The group and cohesion are a great strength. Riffian Kuens achieved promotion to the national league as a collective. © M. Dorn (2)

Riffian back in the national league: “The players are still celebrating”

On Wednesday evening, SV Riffian Kuens secured the championship title in the 1st Amateur League (Group A). After the 3-2 away win in Nals, it is clear that the blue-whites will play in the national league again next season. The celebration marathon began immediately afterwards.

11 May 2023

From: cst

“As far as I know, the team is still on the move,” laughs Matthias Gruber when they tell him SportNews-Editorial reached on Thursday shortly before noon. The coach himself had to do it the day after decisive victory in Nals into work. “Of course I celebrated a little,” says Gruber and adds: “The big championship celebration will be on Saturday when we play at home.”

After just one season in the 1st amateur league, Riffian Kuens is back in the national league. It is the second promotion to the highest purely South Tyrolean league in the club's history. The last adventure lasted 2 years, with the canceled Corona 2/2020 season saving the club from relegation in the first year. Gruber himself took over the coaching position in Riffian in the summer after previously working in the background.

New signing Antonio Capobianco (center) was an important building block.

What was the key to getting promoted straight back? “The group,” says Gruber as if from a pistol: “The cohesion was the decisive point. The team always pushed each other.” After relegation last year, the club was able to keep almost all of its top performers. With goalkeeper Andreas Nischler (Partschins) and midfielder Antonio Capobianco (Obermais), two new supports were added. In addition, Lukas Spechtenhauser has been in top form all season long: the attacker has already scored 2 goals.

28 out of 30 points in the second half of the season so far

The club's official goal in the summer was to get into the top four of the first amateur league. Secretly, the team and coaching team expected more, as Gruber lets us know: “We have already said that we want to play at the front for as long as possible. Things are going really well in the second half of the season. 4 wins and a draw in 1 games, that’s really a great series.”

Now the celebrations are on the agenda in Riffian, but in the background they are planning for the coming national league season. “The club will do it. The coach and team have so far concentrated on the league. Schluderns didn't let up either. As long as it’s not mathematically fixed, I’m always cautious,” says Gruber. But now that everything is mathematically settled, the coach can sit back for a moment and enjoy the promotion. His team shows him how it's done.