State cups always offer lower-division teams an attractive opportunity to qualify for the DFB Cup. Some associations are already quite far along.

Phew, that was a close call for SV Sandhausen. In the Baden State Cup, the third division team had to face Regionalliga Südwest representative Astoria Walldorf – an unpleasant draw.

It quickly became apparent that this was not just on paper. Only a few kilometers separate the two clubs on the map, and there was not much difference on the pitch either. Sebastian Stolze made the first notable contribution when he scored the favorite’s opening goal in the 76th minute.

But Walldorf did not give up, on the contrary. Jonas Arcalean took responsibility in the 85th minute, stepped up to the penalty spot and equalized from there. Just when it looked like the game was heading for extra time, Emmanuel Iwe came to the rescue.

The American only joined Sandhausen in the summer and saved the favorites in the second minute of stoppage time. Thanks to the 2-1 victory, SV Sandhausen can now call itself a cup semifinalist in mid-October.

All quarter-finals have already been played in the Baden State Cup. Turkish club SV Pforzheim (1-0 against DJK-FC Ziegelhausen/Peterstal) and 1. FC Bruchsal (3-0 against SpVgg Durlach-Aue) also advanced. The fourth team in the group is VfR Gommersdorf, a regional league club. They were responsible for the biggest surprise of the round.

At the beginning of September, Gommersdorf knocked third division team Waldhof Mannheim out of the cup. SV Waldhof Mannheim was the better team against the regional league team from the start, but failed to capitalize on its chances. VfR Gommersdorf, on the other hand, took a surprise lead after just under an hour when Jan Reuther scored with a fantastic shot into the corner.

The Mannheim team had several promising opportunities in the following minutes, but without success. Kelvin Arase put the ball in the net in stoppage time, but the goal was disallowed due to an offside situation.

These teams have already qualified for the state cup semifinals

Baden: VfR Gommersdorf (Landesliga), Türkischer SV Pforzheim (Verbandsliga), 1. FC Bruchsal (Verbandsliga), SV Sandhausen (3. Liga)

Bavaria: FC Eintracht Bamberg (Regionalliga Bayern), FC Ingolstadt (3. Liga)

Lower Saxony – Professionals: Kickers Emden (Regionalliga Nord), VfL Osnabrück (3rd division), Blau-Weiß Lohne (Regionalliga Nord), SSV Jeddeloh II (Regionalliga Nord)

Lower Saxony amateurs: HSC Hannover (Oberliga), VfV 06 Hildesheim (Oberliga), TuS Bersebrück (Oberliga), Atlas Delmenhorst (Oberliga)