Ruthless Stuttgart beats Arminia Bielefeld 4-2 in German Cup final

BERLIN (AP) — Four mistakes, four goals.

Stuttgart ruthlessly capitalized on errors in Arminia Bielefeld’s defense to win the German Cup with a 4-2 victory in the final on Saturday.

Enzo Millot scored twice and Germany forwards Nick Woltemade and Deniz Undav got the others as Stuttgart claimed its fourth German Cup win and the first since 1997.

“We've written history today. The guys can be proud of what they delivered,” Stuttgart chairman Alexander Wehrle said. “There's no way we're going to bed tonight.”

Bielefeld, the third-division champion, was playing in the final for the first time as only the fourth representative from that division to ever reach German soccer’s end-of-season showpiece.

But there was no fairytale ending for the team’s American captain, Mael Corboz, after he helped it knock out defending champion Bayer Leverkusen in the semifinals and a host of Bundesliga clubs en route to the final.

Substitute Julian Kania scored a late consolation and Stuttgart's Josha Vagnoman conceded an own goal a minute after that to get the Bielefeld fans singing again before the end.

Both sets of supporters displayed huge choreographies before the match in front of 74,000 spectators at Berlin’s Olympiastadion, where they repeatedly ignored appeals to stop setting off pyrotechnics.

The Stuttgart players and coach Sebastian Hoeneß ran to their supporters after the final whistle to be feted with more flares and fireworks in front of masked ultras. A long line of police and stewards stood just behind the players, keeping a careful watch.

The cup win comes after Hoeneß led Stuttgart to second place in the Bundesliga last season. This season was complicated by Champions League participation. The team lost a club-record six home Bundesliga games in a row, but finished the season strongly with three straight wins.

“We always had the feeling that we were on the right path, even if the results didn't always go our way or weren't understandable,” Hoeneß said in the post-game press conference. “That's why it was important for us to stay cool and believe in ourselves, because we can really play well when we stay together. And then the results came, which helped.”

The coach was cut off from saying any more by his players bursting into the room and dousing him with beer. Hoeneß grabbed the trophy and went off to celebrate with them.

Hoeneß' cup-winning predecessor was Joachim Löw, who led Stuttgart to the 1997 title in his first job in senior management. Löw later achieved fame as Germany coach with the highlight a World Cup win in 2014.

Stuttgart was given a boost before the final when Germany midfielder Angelo Stiller returned after two weeks out with an ankle injury.

Stiller set up two goals as Stuttgart raced into a 3-0 lead inside the first half hour. All three goals came with Stuttgart pouncing on mistakes, with Stiller sending Woltemade on his way for the opener. The fourth also came after a mistake with Millot sealing the result with his second goal in the 66th.

Bielefeld’s supporters consoled themselves by lighting flares, while their counterparts used the pyrotechnics to celebrate.

Bielefeld next plays the Westphalia Cup final against fourth-tier side Sportfreunde Lotte on Thursday. The match was rescheduled because of the team’s participation in the national cup final.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Stuttgart's head coach Sebastian Hoeness raises the trophy after his team won the German soccer cup, DFB Pokal, final match between Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

VfB Stuttgart players celebrate after winning the trophy in the German soccer cup, DFB Pokal, final match between Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Stuttgart's Atakan Karazor celebrates after winning the trophy in the German soccer cup, DFB Pokal, final match between Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

VfB Stuttgart players celebrate after winning the trophy in the German soccer cup, DFB Pokal, final match between Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Stuttgart's head coach Sebastian Hoeness, right, and Stuttgart's Maximilian Mittelstaedt celebrate after winning the trophy in the German soccer cup, DFB Pokal, final match between Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

VfB Stuttgart supporters burn flares and wave flags during the German soccer cup, DFB Pokal, final match between Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Stuttgart's Maximilian Mittelstaedt reacts during the German soccer cup, DFB Pokal, final match between Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

VfB Stuttgart players celebrate after Stuttgart's Deniz Undav, centre, scored his side's third goal during the German soccer cup, DFB Pokal, final match between Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

VfB Stuttgart players celebrate after Stuttgart's Deniz Undav, centre, scored his side's third goal during the German soccer cup, DFB Pokal, final match between Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Stuttgart's Jeff Chabot heads the ball during the German soccer cup, DFB Pokal, final match between Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A United States refugee processing center in Johannesburg was raided by immigration authorities, South Africa's Home Affairs Ministry said Wednesday while denying any U.S. officials were arrested or applicants harassed.

Seven Kenyan nationals were arrested during the operation on Tuesday while working illegally at the center which processes applications by white South Africans who have been given priority for refugee status in the U.S. by the Trump administration after claims they are being persecuted by the Black-led government.

That claim over the treatment of members of South Africa's Afrikaner white minority group has been widely rejected but has been central to the deterioration of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Africa's most advanced economy since President Donald Trump returned to office.

The Home Affairs Ministry said the detained Kenyans were working at the site while in the country on tourist visas which did not allow them to work, and U.S. officials working with the “undocumented workers” at the center “raises serious questions about intent and diplomatic protocol.”

It said no U.S. officials were arrested in the raid and it was not a diplomatic site.

South Africa's Foreign Ministry has started “formal diplomatic engagements with both the United States and Kenya to resolve this matter,” the Home Affairs Ministry said.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott told CNN that the U.S. was still gathering information on the raid but “interfering in our refugee operations is unacceptable.” The U.S. government is “seeking immediate clarification from the South African government” and it expects “full cooperation and accountability,” Pigott said.

The U.S. Embassy in South Africa didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

The raid, which involved immigration and law enforcement officers, is bound to increase tensions between the two countries.

Trump has singled out South Africa for criticism for months on a range of issues, claiming that Afrikaners are being killed and having their land seized, and that South Africa is pursuing anti-white policies at home and an anti-American foreign policy abroad through its diplomatic relations with Palestinian authorities and Iran.

The U.S. boycotted last month's Group of 20 world leaders summit in South Africa and Trump said it will exclude South Africa from the group when it hosts the annual summit in Florida next year. Trump also issued an executive order in February that said the U.S. would stop aid and assistance to South Africa over what it called its “egregious actions.”

South Africa's government said the U.S. claims over the persecution of Afrikaners are based on misinformation and white South Africans don't meet the criteria for refugee status because there is no persecution, although it wouldn't stop anyone applying. Afrikaners are white South Africans descended from mainly Dutch and French colonial settlers who first came to the country in the 17th century.

The Trump administration announced in October it was dramatically cutting the annual quota for refugees allowed in the U.S. to 7,500 from a previous limit of 125,000 and white South Africans would be given most of the places. A first group of white South African refugees had already arrived in the U.S. under the new program for them in May. It's not clear how many have been relocated since then.

The South African Home Affairs Ministry didn't say who the Kenyans arrested at the refugee processing site worked for, but the U.S. government has contracted a Kenya-based company, RSC Africa, to process refugee applications by white South Africans, according to a statement last month by the U.S. Embassy in South Africa.

RSC Africa is operated by Church World Service, a U.S.-based nongovernment organization that offers humanitarian aid and refugee assistance across the world and works with the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.

The statement by South Africa's Home Affairs Ministry said Kenyan nationals had previously been denied visas to travel to South Africa to work on the U.S. refugee program and the raid “showcases the commitment that South Africa shares with the United States to combating illegal immigration and visa abuse in all its forms.”

The seven Kenyan nationals were given deportation orders and banned from entering South Africa for a five-year period, South African authorities said.

Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

FILE - Refugees from South Africa arrive, Monday, May 12, 2025, at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

FILE - Refugees from South Africa, arrive Monday, May 12, 2025, at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)