The rapper duo Celo and Abdi from Frankfurt are passionate about harmony. In an interview with ntv.de, the musicians do not want to know anything about the disintegration despite the departure of Adi Hütter and Fredi Bobic and are already planning a trip to PSG in Paris. In addition, Celo and Abdi reveal the role apple wine played in Rangnick’s failure and explain why the ball would no longer be round with the Super League.
Ntv.de: Eintracht Frankfurt is about to qualify for the Champions League for the first time after a strong season. What is going on in a fanatical Frankfurt fan?
Celo: I feel like a kid again. This feeling last came from the time with Okocha, Yeboah and Gaudino in the yellow Tetra Pack jersey. Those were our heroes back then.
Abdi: Feelings, Bro. At that time we were still elitist. And now again.
Celo: That was when we were young. Those were outstanding seasons back then. After that it went really downhill. Now we’re just as proud of what the team has achieved in the Bundesliga but also in Europe.
Almost relegated five years ago, barely rescued in relegation, then an almost meteoric rise, the 2018 Cup victory with Niko Kovac, then the Europa League semi-finals: you have been through a lot with the team in recent years.
Celo: As a Eintracht fan, you can never be too early to look forward to it, even now in the Champions League.
Abdi: We have that in our bones.
Celo: You always have to cheer for the last game day, regardless of whether it is about non-relegation, promotion, European business or whatever.
Abdi: Salad. This is the purest salad with us.
Despite the upcoming qualification for the premier class, there is a lot of rumbling at Eintracht: Sports director Fredi Bobic gone, sports director Bruno Huebner gone, coach Adi Hütter away. Are you afraid that everything will fall apart shortly before the big success?
Abdi: Why? Celo and Abdi are here! Fear is not a term that a Eintracht fan will use.
Celo: And besides, we still have Peter Fischer, our President. So we don’t need to be afraid. Greetings to Peter Fischer. If you have him on board, nothing can go wrong, not even the Titanic would go under.
Abdi: (sings) Don’t panic on the Titanic.
What was your first reaction when it became clear that the makers of this success were going to leave the field before the climax?
Celo: I was a bit disappointed. Bobic thought they could find a sports director. But that with Hütter was tough. I thought, ‘Where’s the logic? He is rebuilding a traditional club and is likely to qualify for the Champions League. ‘ But then he says: ‘Nah, I’m going to a club that will play in the Europa League at most next year.’ And Bobic may even be in the second division with Hertha BSC.
In Frankfurt, one of the traditional clubs Eintracht is born: Are traditional values such as trust, loyalty or honesty being called into question for the fans by the departures?
Celo: These values no longer count after a certain number of euros. This is the case in every business. It’s about who makes the highest commandments. This is how the system is built. Many associations have become companies, limited liability companies and AGs, that’s where the money machine rules. I don’t think it’s nice either, but that’s the rule.
Abdi: It’s like the face mask. Everyone has to wear it.
For a long time, Hütter made a pledge of loyalty towards unity, which he then felt sorry for …
Celo: It’s just business. Hütter has achieved results for us and they cannot be disputed with him. This football romance and daydreaming is all well and good. But at the end of the day, the euros count. You have to come to terms with that. You can also see that in the plans for the Super League, which luckily the whole world has been upset about. Real Madrid’s ignorant president Florentino Pérez even wanted to shorten the playing time. That doesn’t work, then the German phrase that a game has 90 minutes would no longer apply.
Abdi: Then the ball would no longer be round.
Celo: Frankfurt has now made this step into the top leagues. It goes back and forth, to put it in good German: deviated. Frankfurt will have to come to terms with this in the future.
It is now normal that players are sold for expensive sums of money before their contracts expire – but that coaches and sports directors are bought out of their working papers and have clauses is relatively new.
Celo: You don’t just need the best players and the players who sell the jerseys best, you also need the best coaches. But you have to see it this way: Frankfurt is now receiving a sum of seven and a half million euros for Hütter. Even for our childhood hero Yeboah, we didn’t get that much. And a caio was even more expensive. (laughs) Seven and a half million euros, that tastes good too. You can use it to get players and build gyms.
