Sharpen your senses | US flair at Bölle

After the recent defeats, disappointment prevailed at SV Darmstadt 98. Goalkeeper Marcel Schuhen spoke in a media briefing on Tuesday (April 1) about the team’s current situation, how they deal with setbacks, and their clear goals for the coming weeks:

„After defeats, I’m always in a bad mood. That’s part of it. But it’s also about turning things around and going into the next game with a positive feeling,“ said the 32-year-old. Everyone in the squad is aware that the team, with a seven-point lead over the relegation zone, is far from safe: „Of course, we know we have to get points – but there’s no point in panicking now. We’re staying calm and focused.“ The team sat down after the 2-1 defeat in Ulm and spoke openly about the current situation. Schuhen: „We were all disappointed and also angry about the points we’d earned recently. That’s why we took time after the game to talk about everything together – to refocus.“

Despite the results, the past few matches have by no means been without chances. „It often wasn’t far off. We were always tactically well-prepared for our opponents – in the end, the little things made the difference,“ Schuhen explained. This is precisely why the team now wants to work specifically on these details and emphasise the positive aspects: „The last two home games gave us a good feeling – we want to take that with us.“

He is convinced that the team can return to better performances: „When we’re in the flow, we play boldly forward and are ice-cold in front of goal. That’s exactly what we want to get back to. The quality to score goals is absolutely there in our team.“

This week, the Lilies warmly welcome their US partner club, SVD Beaumont Texas, to the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor. All players and officials who have made the long journey from Texas to Darmstadt will receive a deep and detailed insight into the world of SV Darmstadt 98. They can attend the professional training sessions, have already been given a tour of the Böllen stadium, have had the opportunity to bombard Fraser Hornby with questions, and, as a highlight, selected young players from SVD Beaumont Texas will be able to participate in the training of the Lilies‘ youth teams.

The partnership between SV 98 and SVD Beaumont Texas sends a strong signal for the social power of football. The focus of the collaboration is not only the sport itself, but above all its integrative effect. Both clubs share the belief that football can be an effective tool for opening up new opportunities and perspectives for young people – especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The goal of the joint initiative is to facilitate access to football for young people in the Texas region – regardless of their social or economic situation.

This special connection was initiated by Jaime Roesch, the president of SVD Beaumont. He was born in the USA but spent several years of his life in and around Darmstadt, which is why he became a Lilies fan and member. Since living in Texas, he says he has also maintained close ties to Texas football, which is where the idea for this project came from. You can find out more about the Americans‘ visit in the coming days here on the Lilies‘ website and on the SV Darmstadt 98 social media channels.

The Lilies‘ U21 team secured another impressive victory last Saturday (March 29). The young Lilies secured a convincing 3-0 victory against third-placed RW Walldorf. However, there’s no time to relax: Next Saturday (April 5, 3pm) coach Daniel Petrowsky’s team faces their next big game: away against league leaders FSV Fernwald. Good luck, U21!

The U19s followed suit with the U17s, securing a 4-3 home victory in a thrilling match against SV Gonsenheim. After the U17s went into the locker room with a 3-0 halftime lead, few expected a close game. However, SV Gonsenheim didn’t give up and scored three goals within 16 minutes to make it 3-3. However, the game still had a positive outcome for the young Lilies, as they scored the decisive goal after 81 minutes to make it 4-3. With the win, the U19s moved up to third place in the DFB Youth League.

The Darmstadt U19s‘ next game is also on Wednesday (April 2) at 7:30pm in the Hessen Cup at home against the U19s of SV Wehen Wiesbaden.

After the bitter 5-0 defeat against SSV Ulm last week, SV 98’s U17 team was looking to make amends. And the players didn’t need to be told twice: Last Saturday (March 29), the Young Lilies won a decisive 3-0 away victory against FC 08 Villingen in the DFB Youth League. After going into the break with a 1-0 lead, the B-Juniors didn’t let go of the butter and extended their lead to 3-0 with two goals in the second half – which was also the final score. With the win, the U17s climbed to fifth place in the DFB Youth League.

The next competitive match is scheduled for Wednesday (April 2), when the Young Lilies visit TSV Steinbach in the Hessen Cup. Kicking off at 7pm, the Lilies will do everything they can to advance to the next round.

Last Sunday (March 30), the SV Darmstadt fan team played away at DJK-SSG Darmstadt in the District League C and suffered a setback after recent convincing victories. The „second second team“ suffered a 2-6 defeat on the road – a result that was far too high. Due to individual errors by the fan team and the opponent’s high efficiency, Darmstadt went into the locker room with a 1-3 deficit after the first half. The fan team also played well away in the second half, but ultimately, SV 98 could not gain anything. The defeat saw the Lilies slip to fourth place in the District League C table.

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

Following their sensational performance in this season’s team championship, the eLilien are now moving on to the individual competition: The Darmstadt team, represented by players Dogukaan „xDoki44“ Gün, Louis „ThAaXxLouisXx“ Liberka, Nassim „Nassada“ Dahman, and Kaan „xKaan61_“ Tuncer, have qualified for the Open Playoffs of the virtual Bundesliga, making them among the top 128 EAFC players in Germany.

Next Saturday (April 5), the Swiss Round begins online, where three wins out of five matches are needed to qualify for the Knockouts. There, the remaining players will then compete in the classic knockout system for a spot in the prestigious Grand Final.

The grand finale will take place at the end of April: First, there will be an online round with 32 participants – including the 16 qualifiers and 16 players from the top four teams in both VBL divisions. The final 16 will then compete against each other at the big offline event in Köln.