GUILTY in halftime

Emotional return at the football clash

Johannes Kain aka. GUILTY returns to "his" Dragons.(Bild: GEPA pictures/Josef Bollwein)

Derbies are always places of emotion. Green against purple. Also and even more so in American football! On Easter Sunday, the green Danube Dragons take on the purple AFC Vienna Vikings for the 26th Vienna derby in the Austrian Football League. Viennese singer-songwriter GUILTY, who has already achieved championship honors with the Dragons, will perform at halftime.

"I'm almost in tears. It feels like coming home," says Johannes Kain, GUILTY's real name, fondly recalling his time as a D-liner with the Danube Dragons, full of positive emotions. "We regularly breaded the Vikings there," he grins. When he returns to "his" Dragons, however, he will not be on the pitch as a footballer, but as an artist.

GUILTY performs at half-time of the football derby.(Bild: thomasunterberger.at)

He wore the Dragons jersey with pride for eight years, played his part in the first championship title in the club's history with a quarterback sack against Tirol in 2010, and not only played his way into the hearts of the fans with the number 99, but also into the national team: "I was there at the 2011 home World Cup and before that at the 2010 European Championships. We beat the reigning European champions Sweden 30:0 in the third place match, a crazy game!"

In 2017, a cruciate ligament rupture put a definitive end to the 40-year-old's football career. He once caused a sensation with the dialect rap group "Droogieboyz" and is now a solo artist. Sport still plays a major role too: "I learned so much from my time as a footballer that I've taken with me into my life. I'm so grateful for everything, I also met a lot of friends back then who I'm still in contact with today and where we talk about what the kids are doing, for example."

The football derby is always a real kicker.(Bild: Alexander Forst )

Kain himself is a father of two. "Kilian is five, that's when it all starts. Kiara is the U16 judo champion in her class in Vienna," he says proudly. "I see so much of myself in her when she fights."

"A meeting with friends"
The appearance at Donaufeldplatz for the Vienna football derby (Easter Sunday, kick-off 2 p.m.), where around 2,500 fans are expected, will be "a meeting with friends for Johannes. On both sides. Some from back then are still players, others coaches." And the artist GUILTY, the 2010 champion, will also be a footballer forever.