Anniversary & Birthday | Lilien professionals visit camp

This week is a special one for Paul Fernie: On April 8, 2024, SV 98 announced that the Englishman would take on the position of sporting director at the Lilies. A year has now passed since that initial announcement. It’s great to have you with us, Paul!

And that’s not all: On Thursday (April 10), Fernie also celebrates his 38th birthday.
We say: Happy Birthday!

While many children are enjoying a well-deserved break from school during the Easter holidays, SV Darmstadt 98’s Merck Lilien soccer camps are hard at work almost throughout the entire month of April.

One of the camps‘ various locations during this holiday season is the SV 98 youth performance center.

In addition to games, technique, and shooting exercises, the focus is, of course, also on fun. Lilien pros Marco Thiede, Merveille Papela, and Jean-Paul Boëtius provided a very special highlight on Tuesday (April 8). At the youth performance center, they took the time for a question-and-answer session and then diligently signed autographs. After a shared lunch break, the camp participants then embarked on the afternoon’s sporting program with full vigour.

SV Darmstadt 98’s U19 team suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat in their home match against SSV Ulm on Saturday (April 5). The visitors took a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute – a deficit they held until halftime. After the break, the young Lilies regained hope with an equaliser in the 59th minute, but this hope didn’t last long. Just eleven minutes later, Ulm scored again to make it 2-1. Their next chance to score points comes next Saturday (April 12, 11:00am) in their home match against SV Sandhausen.

The weekend was more successful for the Lilies‘ U17 team: In their home match on Sunday (April 6), the B-Juniors celebrated a convincing 3-0 win against second-placed SC Freiburg. The opening goal came just before halftime in the 40th minute. The Lilies remained dominant after the break, making it 2-0 in the 63rd minute, and just four minutes later, SVD sealed the final score with a 3-0 victory. With this important win, the U17s reduced the gap to Freiburg to just one point and are now in third place. The next game is away on Saturday (April 12, 11:00am), also against SV Sandhausen.

Last Sunday (April 6), the SV Darmstadt 98 fan base responded strongly to the setback in their previous match. In their home game in the District League C against Grün-Weiß Darmstadt II, they achieved a well-deserved 3-1 victory.

The match started anything but ideally for the Lilies: In the 27th minute, the „Zwote Zwote“ (Second Second) fell behind 1-0. But just three minutes later, the home side responded with a quick equaliser to make it 1-1, opening up the game again. The score remained the same at halftime.

After the break, SV 98 increasingly took control and rewarded themselves in the closing stages: A double strike in the 69th and 73rd minutes clinched the victory for the Lilies, who successfully defended their third place in the District League C.

Next Sunday (April 13th, 1pm) the team wants to confirm its performance – as they travel away to SKG Bickenbach II.

You can find an overview of the upcoming matches of the Lilien fan team here:

Last weekend, the qualification for the German Individual Championship of the virtual Bundesliga took place – and our four eLilien had already secured a place among the top 128 players in Germany. The first matches kicked off online on Saturday at 5pm.

The tournament kicked off with a Swiss Round, in which at least three wins out of five matches were required to reach the top 64. Kaan, Doki, and Nassim mastered this first hurdle with ease and advanced to the knockout phase. Despite good performances, Kaan and Doki were defeated later in the tournament. For Nassim, however, the weekend continued impressively: With strong performances against the German EA FC elite, he fought his way through round after round – and even defeated the reigning German club champions „Chaser“ in the decisive knockout match.

Thanks to this outstanding performance, Nassim landed among the top 12 players in Germany in the overall qualifying rankings and is now officially among the top 32 who will compete for the title at the German Championship. He’ll continue his campaign the week after Easter at the offline event in Köln, the grand finale at which the German Individual Champion in EA FC 25 will be crowned. Those interested in following our eLilien’s journey live and in person can do so via the following links:

• Group Phase
• KO Round

Sergio Lopez celebrated his 26th birthday on Tuesday (April 8). Born in Remscheid and now a Spanish citizen, he began his career in Spain in the youth teams of UD Salamca and UD Santa Marta before getting a taste of the game with Real Madrid. After a loan spell with Real Valladolid, where he gained experience in the Spanish second division, he moved permanently to FC Basel in Switzerland in 2021. Lopez was a regular for Basel, making 83 appearances. In 2024, he moved to SV Darmstadt 98 in the 2. Bundesliga. This season, the right-back has made 27 appearances for the Lilies, contributing to six goals. We wish you all the best and continued success!