Sebastian Rode stops
With blood, sweat and tears to the football god
By Thomas Badtke
May 17, 2024, 8:57 p.m
The Bundesliga season ends. Eintracht Frankfurt is fighting for sixth place and Europa League qualification. On the pitch: Sebastian Rode. It will be the last game of his professional career. Tears will flow.
Bundesliga football is emotion. The games in front of empty stands during the Corona period showed this impressively on the big stage. Nothing works without fans in the stands. You are the 12th man. They whip the players forward with their chants, drums and choreographies. That will also be the case this Saturday afternoon, in the former Waldstadion in Frankfurt. It will be loud, tears will flow. Because Sebastian “Seppl” Rode is ending his career as a professional footballer.
“I get goosebumps just thinking about it,” he told Kicker this week. There will be many friends and acquaintances in the stadium. “Many fans have already told me that they want to celebrate me, even if I only stand on the field for three minutes.” After his knee operation, a maximum of ten minutes is possible against Leipzig on Saturday (3:30 p.m./Sky). He feels “a lot of emotions. I can’t really believe that a line has been drawn now. I think of all the emotions in the dressing room, on the field and with the fans. I’ll miss that and I’m starting to miss it and too much in my head when I lie in bed at night.”
Rode is not just anyone. He is the long-time “Capitano” of Eintracht. He is a veteran. He is Hesse. He is an identification and figurehead in one person. He’s a guy. He opens his mouth. He fights for every inch of grass. However, he was only able to do that very rarely this season. Rode, who once moved from the Offenbacher Kickers to the Main metropolis, then went to FC Bayern, then to BVB, from where he returned to Eintracht in 2019, repeatedly had to struggle with minor injuries and major injuries throughout his career. He dropped out, fought his way back into the team, dropped out again. This cost the former German U21 international a potentially great career in the DFB team.
Fan favorite Rode
Eintracht also owes Rode’s susceptibility to injury that he played for them again at all, as he was unable to fully assert himself at both Bayern and BVB. The Hesse native emphasized that this had a “strong influence” on him: “I would have liked to have avoided one or two injuries, but you also learn a lot from it and appreciate your time on the pitch even more.”
The coaches were always convinced of his playing abilities. Under Bayern’s then coach Pep Guardiola he was placed in the defensive midfield. He praised his mentality, his eye. Rode is someone who can read a game. Oliver Glasner, with whom Eintracht won the Europa League in 2022, is also full of praise for Rode, “his captain”. With the fans in the stands, those who carry the Eagle in their hearts throughout their lives, Rode always had and still has a stone in their hearts. When Rode was on the pitch, when he played for the SGE, he always gave 100 percent, always got everything out of himself and his body. He fought and played. He even hit the booth every now and then. He appeared in competitive games for the Adler 275 times, scoring 15 goals and preparing 21 more.
Rode always led the way: In the Europa League final in Seville against Glasgow Rangers, he continued to play with a turban after a head injury. Eintracht won the trophy on penalties. The team was celebrated by hundreds of thousands in Frankfurt, especially “Capitano” Rode, who, however, did not push his way into the foreground. Rode is a humble person. The fans love him for that too. Eating a “golden steak”? That’s not Rode’s business. There are no big farewell words either.
Eintracht keeps the door open
Rode is now “retiring”. He has more than deserved it. He wants to travel with his family first. He recently left it open whether he would eventually take a job at Eintracht, perhaps as a youth coach: “I’m not putting any pressure on myself,” the 33-year-old told “Kicker”. “I’m pleased that the club wants to open this door to me. And of course I can well imagine working for Eintracht in the future.”
Rode will be working again today on the lawn in Deutsche Bank Park. On the last Bundesliga matchday of this season, “his” Eintracht will be aiming to at least secure a place in the Europa League. The opponent doesn’t play a role. As always, Rode will give his all. One last time. He got fit just in time, it will be like a gift for him. His eyes will light up, a permanent grin will grace his face as he straddle, pass, and move forward. Emotional leader. After the game is over, he is finally a “football god”. On the Frankfurt Olympus.