Gregor Kobel is the celebrated hero in Borussia Dortmund's victory in the round of 16 of the German Cup at Eintracht Frankfurt. After the penalty thriller, the match-winner sets a big goal for the season.
29.10.2025, 12:05
29.10.2025, 13:20
SDA
Gregor Kobel received special praise from Dortmund's managing director Lars Ricken after surviving the second round of the cup. "Frankfurt had a few chances. You need a good goalkeeper for that. And then he saves the decisive penalty," said Ricken, praising the Swiss national goalkeeper. "Special praise and a big compliment to him, but also to the whole team",
Kobel himself was eager to attack after the "great evening of football". "Berlin is the goal every year. It's a dream to win the trophy with a club like this," said the 27-year-old from Zurich.
"That was freestyle"
The goalie was the match-winner in the 4:2 penalty shoot-out after a 1:1 draw over 120 minutes with several brilliant saves and the decisive penalty saved by Fares Chaibi. However, Kobel had not prepared intensively. "I was half blind in the penalty shoot-out," he said with a grin. "There were only two videos of the Frankfurt shooters - Chaibi wasn't one of them." He already knew how one or the other would start, "but it was freestyle today," admitted Kobel.
Kobel passed on the compliments to his teammates after the duel between two Champions League contenders: "Our penalty takers did an extremely good job. It's not easy when there's pressure like that. A game like that is very emotional."
Victory can be the initial spark
Kobel is emblematic of the resurgent BVB, who have been consistently convincing of late after a mixed last season. Dortmund have only lost one competitive match this season - a 2-1 defeat at top-of-the-table Bayern Munich - and are currently presenting themselves as a cohesive unit. "I don't want to draw any comparisons with last year. But it feels great at the moment. We've built something up in terms of the atmosphere," said Kobel.
For Ricken, too, the success in Frankfurt is more than just progressing: "Games like this do something to the team. You develop a sense of unity." For Dortmund, whose last cup win was over four years ago, the victory should provide a tailwind for the rest of the season.
