Now the last ones are back.

Kevin Trapp and Filip Kostic reported back to training at Eintracht on Thursday.

The goalkeeper and the left winger, who have been in action with their respective national teams in the past few weeks, had received a vacation extension from coach Oliver Glasner.

This completes the currently available staff.

On Saturday, Eintracht will fly to their week-long training camp in Windischgarsten.

Ralph Weitbrecht

sports editor.

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For some Frankfurt football professionals, the trip to Upper Austria is a return to a well-known place, where summer preparatory phases away from home were started in previous years.

For Hrvoje Smolcic everything is new territory at Eintracht.

The Croatian, who will be 22 in August, is abroad for the first time in his young professional career.

It was always his heart's desire that he chose Germany.

"Every player dreams of the Bundesliga, including me," he said at the end of May when his five-year contract with Frankfurt was fixed.

Now the man from Rijeka has presented himself to the press for the first time - and renewed his assessment.

"It's a big step, it's the right step," Smolcic was translated by Croatian Eintracht employee Marijo Majic on Thursday.

Smolcic came to Frankfurt as a proud captain.

He was captain at his long-standing club HNK Rijeka.

"It was a very great honor for me," he said.

"People put a lot of trust in me.

I want to justify it by always giving my all.” Of course, Smolcic has to give everything if he wants to make a mark on his club.

The defender, who mainly plays with his left foot - "my right foot is bad" - has strong competition.

Evan Ndicka can play on the left in both a three-man and four-man defense, as can Christopher Lenz.

With Smolcic, there is now another applicant for a position that requires versatility.

Flexibility and variability - Smolcic spoke of these virtues on Thursday when he was asked about his strengths.

He spoke of

that he has a good overview of the game and can predict game situations well.

"I am very ambitious."

New country, new league, new challenge.

It was not easy for Hrvoje Smolcic to leave his homeland to start a sporting adventure.

His twin brother Ivan, who was also on the ball for HNK Rijeka, is staying at home.

Although Hrvoje Smolcic has only been part of everyday training in Frankfurt for a few days, he quickly recognized the differences to Croatian football.

"Everything is much faster and more aggressive here." Exactly as Kristijan Jakic had already indicated to him in advance.

Best possible representative for Hinteregger

His Croatian compatriot, who made the leap to the Bundesliga earlier, is someone who always goes about his work with great fighting spirit.

Smolcic wants to do the same.

In Jakic and Bosnian-Australian team-mate Ajdin Hrustic, Smolcic has two Eintracht allies with whom he can converse in his native language.

Although: "I want to learn German as soon as possible," he promised on Thursday.

"Kristijan and Ajdin informed me in advance about how the club ticks and how things work here."

Smolcic is proud that his first stop abroad brought him to Eintracht, the winner of the Europa League.

He followed the biggest coup in the history of the Frankfurt club from afar.

But Smolcic can understand what it means to win titles.

With Rijeka he has won the Croatian Cup twice.

The most recent success was particularly heated.

Already in the first half Smolcic was cautioned twice and had to leave the field with yellow-red.

"I was frustrated and over-motivated," he said in retrospect.

"I want to learn from that for the future." Hrvoje Smolcic will learn a lot at Eintracht, where he has a prominent predecessor in his preferred left position.

"I know the importance that Martin Hinteregger has for the fans in Frankfurt," he said.

"I want to try,