03/22/26 03:07:00
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03/22 15:05 CDT World Cup hero Gtze omitted as Frankfurt loses Bundesliga
derby 2-1 in Mainz
World Cup hero Gtze omitted as Frankfurt loses Bundesliga derby 2-1 in Mainz
By CIARAN FAHEY
AP Sports Writer
BERLIN (AP) --- Eintracht Frankfurt dropped World Cup hero Mario Gtze and lost
2-1 at local rival Mainz in their Bundesliga derby on Sunday.
Paul Nebel scored both goals for Mainz, grabbing the winner in the 89th minute
to set off wild celebrations and deal Frankfurt its second defeat under new
coach Albert Riera.
Nebel opened the scoring in the sixth minute before Nathaniel Brown responded
for Frankfurt in the 20th, then Nebel fired home the rebound after Frankfurt
'keeper Michael Zetterer saved Nelson Weiper's header.
Gtze's omission prompted questions for Riera before kickoff, when the Spanish
coach asked which of his players should make way for the former Germany star to
be in his squad after Arthur Theate, Can Uzun, Younes Ebnoutalib and Ansgar
Knauff all recovered from injuries.
"Name me one player," Riera challenged his pre-game interviewer on broadcaster
DAZN. "If I could take 21 players, he'd be included," he said. "Mario also had
some physical problems during the week and wasn't always at 100%. And I had to
make a decision about who the best players for the bench are."
Gtze, who scored Germany's World Cup-winning goal in 2014, has featured
sparingly for Frankfurt this season, making 18 league appearances over 27
rounds and completing only one full Bundesliga game. He didn't appear at all in
Frankfurt's last two games and seems to have lost some standing under Riera
compared to the previous coach, Dino Toppmller, who was fired in January.
Mainz's win lifted it six points above St. Pauli in the relegation zone.
Familiar face thwarts St. Pauli
Igor Matanovic returned to St. Pauli and scored twice for Freiburg to win 2-1
and leave his hometown club stuck in the relegation playoff spot.
Danel Sinani opened the scoring but St. Pauli was unable to add any more, and
Matanovic equalized in the 65th before tucking home a rebound for the winner in
the 78th. The Croatia forward refused to celebrate out of respect for his
former club.
"I was able to play here for 13 years. I was here as a small kid, I was in the
stands, then a ball boy. I really enjoyed being able to play here today,"
Matanovic said. "When I came out on the field before everything started, the
fans gave me a really warm reception and I appreciate that so much. Yeah, but
today I have the Freiburg crest on my chest and I have to give everything for
the club and that's what I did today."
St. Pauli players wore jerseys in support of "Kein Bock auf Nazis," an
antifascist group fighting intolerance and right wing ideologies. The slogan
loosely means "couldn't be bothered with Nazis."
St. Pauli's gesture came as the league displayed the slogan " Together! Stop
Hate. Be a Team " across all games as part of an anti-discrimination campaign.
Stuttgart later had the chance to move third at Augsburg.
Also Sunday, Cologne fired Lukas Kwasniok as coach after a seven-game winless
run, and Borussia Dortmund parted with sporting director Sebastian Kehl after
they reached what the club called an "amicable" decision.
Bayern Munich leads the Bundesliga by nine points and is closing in on its 13th
German championship in 14 years.
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