Eintracht Frankfurt laud keeper Kaua Santos for preserving 1-1 draw against Tottenham | OneFootball

Bundesliga Europa League representatives Eintracht Frankfurt took a 1-1 draw from their trip to White Hart Lane in last night’s opening quarter final leg against Tottenham Hotspur. Speaking with German broadcaster RTL after the match, SGE head coach Dino Toppmöller conveyed his satisfaction with the result.

“We knew what we were up against here,” Toppmöller remarked in his post match interview. “We knew that they’ve scored the second most goals in the Premier League. We knew that they had top quality up front.

“We defended very well in the first half, though we didn’t defend the half-space well on the [26th minute 1-1],” Toppmöller continued. “We struggled [against their attack through the opening quarter of the second half, ultimately surviving the phase and getting some counters together.

“It’s good that we scored the opening goal [in the 6th minute] early and settled into a rhythm,” Toppmöller said after reviewing some of the tape with the RTL team. “Though it did irk me that we took too long passing out of the back in the first half.“

When it came time to review Tottenham’s two strikes of the crossbar and two excellent saves from surging young Eintracht keeper Kaua Santos later on, RTL commentators Lothar Matthäus and Tabea Kemme took extra time to praise the form of the 22-year-old Brazilian.

“Kaua went through his ‘baptism by fire’ in [the second 2024/25 Europa League group phase match] in Istanbul,” Toppmöller said when it was his turn. “He had already played against Viktoria Pilsen [in the opening group phase match], but Istanbul was the game that gave him confidence.

“When one delivers a magnificent performance like he did [in Istanbul], then you know that you have it in you,” Toppmöller continued. “He’s now had a chance to settle into the flow [after several league starts] and was ready for this big game here.

“Just like everyone else, he’s growing in concert with our [professional] challenges,” Toppmöller concluded. “The lads have faith in every keeper [including #3 Jens Grahl and #1 Kevin Trapp], because they work with them every day in training.”

GGFN | Peter Weis