bundesliga

Eintracht Frankfurt back home following tour of USA and Mexico

03.08.2024

Eintracht Frankfurt have arrived back home after spending the last leg of their Americas tour in New York, following trips to Louisville and Ciudad Juárez in Mexico.

Having arrived in Louisville, Kentucky, on 22 July, The Eagles spent close to two weeks in North America, holding a training camp over the following week at the Lynn Family Sports Vision & Training Center.

Two players in the Frankfurt fold with American roots that took part are club legend Timothy Chandler and Nathaniel Brown. USA international Paxten Aaronson remains on Eintracht's books but will spend the 2024/25 season on loan at Dutch club Utrecht.

Dino Toppmöller took his side to contest a friendly over the Mexican border at FC Juárez on 25 July, winning a tight encounter 2-1 thanks to goals from Farès Chaibi and Ansgar Knauff.

The Eagles made it two wins out of two in pre-season with a clinicial display against Louisville City, resulting in a 4-0 win, goals from Hugo Ekitike, Igor Matanović and Ellyes Skhiri gave Toppmöller plenty of joy in front of the 10,000 fans who were in attendance.

The club spent the remainder of their tour in New York.

Frankfurt opened a club office in New York City in 2020 - at the location of their main sponsor Indeed's headquarters - as part of their globalisation strategy.

This summer was not the first time Frankfurt have visited the US, with several tours going back to 1951, when the club embarked on a 25-day tour to raise money to renovate a stand at their then Riederwald stadium.

Recap the best of Eintracht’s trip to the US:

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Watch: Frankfurt round out USA tour with New York Giants meeting

The excitement is building

As the season start edges closer, the Frankfurt coach spoke on the team's eagerness to get going: "You can feel the euphoria, we have a very, very good energy in the group. The guys are all up for it and pulling together well. In the end, it's all about maintaining this level. We're looking forward to the new season just as much as our fans!"

The next step

Talking about the team's training and how it will develop from now on, Toppmöller continued: "It was all about intensity, that was important to us. We had a lot of high-volume sessions. We covered all phases of the game. Basically, it was about the boys pushing themselves to their limits...We will be working more on defensive behavior. We have had fewer sessions in this area so far because Aurèle Amenda, Robin Koch and Willian Pacho joined team training later. We will focus on box defense, but we also want to improve our collective approach behavior."

Dino's view

Following the conclusion of the team's tour, coach Dino Toppmöller was grateful for the experience both on and off the pitch, telling the club's official website: "As I have said many times, the boys have worked really well. We had good training sessions and good test matches with decent results. New York was the crowning glory with a great training session on Thursday and appointments on Friday such as the visit to the Giants."

Back at home

A resounding victory over Louisville concluded the team's fixtures in the US and they now return home, where they face FSV Frankfurt on Wednesday, August 7th.

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Watch: Frankfurt take in the sights in NYC!

Next up: New York!

Frankfurt have now landed in New York for the next leg of their US tour and have been meeting plenty of sponsors in the Big Apple. There will also be an open training session in front of their American fans at the Icahn Stadium in Manhattan.

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Watch: Louisville City 0-4 Eintracht Frankfurt Highlights

Eagles clinical in Kentucky

Goals from Hugo Ekitike, Ellyes Skhiri and a second half brace from Igor Matanovic gave Dino Toppmöller much to smile about as the Eagles departed the Kentucky leg of their US tour with an emphatic victory.

Eagles gearing up

Robin Koch and Willian Pacho have joined Eintracht's summer tour in recent days, with Dino Toppmöller saying he hopes they can both play one half each against Lou City. Some 10,000 spectators are expected to attend the clash.

Meet the Colts

While Frankfurts players have been meeting fans, the suits higher up went over to visit NFL side Indianapolis Colts. Board member for sport Markus Krösche headed up the delegation, with the club saying the visit was "an intensive, enlightening exchange encompassing sport, tradition, infrastructure and marketing strategies." We did say they'd been busy...

Meet the fans

Frankfurt have been busy the last few days and took some time out of their preparations to meet fans in the USA. Eagles fans came out to Louisville to show the players some love and had the chance to chat with their heroes.

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Watch: The Eagles training in Kentucky

So far so good

Head coach Dino Toppmöller has been happy with what he's seen from his side so far this pre-season, as he told the club website - “The way the boys have pulled along so far is extremely good...That makes it really enjoyable. The conditions are first-class. It’s all going well so far.” There are still things that he would like to work on before the season starts, however - “We need to improve our distances in defence a bit more, but I’m really pleased with our attacking play until we get into the final third."

One last stop

Before Frankfurt end their US tour they'll face Louisville City FC, before heading back home to face local side FSV Frankfurt of the Regionalliga Südwest.

What Kristensen brings

“I’m a Dane and always give my all – that’s one thing I can always guarantee 100 percent. I want to help where I can with my personality, experience and style of play. That’s essentially the most important thing for me: that everyone does what they can do best.”

What Kristensen knows about SGE

“I watched a lot of Eintracht games, especially because of Jesper Lindström, who’s a friend of mine. I also heard a lot of good things from Evan Ndicka, who I played with at Roma. I know Robin Koch from Leeds, we spoke beforehand. So, I already had a concrete image of the club before.”

