Spain and Croatia. Poland and Austria. The Dutch and Swiss as well as Italy and Turkey. And then there is the final on July 14th between the Spanish national team and England. The Olympic Stadium in Berlin hosted a total of six, sometimes breathtaking, games at UEFA Euro 2024 this summer. A good three weeks later there is no longer any trace of the EM hustle and bustle. Instead, everyday life in the second division was back on the agenda for the third largest German stadium after Dortmund and Munich: Hertha BSC on the first matchday of the 2nd Bundesliga against SC Paderborn. And exactly where the Spaniards were crowned European champions 20 days earlier, the team from East Westphalia celebrated last Saturday (August 3rd).
A goal just before half-time. A goal shortly after the break. And the victory belonged to SC Paderborn, who started the new season with a 2-1 opening win at Hertha. Were the points hinted at at the start? Yes, if Lukas Kwasniok has his way. At the press conference before the game, the East Westphalia head coach confirmed that his team had completed “perfect preparation” in the summer. “Now it’s about delivering in the first game,” Kwasniok continued.
No sooner said than done – even if, despite the victory at Hertha, not everything went smoothly and the head coach said his men still had “room for improvement”. But what are the strengths of Paderborn? What kind of guy is the man on the sidelines? And which player should you particularly have on your list when the duel between Ostwestfalen and SV Darmstadt 98 comes up on the second second division matchday? We took a closer look at the Lilies‘ upcoming opponent.
| Arrivals | Departures |
| Sven Michel (Striker, FC Augsburg) | Sirlord Conteh (1. FC Heidenheim) |
| Mika Baur (Striker, SC Freiburg II) | Kai Klefisch (SV Darmstadt 98) |
| Felix Götze (Defender, Rot-Weiß Essen) | Maximilian Rohr (SV Elversberg) |
| Santiago Castañeda (Defensive Midfield, MSV Duisburg) | Jannes Heuer (1. FC Kaiserslautern) |
| Luca Herrmann (Central Midfield, Dynamo Dresden) | Jannik Huth (SC Freiburg) |
A realist who loves order and faces facts. This is Lukas Kwasniok. At the age of 19, he gave up his dream of paid football and started training to become a middle-level civil servant. But the early end of his playing career later made the Polish-born coach an experienced and hardened coach. Having worked in the Karlsruher SC youth team for many years, Kwasniok developed his own approach. He developed his vision and followed his principles. Then he reaped the fruits of his work: In the 2019/20 season he was promoted to the 3rd league as head coach with 1. FC Saarbrücken and also became the first fourth division team ever to reach the semi-finals of the DFB Cup with the Saarland team .
In the summer of 2021, he moved from Baden-Württemberg to North Rhine-Westphalia, where he took over the second division team SC Paderborn in East Westphalia. Today, the 43-year-old trainer is characterised by security and confidence in himself. For him, defeats are sometimes necessary stages for further success. Since 2021, the SCP has had a trainer in the dugout who once described his work to the Weser-Kurier as follows: “I want to develop a game idea that is authentic and not artificial. A gait that suits my nature.”
The away strength of SC Paderborn!? It was like that last season. Will this trend continue into the new season with the 2-1 win at Hertha BSC? From the 17 away duels last year, the East Westphalia team got a total of 27 points, which put them in a strong fourth place in the away table. The first three points on a foreign pitch are already in the account because the Paderborn team were both efficient and, above all, stable in defense in Berlin. Only Magdeburg and Cologne (both 9) had to accept fewer shots from their opponents than the SCP (10), with Paderborn not allowing Hertha to have any big chances at all.
This cheering in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. His competitive debut for SC Paderborn. His first game in the 2nd Bundesliga. His first goal and three points in the bag. “If I dreamed of something, then it was exactly that,” reported an overjoyed SC Paderborn 07 central defender Felix Götze. Dream debut.
