Frankfurt's Ilicevic, 16 years and one day, equals Bundesliga youngest-player record

Eintracht Frankfurt's Niko Ilicevic equalled the Bundesliga record for the youngest player on Sunday, coming on in stoppage time of a 3-1 home win over Hamburg at 16 years and one day. The attacking midfielder turned 16 on Saturday and drew level with Youssoufa Moukoko, who was the same age when he debuted for Borussia Dortmund on 21 November 2020.

The debut

Frankfurt coach Adi Hütter had said before the game that Ilicevic, known at the club as "Gigi", would probably be in the squad and could come on. "If the situation allows me to bring him on, I will," Hütter said. It did. After an own goal by Hamburg's Warmed Omari (10th minute) and a Hamburg equaliser four minutes later, Frankfurt's Raphael Onyedika (47th) and striker Younes Ebnoutalib (69th) made it 3-1. Hütter then replaced midfielder Can Uzun with Ilicevic, and World Cup winner Mario Götze also came on. Seconds later Ilicevic had a chance to make it 4-1 but shot just wide, according to regional broadcaster hr. Afterwards he picked up the match ball and posed for selfies in the centre circle, Sport1 reported.

Who he is

German professional clubs may use players from their 16th birthday, a limit set in spring 2020; before that it was 17, hr notes. Ilicevic, born on 31 October 2010, has already played for Germany's U16 and U17 teams, Sport1 says. He debuted for Frankfurt's U17 at 13, played for the U19 at 14 and joined the professional squad at 15, according to hr, which describes him as a clear number ten with an eye for his team-mates. He is the nephew of former Bundesliga player Ivo Ilicevic, who played for Hamburg and Kaiserslautern among others.

What his team-mates said

Ebnoutalib said: "It's wild that he's so good at 16 and so mature mentally." Uzun, 20, called the debut "insane" and added: "I don't want to promise too much, but a lot more will come." Götze, speaking at a training camp when Ilicevic was still 15, said: "You mustn't forget his age. Where was I at 15?" Goalkeeper Noah Atubolu called Ilicevic "an unbelievably talented boy" but does not want to push him too much, "because he just needs time".

Frankfurt hit the brakes

The club wants to dampen the hype. Chief executive Axel Hellmann said that for now Frankfurt will not allow interviews or home stories, the dpa news agency reported, and added: "We do a 16-year-old no favours if we hype him too much." Hütter said the club had "made history" but now had to look after the boy, and called the cameo "breathtaking". Sport1 reports that Ilicevic will also play for the U21, because coming on for a few minutes with the professionals does not help him.

What the win did for the table

Sunday's win was Frankfurt's second 3-1 victory over Hamburg in the same week, after a cup tie at Hamburg on Tuesday. In our table Frankfurt climbed from 14th on eight points before matchday 8 to 8th on 11, while Hamburg, still on nine points, fell from 11th to 15th. "In the table you make a huge jump at once," Hütter said. In the league Frankfurt travel to promoted Paderborn next, per hr; Paderborn are 14th on nine points.