The power vacuum comes at the wrong time shortly before the end of the season, new staff have to be brought in as quickly as possible and actually a manager who is not there yet has to look for the new coach. How is it going on?
Celo: Ralf Rangnick was in conversation, but he would not have been the right one.
Why?
Celo: He doesn’t like to drink Äppler, I heard. He’s more the type who brings up a sub-class club with many millions. He is also said to have made demands to be able to sell more shares in order to have more budget. Eintracht doesn’t need that. It was the same for us, we turned young players like Jovic, Rebic and André Silva into stars.
Abdi: It’s like the Bundesliga manager game for us.
Celo: Exactly. Just like if Rangnick won the Champions League with Holstein Kiel and Sheikh Millions.
Abdi: But José Mourinho, he would be something for us, for example.
Celo: It also has flair. He would also ensure that André Silva stays.
Do the new coach and the sports director have to fit in with Frankfurt in terms of values?
Abdi: Yes, let’s look at Mourinho and his values. The guy has class. Even if he loses, he takes it with class.
Celo: Well, he also swears a lot on the square.
Abdi: Yes, exactly, but we Frankfurters like that too.
Celo: In terms of temperament, Mourinho would be great. Even if he were something completely different from Adi Hütter in this regard, who is a very calm one. You also need someone with connections and experience that he would have.
Abdi: José Mourinho, come to Eintracht Frankfurt, my brother. José Mourinho, come to harmony, brother!
Celo: He’s sure to drink Äppler because he likes wine. There are enough people of Brazilian and Portuguese origin here in Frankfurt who can translate. Mourinho would simply be good for the Bundesliga.
Should it work with the qualification: Which Champions League group do you want?
Celo: We have always had good experiences with Italian teams. Lazio Rome or AC Milan would be great.
Abdi: PSG would be awesome too.
Celo: Oh, hopefully we don’t get PSG. That would be tough! If so later, please. You have to get through the group stage first. Then I’d rather Leagia Warsaw so that we still have a chance.
Abdi, you used to be in the ultra scene: Would you go on a Champions League away trip?
Abdi: Definitely! Then I would bring something back from Louis Vuitton for my wife.
Celo: But Paris is expensive. You have to bring your own sandwiches from home. (laughs)
Abdi: (laughs) Exactly, nicely wrapped in aluminum foil and with Aldi drinking packs. But even at the age of 34, I would immediately say: ‘Whether by regional train or double-decker bus, I’m at the start.’ The main thing is to scream your soul out of your body.
The Eintracht Ultras are considered to be powerful and very inveterate.
Abdi: That was a very special and beautiful chapter in my life. The union, which is welded together, plays a major role. I was partially injured in my active ultra-time, had a leg in plaster, and hopped around on the fence with it. I was soon fraternally put in place for my carelessness. Bizarre accidents have happened again and again: torn fingers with rings on them, falling into the ditch and so on. I am still in constant contact with people.
How are the people, for whom the stadium visit was their life, now during the ghost games?
met in 2008 and soon started making music together. Her first mix tape rental car tape was named Tape of the Year by the rap magazine “Juice”. In 2012, the first album Hinterhofjargon landed at number eight in the German charts. Since childhood the rappers Fans of unity. Her current album Mietwagentape 2 was released in January.
Abdi: There are those who try to keep the whole thing alive as well as possible. Others are now in politics and are trying to change something there with their voice.
Celo: There were a lot of fans in front of the stadium at the Augsburg game on Tuesday, and you heard them right and the fireworks went off.
Abdi: The Ultras just try to be as close to the team as possible and show: ‘We’re here!’ You can always hear them in the streets before kick-off.
Celo: The curve lives in the streets. You can hear the screaming from every living room and children’s room.
Abdi: Not a block, but a high-rise.
To conclude: In your music you will always find word games and rhymes with footballers. Which rap line would go with this Eintracht season?
Abdi: ‘Champions League, group winner? We’ll see, yes. / Greetings, Hackentor from Benzema. ‘ Or the one here also works: ‘Karim Benzema would be a welcome star at Frankfurt.’ With José Mourinho, of course. (laughs)
David spoke to Celo and Abdi in need
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