Ilicevic makes history: “More than anyone could have expected”

The young professional made his debut for Eintracht Frankfurt at the age of 16 years and one day, setting a Bundesliga record.

Niko Ilicevic quickly got hold of the match ball, pulled out his mobile phone and posed in the centre circle with the precious memento for selfies. He then let the Eintracht Frankfurt fans celebrate him amongst his team-mates. As the youngest player in the Bundesliga, Ilicevic had already made history – and made an immediate impression during his brief debut on Sunday evening in the 3–1 (1–1) victory over Hamburger SV.

The two-goal lead had created “the situation I’d hoped for”, said SGE manager Adi Hütter after the match. He brought Ilicevic on in the third minute of stoppage time: “I think he showed far more in those six or seven minutes than anyone could have expected,” Hütter praised.

On Saturday, the young talent had celebrated his 16th birthday; a day later, he drew level with Youssoufa Moukoko. The former Dortmund player had also been 16 years and one day old when he made his Bundesliga debut for BVB in 2020 and had held the sole record as the youngest professional in Germany’s top flight ever since.

Following this historic moment, however, Eintracht are now keen to keep the hype surrounding Ilicevic in check. “He’s an incredibly talented lad,” said goalkeeper Noah Atubolu, but added: “I don’t want to push him too hard either. Because he simply needs time.”

Hütter saw it exactly the same way. “We’ll take it easy with him,” emphasised the Austrian. Ilicevic will also play for the Under-21s in future; it wouldn’t help him if he “only ever came on for a few minutes” with the first team. Chairman Axel Hellmann also highlighted the club’s special responsibility: “I tend to keep things in perspective,” said the 55-year-old, “we’re not doing a 16-year-old any favours by hyping him up too much.”