Competing for the Hamburg State Cup has become a regular experience for Eintracht Norderstedt. The team reached the final for the fourth time in the past five years in 2020 and ran out winners for the third time after 2016 and 2017. The final against Oberliga side TSV Sasel in August was won by ‘EN’ – with two wonder goals from Rico Bork and Johann von Knebel – in a convincing 5-1 victory and the club founded in 2003 qualified for the DFB Cup for the third time. Norderstedt lost 4-1 to SpVgg Greuther Fürth in 2016 and a year later they came close to causing an upset in a 1-0 defeat against VfL Wolfsburg.
Bayer 04 are now about to face possibly the strongest team the club has been able to field in the DFB Cup. Norderstedt finished sixth in the Regional League North in last season’s curtailed campaign. That was the best finish in the club’s history to date with 2014/15 also ending with the same position and the win in the state cup was clearer than in the previous two successful cup campaigns. Albeit: In contrast to 2016 and 2017, Norderstedt are unable to play at their home ground, the Edmund Plambeck Stadium just outside Hamburg because of the organisational costs relating to the coronavirus regulations. “As the organisational costs for home games in the DFB Cup are immense for amateur clubs even without supporters and there are also significant costs for personnel and TV broadcasting that cannot be covered by gate receipts,” the decision was made by the Regional League club to offer Bayer 04 the right to be at home.
The team under coaches Jens Martens and Olufemi Smith has more or less stayed together over the past few years and has developed accordingly. Some of the players have come through academies at professional clubs and it is difficult to find players with professional backgrounds at Norderstedt in contrast to many other ambitious Regional League sides. Midfielder Evans Nyarko may be familiar to keen football fans. The 28-year-old played for the reserve teams at Hamburg SV, Borussia Dortmund and Fortuna Düsseldorf and in 2012 he was in the Bundesliga squad at Fortuna. He also played for Holstein Kiel and SV Wehen Wiesbaden in the third division.
Captain Jordan Brown has a special story: The defender came through the youth ranks at Norderstedt, later played in Switzerland for three years, including in the top division for record champions Grasshoppers Zürich. He returned to hometown club in 2016. Remarkable: Brown is one of four players who were in the starting eleven in the state cup final against Sasel who played for the youth teams at ‘EN’. The club has produced many of its own key players.
In the north of Germany, particularly in and around Hamburg, Norderstedt are known for being effective on the wings. Eintracht have fast players on the flanks and try to win with uncomplicated attacks and precise crosses. In central striker Jan Lüneburg, ‘EN’ also have a player who contributes in the middle with his strength in the air plus enormous strength and presence making him an excellent target and outlet. In the state cup final against Sasel, Lüneburg shone with a double strike.
The fixture at Leverkusen may well provide relatively few concerns for Norderstedt on the pitch: The team see themselves as an excellent away side with the last seven games on the road in the Regional League last term ending in wins.
The last outing before the game against the Werkself was lost – and coach Jens Martens was disappointed. “We’re not at all happy with our team,” he declared after last Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Weiche Flensburg. The background: His team conceded three goals from set-pieces at the start of the new Regional League season. An Achilles heel they will have to avoid in the game against the Werkself. Equally disappointing: Winger Dane Kummerfeld suffered a knee ligament injury against Flensburg and could well miss the big match.
Norderstedt – although not at home – face a Herculean task against last season’s DFB Cup finalists and nobody involved could deny that. But the team has often enough proved in the past few years that they know how to win cup ties – and also, how to play away from home man. The Werkself will have to be fully focussed to go through to the second round.
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