Noel Futkeu, who was born in Essen, made an inglorious debut in the DFB Cup round of 16 between Eintracht Frankfurt and 1. FC Saarbrücken. The penalty has been handed down.
On his 21st birthday, Noel Futkeu made his competitive professional debut for Eintracht Frankfurt. But the offensive player didn’t feel like celebrating after the game at 1. FC Saarbrücken. And it wasn’t just because Eintracht were knocked out of the DFB Cup by the 16th-finalists.
With Frankfurt trailing 1-0, Futkeu came on for Mario Götze in the 77th minute. Just six minutes later, the day of Futkeu’s professional debut was over. Or rather, the birthday boy ended it himself.
What happened? Far from the action, he kicked Saarbrücken’s Marcel Gaus from behind on his 21st birthday and was sent off as a result. Frankfurt’s sports director Markus Krösche said on Sky after the game: “The assault should not have happened. He has to learn that too.”
Now the official sentence for Futkeu has also been handed down. “The Sports Court of the German Football Association (DFB) has imposed a suspension of three DFB Cup matches on Futkeu in a single-judge proceeding after indictment by the DFB Control Committee for assaulting an opponent after an unsporting act previously committed against him. In addition, the player is also banned from all other cup matches involving his club until the suspension has expired,” according to the official DFB statement.
Futkeu and Eintracht have agreed to the verdict, which is therefore legally binding.
Futkeu transferred to the U23 team of Eintracht Frankfurt last summer after scoring 30 goals in 32 games for the Oberliga team ETB Schwarz-Weiß Essen. He signed a three-year contract in Frankfurt. And Eintracht has high hopes for the former Rot-Weiss-Essen talent.
He showed what he is capable of in 16 appearances for the Bundesliga club’s regional league team. In those 16 games, he scored twelve goals. Futkeu missed another five matches due to a thigh injury. In the future, he will miss three DFB Cup games due to his sending-off.