Berlin, May 19: Eintracht Frankfurt fans waited long enough.
When Rafael Borré struck the decisive penalty for Frankfurt to win the Europa League with a 5-4 shootout win over Glasgow Rangers in Sevilla, Spain, late on Wednesday, thousands of fans who packed Frankfurt’s home stadium to watch in Germany flipped out.
Some 60,000 supporters in and around Frankfurt’s Waldstadion erupted in an ecstatic outburst of joy and relief, with fans screaming, jumping, pumping their fists in the air, hugging and roaring.
Some lit flares in the centre of the field, others flew giant Eintracht flags. Some even cried.
City streets filled with honking cars as strangers wearing Frankfurt scarves spilled out of pubs, embraced each other and celebrated together.
It was Frankfurt’s first European trophy since Fred Schaub scored the winner against Borussia Mönchengladbach to win the 1980 UEFA Cup, the predecessor to the Europa League.
Forty-two years
Frankfurt fans’ wait was cruelly extended through the drama of extra time and penalties after Oliver Glasner’s team failed to make more of several good early chances against Rangers.
So Borré’s goal – the Colombian forward’s second of the game after his second-half equalizer – set off a wild party.
Even the normally restrained Glasner, the quiet Austrian coach who led Frankfurt unbeaten through Europe’s secondary competition, joined the celebrations with his players at Sevilla’s Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán Stadium.
Glasner can look forward to getting the team ready for the European Super Cup against Real Madrid or Liverpool in Helsinki on August 10, and then for the Champions League, which Frankfurt reached by winning Wednesday’s final. (AP)
