Rise to the Top - Würzburger Kickers face penalty drama failure
Würzburg Kickers' dreams of returning to the 3rd Football League were shattered in a nail-biting promotion final. In a tense penalty shootout, Kickers player Saliou Sané blew it twice, with goalkeeper Vincent Friedsam standing strong in the face of his two attempts. After an action-packed 120 minutes, Hannover led 3:2 on Sunday.
Over 25,000 fans at Hannover watched a gripping promotion showdown. Both teams were dancing on the edge of promotion during regular play and extra time, but Hannover looked like they were going to be crowned as promoters. However, the hosts displayed incredible comeback skills with three penalties that sent nerves skyrocketing.
Some familiar faces from the second league
Brooklyn Ezeh (22nd), Eric Uhlmann (85th), and Hayate Matsuda (105th) found the back of the net for the home side, before the final penalty shootout. From the Kickers, Sané (75th) and Ivan-Leon Franjic (112th) scored, with the latter converting from the penalty spot as the champions of the Regionaliga Bayern fought valiantly to get back into the third division, two years after being relegated.
The Würzburg Kickers were nothing if not resilient against a determined Hannover squad. A few familiar faces graced their roster from the previous season's second division at 96ers, including central defender Julian Börner, Right-back Ezeh, and midfielder Kolja Oudenne.
A penalty-packed thriller
As the clock ticked down to half-time, the Bayern team made their mark with a post shot. A penalty kick awarded after a foul by Tom Moustier on Maximilian Zaiser and the subsequent conversion brought the Champions of the Regionaliga Bayern right back into the heart of the game, which saw a flood of yellow cards. The drama continued in extra time, culminating in the ultimate nerve-racking sequence during the penalty shootout.
A first for Hannover's reserve team
With Hannover's second team reigning supreme in the Regionalliga Nord, they made history! For the first time since the start of the single-league third division in the 2008/2009 season, a youth team of an association played third-division football while their seniors were in the second division.
