SV Holstein Kiel: Things to know about the minnows who beat Bayern Munich

No, Holstein Kiel isn't that dodgy beer your dad brings home from off licence every Friday.

While it's easy to mistake them - like most niche German sides - for a lager, it's time to put some respect on their name. SV Holstein Kiel are the 2. Bundesliga side responsible for taking Bayern Munich to penalties and knocking them out of the DFB Pokal following a 2-2 draw.

Kiel came from behind twice and took the tie to extra time with a goal from Hauke Wahl in the final moments of injury time, which was enough to take the game to penalties and see the underdogs cause an upset, winning 6-5.

The defeat means Bayern have now lost more games in 2021 than they did throughout the entirety of 2020, but enough about them. Here's everything you need to know about everyone's new favourite lag-- no, giant-killing, ultimate babyface German football side, headed for the DFB Pokal round of 16.

1. They've previously made the DFB Pokal quarter final

Don't feel bad, Bayern fans. Cup upsets happen and Holstein Kiel have actually gone beyond the second round before.

In the 2011/12 season, they went all the way to the quarter final as a fourth tier outfit and were only halted by eventual winners Borussia Dortmund in a 4-0 thrashing.

2. They were reformed several times in the 1900s

As seems to be the precedent with most German clubs, Holstein Kiel went through several iterations before settling on the club they are today.

Forming initially in 1900 out of a merger between two sides, Kieler Fußball-Verein and 1. KFV, they struggled and eventually chose to focus on track and field athletics rather than football.

1. KFV were weakened after the First World War, as were fellow side Sportverein Holstein. The two clubs agreed to merge to become the present day SV Holstein Kiel, taking on the foundation date of 1. KFV, but the identity of Sportverein Holstein.

Hey, we never said German football history was easy.

3. They are one-time German football champions

In the midst of all that chopping and changing as football clubs merged for fun in the early 20th century, Holstein Kiel claimed their only major German championship to date.

They won the 1912 season in a time before the traditional league table format and much of the regulations we have today, beating Karlsruher FV in a 1-0 victory in Hamburg.

4. Partnership in America

SV Holstein Kiel announced in 2019 they had formed a partnership with the San Francisco Glens, who play in the USL League Two.

While playing in the fourth tier of North American football system hardly sets the world alight, there's something to be said about the way German sides are plucking out upcoming American talents for fun at the moment.

It's by no means a bad partnership to hold heading into the future and there's bound to be at least one gem that will come from there soon enough.

5. Responsible for Germany winning Euro 96...sort of

When an impeccable German national team quashed England's dreams and stopped football from coming home in 1996, goalkeeper Andreas Kopke was the man in the sticks who saved Gareth Southgate's penalty and sent Die Mannschaft to a final they eventually won.

Kopke started his career with none other than Holstein Kiel as a youth player and made his senior debut for the club in 1979, before leaving in 1983.

If it wasn't for Holstein Kiel, maybe, just maybe, football would've come home.

6. From lower league regulars to a Bundesliga debut - almost

The 2020/21 campaign is Holstein Kiel's fourth consecutive season in the German second tier, but that doesn't tell the whole story.

After achieving promotion to the 2. Bundesliga, the 2017/18 campaign marked their return to the second tier of German football following a 36-year absence.

They returned in style, too, finishing in a surprisingly high third place and missing out on promotion to the top flight in a play-off defeat to Wolfsburg.