Our 35-time men's football champions faced a tough task in their first match of 2025, as they took on the UEFA Europa League 2022 winners Eintracht Frankfurt of Germany in the 7th round of the main competition. It was Irish head coach Robbie Keane's first competitive match in charge of the team. Our coach started with Dibusz - Makreckis, Cissé, Gartenmann, Raul Gustavo - Maiga, Abu Fani - Ben Romdhane, Kady, Traoré - Varga B.

First half

Our team in dark coloured jerseys started the match. In the third minute, Ekitike lobbed towards our penalty area, but Makreckis made a great move to tackle the Frankfurt striker. 
In the sixth minute, Traoré moved to the left wing, but his cross was inaccurate to Barnabás Varga. In the eighth minute, Ekitike fired in from an acute angle, but Dibusz saved to a corner. Soon after, Knauff fired wide but Ben Romdhane blocked his shot. In the 15th minute, Traoré curled a dangerous cross into the middle, but Theate cleared the ball, so it did not reach Barnabas Varga.

Theate then shot from 18 metres out, but Dibusz easily deflected the effort. 
Shortly afterwards, Ekitike's shot tested our goalkeeper, who saved with great skill. In the 23rd minute, Traoré, who was very active on the left wing, shot but his effort missed the target. Tuta's shot was saved by Maiga, but the midfielder made a great save.

In the 33rd minute our team made a forced substitution: Dénes Dibusz was injured after a save and was replaced by Ádám Varga. Shortly afterwards Maiga needed treatment, but fortunately our midfielder was able to continue the game. In the 36th minute, Kristensen shot from a sharp angle, but Ádám Varga made a fine save. Two minutes later, Knauff shot, but again Ádám Varga confidently saved the effort. In the 42nd minute Uzun shot from 15 metres but missed the target. Skhiri's shot from 15 metres hit Maiga's head and our midfielder had to be nursed again. The referee added five minutes at the end of the half, but no goalscoring opportunity was created and the teams went into the break with a 0-0 scoreline.

Second half

Robbie Keane made a substitution at the break, with Civic coming on for Kady. In the 49th minute, Ekitike's shot was saved by Ádám Varga, who was then helpless as Uzun shot 22 metres into the net to give Frankfurt the lead (1-0). In the 57th minute, Kristensen's cross was saved by Ekitike, freeing our goal. In the 59th minute, Frankfurt scored their second goal: Ekitike tricked Gartenmann and shot into our goal (2-0). In the 64th minute, Robbie Keane substituted again: Saldanha came on for Traoré.

Saldanha then tried a shot on goal but missed the target. The home side and our team made a double substitution in the 75th minute, with Robbie Keane opting for Alex Tóth and Kristoffer Zachariassen, while Ben Romdhane and Abu Fani left the pitch. In the injury time, we did our best to close up, but failed to score and suffered a 2-0 defeat away to Eintracht Frankfurt.

Our men's football team will next face AZ Alkmaar in Budapest on Thursday, 30 January at 21.00 for a place in the next round. We will face them from 22nd place in the standings.