New signing Rasmus Kristensen on first impressions

“Very good. Great group, cool guys. I’ve been very well received and am really pleased to be at such a big club. We have a lot of quality and I think we’re in for a good season.”

Koch on being the last Eagle to arrive on tour

"It's always important to recover a bit. I was happy to be back with the team. I'm looking forward to seeing the guys. I'm still a bit tired and have jet lag. But tomorrow I'll sleep better. We have great conditions here!"

Hardung on the US tour

“America is an important sports market, and growing football market, particularly with the 2026 World Cup coming up. We’ve never been to Louisville before – they really love football in this city. We’re looking forward to our preparations here and the friendlies. Mexico is [also] a football-mad country. FC Juárez are top-class opponents and Louisville FC have an up-and-coming team.”

Eintracht sporting director Timmo Hardung on Louisville

“The first impressions are very good. We were given a very warm welcome. The fact that we were welcomed by the mayor shows how important this is. We’re training at a high level and the conditions are exceptionally good. The facilities made available to us in Louisville are second to none. The pitches are excellent too. The work can begin.”

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Watch: The best of Eintracht Frankfurt's US/Mexico tour so far

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Watch: FC Juárez 1-2 Eintracht Frankfurt - highlights

Eagles pass tough Juárez test

And so Trapp's words proved to be true. FC Juárez put on a brave display in front of 6,800 spectators at the Juárez Stadium, however, ultimately fell to a 2-1 loss to the Eagles, thanks to goals from Farès Chaïbi and Ansgar Knauff. It was Chaïbi who opened the scoring from the penalty spot around the 45th minute mark and Chaïbi responded immediately after with an equaliser from Cesar Lopez. Knauff delivered the match-winner late in the game which was enough for Dino Toppmöller's charges.

Kevin Trapp's pre-match words

"I’m expecting it to be a tough match. I know the Mexican national team and they always play in a very intense but fair way. The match is important for us to see how far we’ve come at this precise moment. The people here enjoy their football and we’ll be looking to make sure they don’t come away disappointed.”

Stepping up to the plate

Dino Toppmöller trained his charges at an El Paso baseball stadium in the morning to prepare for the match.

Mexican heat

Temperatures of 36 degrees Celsius are expected in El Paso at 7:30 pm local time, when Frankfurt's friendly tie kicks off.

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Watch: Eintracht train in Louisville

Before heading to Mexico, Frankfurt were put through their paces in the US.

Frankfurt arrive in Mexico

The Eagles have now crossed the border into Mexico, where they play FC Juárez overnight (kick-off: 3.30am CEST). They've been given another of the local traditional welcomes which have popped up whenever a Bundesliga side has touched down on foreign soil this summer. We'll leave it up to you to decide which has been the best...

Larsson looking to make new fans

There is clearly also a great deal of excitement in the Frankfurt ranks too, with Hugo Larsson saying of the trip to America: “We’ll be working at the highest level. We’re all really looking forward to the USA trip – it’s not something that you get the chance to do all that often. We’ll be able to meet our fans in the United States and hopefully win over a few new ones.”

A warm Louisville welcome

The red carpet's been rolled out since Frankfurt touched down in Louisville. The squad was met by the mayor, Craig Greenburg, and also Louisville City FC who they play on 30 July. There's clearly a great deal of local excitement about the Eagles' visit.

Kevin Trapp on America

"I'm really looking forward to it! A long trip with the team always helps us to get closer together. I like America, it's a great country, it's very big, I always get a lot of impressions there. At the end we'll be in New York again, which for me is one of the most beautiful cities ever. But it's also about using these days to prepare ourselves further and grow as a team."

Frankfurt announce 28 man squad

SGE have revealed there will be only one absentee for the trip stateside, with Jean-Mattéo Bahoya playing for France at the U19 Euros. That means fans will get a glimpse of new signings Oscar Höjlund, Rasmus Kristensen and Can Uzun.

What a start!

That's now 23 goals scored and 0 conceded in just two pre-season matches for Frankfurt.

New arrivals

In the friendly win over Alsbach, Frankfurt fans got a look at new signings Can Uzun and Krisztián Lisztes. The pair have also been joined by Oscar Højlund from Copenhagen, while Rasmus Kristensen has arrived on loan from Leeds.

Perfect warm-up!

SGE could have hardly had a bigger confidence boost ahead of their US tour, winning their friendly against Alsbach before heading stateside 11-0.

Two friendlies

Eintracht will be based in Louisville from 22 July to 3 August and will also play a friendly against local USL Championship side Louisville City FC at Lynn Family Stadium on 30 July (kick-off: 8pm local time). Before that game, Dino Toppmöller's UEFA Europa League qualifiers will make a quick trip to Mexico to face FC Juárez on 25 July (7.30pm local time).

Welcome!

Eintracht Frankfurt will be in Louisville, Kentucky for part of their pre-season as they prepare for the 2024/25 campaign. You can follow all the latest updates from the Eagles' Stateside adventures here.