Alex Meier has no intention of leaving Eintracht again in the course of his professional life.

The 39-year-old announced on Monday that he would prefer to work exclusively in Frankfurt until he retires in his mid-sixties.

Marc Heinrich

sports editor.

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This Wednesday (7.15 p.m. at Sport 1) Meier still gets a farewell game.

This makes up for what was promised to him at the end of his active career in the summer of 2018, but has never been implemented since then because the pandemic repeatedly thwarted plans.

More than 30,000 visitors are expected to attend the match in the arena in the city forest.

The kick is embedded in a subsequent season opening party, at which Oliver Glasner's Bundesliga team presents itself.

"Like a marriage that will always last"

Meier has invited companions with whom he would like to do things together again as before;

including goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky from Bayer Leverkusen, with whom he won the DFB Cup four years ago - one of the highlights of Meier's football vita.

Jay-Jay Okocha, Anthony Yeboah and Ioannis Amanatidis have also confirmed their attendance.

Martin Hinteregger, who only recently declared his professional life over, will also appear.

"I'm proud of the people who promised me everything and I thank Eintracht for giving me this chance," said Meier.

Armin Veh and Friedhelm Funkel are expected as coaches, of whom Meier said they "shaped him the most".

He himself recently joined the Eintracht U21 team as an assistant coach.

With his new post, he is continuing his career within the club, the dimensions of which could not have been guessed on August 9, 2004, when he (coming from FC St. Pauli) signed his first contract with the Hessians.

In 379 competitive games, Meier scored 137 goals and played 30,187 minutes for Eintracht, as spokesman Axel Hellmann emphasized.

Meier, praised by the fans as the "football god", resisted all temptations to leave Frankfurt.

In the 2014/2015 season he secured the top scorer with 19 goals.

For Hellmann, the game is a recognition of services rendered, it has nothing to do with an emerging progress.

With his involvement in the work of the second team, Meier has clarified his sense of belonging to Eintracht anew.

"The myth of Alex Meier is growing and growing," said Hellmann, to which the native North German, who was known for his special coolness in the penalty area, reacted with a touch of emotion that was untypical for him: "Eintracht and I," Meier stated, "that's it like a marriage that will always last.”