SC Freiburg

The first match-up of this year’s competition already promises to be special, as our opponents fall under the same footballing authority – the South Baden Football Association. Fifth-division side SV Oberachern have qualified for the Pokal for the second time in a row, as winners of the South Baden Cup. Last season, the men from Ortenau exited in the first round, also at the Dreisamstadion, as they succumbed to a defeat at the hands of Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Ritsu Doan had a chance in the box two minutes later, but his shot was blocked. Empoli, who finished 14th in Serie A last season, were also looking to get forward and that made it an open affair. Referee Dr. Matthias Jöllenbeck awarded the home team a penalty in the 18th minute for a foul on Lucas Höler. Michael Gregoritsch stepped up, only to see his effort saved by the goalkeeper Elia Caprile, who then impressed again with a good save from a Rolland Sallai a minute later.

The game was available to follow by a livestream and as a result the ground was fairly quiet at the normally sold-out Europa-Park Stadion. This also meant that you could hear every instruction from the dugout and on the pitch. U23 coach Thomas Stamm followed both games, and a number of his players who were in action, from the stands. SC’s first attack was after a few minutes, with Mika Baur crossing the ball across the box, but no-one was able to get on the end of it.

The game had only just kicked off when Noah Atubolu was called upon to make his first save, brilliantly saving from Emanuel Emegha one-on-one. He didn’t have any chance against Lucas Perrin’s header from close range moments later, though, and the guests went 1-0 up (4’). The visitors could have extended their lead in these early stages, with both Emanuel Emegha and Gerzino Nyams hitting the woodwork (6’, 7’).

We couldn’t start pre-season with our full squad due to some players being on international duty. Players arrived at different times, which is why we called up quite a lot of lads from the U23s in order to be able to play 11-a-side games in training. We played against Wolfsburg with a mixed squad, so with quite a few from the U23s.

“The fact that my teammates voted for me is really special. It’s an honour to captain my favourite club,” said Christian Günter. “The team council is a dynamic group and we’re all pleased to take on this responsibility over the coming months.”

SC travelled to Austria with seven players from their U23s squad, with Fabian Rüdlin and Maximilian Breunig straight into the starting eleven. Breunig made an immediate impact, going past a number of Wolfsburg players before he was stopped from shooting at the last moment by Wolfsburg new signing Cedric Zesiger. Shortly afterwards, he predicted a backpass header and managed to nip in front of Koen Casteels but his lob flew narrowly over. It was third time lucky for Breunig, who flicked home a Merlin Röhl cross at the near post to put SC ahead(20’).

The nine days in Schruns are familiar territory for much of the team. This will be the 17th year in a row that SCF will prepare for the new season in this part of Austria. Christian Günter is of course a player who has completed many a session in Schruns, but it will be a slightly different experience for the captain this year. The 30-year-old did travel to Austria with the team after he underwent surgery on his broken arm on Saturday evening but rehabilitation training will be on the agenda for the stalwart.

The 21-year-old joined Freiburg’s academy in 2017 from FC Emmendingen. He made his debut for the U23s in 2020 and has gone on to play 55 times in the Regionalliga and the 3. Liga. Schmidt is also a current Germany U21s international.