league.

Jan Ehrhardt

Sports editor.

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The fact that Frankfurt Galaxy has shown itself to be ready for the difficult tasks of the coming weeks and has also made a powerful impression can be traced back to three storylines. On the one hand, there would be the result: 35: 9. A clear, "dominant" victory in football speech against the so far undefeated Hamburg. On the other hand, the otherwise eloquent coach of the same person from Hamburg, Andreas Nommensen, was initially extremely brief at the press conference after the game and his otherwise rather brief Frankfurt colleague Thomas Kösling almost exuberantly praised the players and support staff for his circumstances.

And last but not least, there is the fact that even Commissioner Patrick Esume, the head of the league, apparently no longer held his seat in the VIP stand during the game and instead sought a conversation with some Hamburg assistant coaches in the press box .

But one after the other.

The result: 35: 9 for Frankfurt Galaxy.

35: 9 against a team that, as a franchise, should be something like the figurehead of the ELF, which has had one of the strongest offensives and even the strongest defensive in the entire league in the course of the season so far.

The Sea Devils didn't manage a single touchdown in Frankfurt, kicker Phillip Friis Andersen had to score all points with a field goal, and in defense the collective never found a means against the variable attacking game of the Galaxy.

“Frankfurt showed us where our weak points are.

We almost have to say thank you for that, ”said the Hamburg coach Nommensen later with a slight hint of gallows humor, even though he emphasized that his team is currently struggling with serious injury problems.

Among other things, the Sea Devils lacked Kasim Edebali, formerly a professional in the National Football League (NFL), the best football league in the world, in this duel between the two league leaders (the ELF is divided into a north and south seasons).

“But that can't be an excuse.

A top team must be able to deal with injuries.

We didn't manage that. "

"Big compliments to everyone"

The fact that Nommensen even got into talking after the game was only thanks to a request from the Frankfurt stadium announcer, who chaired the press conference.

Previously, the Hamburg coach had only wanted to summarize the game in very short syllables, the disappointment over the clear defeat - in the first meeting of the two teams at the beginning of the season, Hamburg had won at 17:15 - was clear to him.

Galaxy coach Kösling presented himself completely differently, who appeared at the press conference not only in a fine silver-gray suit, but also in a shiny mood.

"Huge compliments to everyone," he began with a big smile, "our goal from the start was to play at the top of the league and for the title at the end."

Frankfurt has now come a lot closer to this goal. With six wins and one defeat, the team continues to lead the southern season of the ELF, against the Wrocław Panthers from Poland, Barcelona Dragons from Spain and the Centurions from Cologne, Kösling wants to maintain this top position in the coming weeks. Then the play-offs would be due, first with the semi-final against the runner-up in the northern season, then followed the final for the title.

"We got into the game strongly, that was the most important thing," summed up Kösling on Sunday, whose team had already scored two touchdowns in the first quarter. In addition to two more offensive touchdowns, the Frankfurt defense, already one of the team's main pillars since the beginning of the season, provided a so-called pick six, a defensive touchdown, and a safety in which the opposing quarterback is brought to the ground in his own end zone , for points. In the end, according to Kösling, there was a “small prestige success” in front of 2,800 spectators in Frankfurt, which had gained an interesting episode during the third quarter.

When the Galaxy defense intercepted a pass from the Hamburg playmaker and a large part of the spectators in the stands burst into cheers, ELF boss Esume asked an assistant coach of the Sea Devils, who is connected to the sideline via radio, what had gone wrong .

"I wanted to ask what kind of move that was, nothing more," Esume later told the FAZ

But Nommensen does not want to have noticed anything of this situation. Upon request, he said after the game: “That didn't go down well with me.

Patrick Esume is not part of our team. ”In any case, his thoughts must have been in a completely different place.

For example, how he and his team should bring these strong Frankfurters to their knees in a possible final at the end of September.