Review. Born in Dortmund, he was trained at the black and yellow Borussia and later at FC Bayern Munich. His path to becoming a footballer? Signed. “The first thing I saw when I was a child was the ball. When you have two older brothers who both played football, you have no choice,” he jokes with a smile on his face. Felix the youngest. Brother Fabian the eldest. And Mario is probably the best-known member of the Götze family. “I wouldn’t be here without him – without his tips,” Felix once said about his brother Mario. He previously celebrated his Bundesliga debut for FC Augsburg in the 2018/19 season and later scored his first professional goal against FC Bayern Munich – a goal that he dedicated to Mario. The breakthrough in his career?
Not quite. Always plagued by bad luck with injuries, the now 26-year-old only went to the third division once. There he played for both 1. FC Kaiserslautern and, most recently, Rot-Weiß Essen. Everything needs it’s time. Since this summer, Götze has wanted to attack in the 2nd Bundesliga. His debut was already promising. He now wants to continue on his path for SC Paderborn. And yet he still has a dream, as he once revealed: to stand on the pitch in the same jersey as his brother Mario.
From the early 1980s, he was active in the service of SV Darmstadt 98 for almost four decades: We Lilies congratulate the former team doctor of SVD, Dr. Michael Weingart, most sincerely on his 75th birthday this Wednesday (April 15th)!
There are five games left in the season, meaning a total of 15 points are still up for grabs. But Darmstadt's focus is entirely on Sunday's match (April 19th, 1:30pm) against Greuther Fürth. From the media briefing with Fabian Nürnberger, from the hockey pitch to San Antonio: We report on all these topics and many more. As usual, you can find all the latest news from SV 98's club life here in our weekly column "Lilies Across the Board."
SV 98 mourns the loss of its former player Roger Prinzen, who passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on Monday evening (April 13th) at the age of 57.
The long wait for a point is over! After four consecutive defeats, SV Darmstadt 98's U21 team finally secured some points. On their home turf, the young Lilies drew 1-1 against TSV Eintracht Stadtallendorf last Saturday (April 11th). Looking at the league table, it was clear even before the match that it wouldn't be easy, as a full ten places separated the two teams in the LOTTO Hessenliga standings. However, the Lilies' U21 team remained evenly matched with the seventh-placed side and collected a crucial home point.
This match is a tradition – at least at the veterans' level: The SV Darmstadt 98 veterans team visited Real Madrid for the third time. The game was played last Thursday (April 9th) at the "Royal Whites'" training ground in the Valdebebas district of Madrid.
The season is drawing to a close, and SV Darmstadt 98's penultimate away match takes them to the Wildpark stadium. On Sunday (May 3rd, 1:30pm), SV 98 will be playing away against Karlsruher SC. We need a large turnout of Darmstadt fans to support them. Advance ticket sales for club members begin next Wednesday (April 15th) at noon. All ticket information can be found in this announcement.
It happened in their 15th home game of the season. Darmstadt lost on their own turf. Deservedly so. Although SV 98 tried everything against the visitors from Hannover until the final whistle, the Lower Saxons proved too strong on Saturday evening. In our analysis, we take another look at the match.
For the first time this season, SV Darmstadt 98 finished a match at the Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor without any points. The Lilies offered more resistance to Hannover 96's two goals in the second half. However, the pressure exerted by the South Hessians at the end proved fruitless. Read here what the players and both head coaches had to say about the defeat, which Darmstadt considered deserved overall.
Everything has to end and so the undefeated home record of SV 98 ended on Saturday night. Hannover 96 triumphed 2-0 (1-0) to hand the Lilies their first home loss of the season at the Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor.
Another top match at the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor. On matchday 29 (April 11th/8:30pm), Hannover 96 visits Darmstadt. For the clash with their direct league rivals, Florian Kohfeldt has made three changes to his starting eleven. The suspended Lidberg and Klefisch are replaced by Lakenmacher and Papela, and Niklas Schmidt comes in for Marco Richter. Bartosz Bialek returns to the Darmstadt 98 matchday squad for the first time this calendar year after recovering from injury.
Once again at 8:30pm, floodlights, top match, and at the Bölle! On Saturday (April 11th/8:30pm), Hannover 96 visits Darmstadt, and once again two teams from the top five meet at Nieder-Ramstädter-Straße. What do the two head coaches have to say before the match? Who will be the referee? And who will be the commentator? As usual, we've compiled all the important information about the game against the Lower Saxony side for you in "Matchday Compact."
