Opposition Check: Kaiserslautern

A total of four German championship titles are in the Red Devils‘ trophy cabinet. But the promoted championship is a very special one. As golden as the times were in the 1990s with two championships and two cup victories as well as participation in international competition they were to become darker later. Between 2018 and 2022, the famous club from the Palatinate suddenly only played in the 3rd league.

At the moment, everyone in the Palatinate has every reason to be happy again. Last season they made it to the DFB Cup final, in which FCK lost to the championship team Bayer Leverkusen. The Red Devils are also in impressive form this season. As second in the table, 1. FC Kaiserslautern travels to the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor on Saturday evening (December 14th/8:30pm). Before the ball rolls on the Bölle in the top game, let’s take another closer look at the Lilies‘ upcoming opponent.

He was a player under several well-known coaches in the European football business. Aleksandar Ristic is one name, Huub Stevens another. He also played under world champion coach Jogi Löw and the Belgian Eric Gerets. He now belongs to exactly this professional group and is on the sidelines as head coach.

As a trainer, Markus initially gained his first experience in the regional league at SC Kapellen-Erft before moving to the youth department of Bayer Leverkusen. He finally achieved his big breakthrough at Holstein Kiel. There he not only led the club from the 3rd league to the 2nd Bundesliga in 2017, but also surprised the Storks in the following season when he almost managed to make it through. Anfang and the Kiel team only failed in the relegation against VfL Wolfsburg. After a stint at 1. FC Köln, the Köln native finally ended up at SV Darmstadt 98 in the summer of 2020. He coached a total of 37 games for the Lilies. While he finished seventh in the league with the men from Böllenfalltor, he also reached the round of 16 of the DFB Cup with Darmstadt 98. In the summer of 2021, however, the now 50-year-old decided to accept an offer from SV Werder Bremen.

Anfang, who generally stands for good offensive football, has now found his new home at 1. FC Kaiserslautern after two years at Dynamo Dresden. With 29 goals, his team is one of the strongest offensively in the league. Together they currently occupy second place in the 2nd Bundesliga.

This is the offensive of 1. FC Kaiserslautern. The second-place team currently has 29 goals to their name. Only two teams in the league – SV Darmstadt 98 (30) and Hamburger SV (33) – scored more goals in the current season. The above all accurate offense is possibly one of the reasons why things are going so well for the Red Devils at the moment. The Betze men have been unbeaten in seven second division games. They were able to win all of the last three games with three goals of their own – 3-1 against Karlsruhe, 3-0 at Schalke and 3-2 against Braunschweig.

Sorted out of the youth team at FC Schalke 04, then back to his hometown club Rot-Weiß Essen. Regional league – with a mini-job on the side. First for Essen, then for Wattenscheid and Altona in Hamburg as well as Fortuna Düsseldorf II. The dream of professional football shattered? Not at all. Because Boris Tomiak “always believed in himself and never gave up”. In the 2020/21 season, he played his way back into the focus of several professional teams as Düsseldorf’s second representative. When the offer finally came from third division club Kaiserslautern, the now 26-year-old absolutely wanted to take the step. And it turned out to be the completely right decision: “I became a regular player straight away, we got promoted – just amazing.”

Tomiak has now played a total of 124 competitive games for the Red Devils. The Essen native is indispensable in defense. But he doesn’t just impress with his tough defense. The central defender can also score goals. He has a total of 18 goals on his FCK resume and is also ice cold from the spot. Tomiak converted three out of three penalties this season – including the penalty kick last weekend in the derby against Karlsruher SC. However, his penalty secret remains his well-guarded penalty secret. Tomiak with a wink: “I have my own tactics, which I don’t want to reveal. I’m doing well with that at the moment and I hope I get a few more penalties this season…“