KIEL- The soccer players from the second-profi league Holstein Kiel must have watched what the American Football team Cleveland Browns did to the Pittsburgh Steelers prior to last night’s match. The Browns outplayed the AFC North and seven-time Super Bowl champion Steelers from start to finish on Sunday night in Pittsburgh by a score of 48-37, giving the team their first playoff win in 27 years. The Browns had already entered the playoffs for the first time since the 2002 season with a victory in the last game of the season a week earlier.
The Storks from Holstein Kiel had a lot of motivation with them as they hosted the 30-time German Bundesliga regular season and 20-time German Cup champions last night. Like the Browns, Kiel took advantages of several flaws that have been exposed in the Munich team during the regular soccer team and played, toe-to-toe throughout the game and in overtime. This includes poor defense and an aging team, another common ground that Munich and Pittsburgh both have. In the end, it took a series of penalty shoot-outs and Fin Bartels (Kiel) shot into the goal guarded by Manuel Neuner (Munich) to seal the deal.
Here’s the video with some highlights:
Kiel awaits its next opponent in the third round against its second-league opponent, SV Darmstadt 98. That game is to be played on February 2nd or 3rd. The team has yet to win its first ever German Cup in its 118-year history. The team is currently in third place in the regular season standings in the second league and if it plays as successful there as they did against Munich, they could end up in the 1st league for the first time since 1963 next season. The regular season in the second league is expected to end in June.
As for Munich, despite currently sitting in first place in the regular season standings in the 1st league, the team will have to deal with several issues within the team to ensure they can fend off Dortmund, Leverkusen, Leipzig and even Union Berlin for their 31st regular season title. Unlike the Steelers, who are seeing some of their players consider retirement already in the infancy of the 8-month offseason and perhaps may have seen Ben Rothlisberger play for the last time in his career, Munich will have to adjust on the fly as their season ends in June, but have international competition, like the Champions League to contend with. It’s a question of how much is too much- something head coach Hansi Flick will have to answer and quickly.
But for now, people in Kiel and the rest of Schleswig-Holstein are celebrating. No more will they have to endure Munich’s jinx laden with beer, white sausage and pretzels. They are now celebrating the upset with their own delicacies- namely, Matjes filet sandwich, fried potatoes with bacon, a good bottle of Flensburger beer and some Danish licorice from Tom’s- all a cornerstone of Schleswig-Holstein’s delicious meal.
The Flensburg Files would like to congratulate both Kiel and Cleveland for their David-versus-Goliath upsets. This is definitely one for the books, especially if you are a sportsfan. 🙂
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THE FLENSBURG FILES 