I replaced Billy Arce with Madyan Sounni because Billy hasn't been very good lately. I hoped he'd be a spark off the bench if we needed it.
And Billy was promptly on the pitch when Rene Klingenburg hurt himself in the 8th minute.
Twenty minutes later and Billy was out on the right wing when Sounni hurt himself. I sent on Alf Alten to play alongside Ritter. Lets see how the kid does over sixty minutes.
The only real action of the first half was Avdo Spehic making a save in the 39th minute. But honestly, the shot was right at him.
"Just relax," I said once everyone was in Die Kabine. "Its a big occasion, but you're all too nervous. Just move the ball quickly. Get it to Ritter, get it to Billy. Hit an occasional long ball into the corner for Omar to chase. But mainly, f***ing relax."
We started playing better from the kickoff.
Hüsing hit the post in the 48th minute from a Ritter corner right in front of the Westkurv.
The crowd was still groaning as Ritter rifled a pass at Billy who had been lurking at the top of the box. He hit is hard about shin high. It hopped once and Billy volleyed it goalward.
The net bulged!
1-0
The Westkurv went apes***! They lit flares, smoke bombs. and it was so bad that the ref paused the game.
Once the match finally restarted, our opponents tried to build from the back. However, we sit back and start getting aggressive as they tried to approach the halfline.
In the 58th, Ritter nipped in and intercepted a underhit pass. He lobbed the ball into the box for Omar to chase. Omar crossed.
Alf Alten found himself completely alone near the penalty spot. He hit his header back across goal like he'd been taught, hoping to catch the keeper moving the other way.
Would this be his first senior goal?
He hit the post.
The entire stadium groaned as Holstein Kiel cleared the ball to safety.
In the 64th, Holstein Kiel worked the ball down our left flank.
They caught Omar ball-watching and their right fullback whipped in a cross for the back post.
Their left winger jumped over Jean Zimmer.
And hit his header right at Spahic.
After that we settle into bottling up our opponents near the halfline or on the other side with occasional attacks when they lost the ball.
In the 75th, I replaced Filippini with Amilcar Silva as my Italian left back was gassed.
In the 80th, Billy fouled their right fullback a couple of meters from the corner flag.
They played the ball short to a player just inside the box. He spun.
All my orifices puckered even though there were four players between him and the net.
And he blazed over.
The entire stadium breathed a sigh of relief.
At this point, time began to slow down.
Spahic took forever to take the goal kick. He played it short to Tomiak who played it to Zimmer and we started to work it up the right side.
Then Billy played back to Niehues who spun and played back to Spahic.
I looked up at the clock.
81:05
My defenders and Niehaus then passed the ball around for a while.
I looked up at the clock.
82:29
We worked it up the left flank then worked it back to Spahic. Then up the right and back.
I looked up at the clock.
84:01
Ermagerd, I think I'm going to die from the tension. F*** me but I hate this kind of anticipation.
We worked the ball down the left flank again. They fouled Silva just over the halfline in Holstein Kiel territory.
Oliver Hüsing walked over and began directing his teammates on where to position themselves. He was getting really frustrated as they weren't figuring out his hand gestures.
I looked up at the clock yet again.
87:01
He hit a short pass to Ritter as the ref was just about ready to book him..
Without looking, Ritter controlled the ball, spun and curled a pass towards the far side of the box.
How did he know that Billy was making a run off the back of their left fullback?
Billy hit the f***ing crossbar!
I realized I'd dropped to my knees and was clenching both fists.
I was watching the fourth official raise his board when I heard a roar and spun. The Holstein Kiel left winger was one v one against Alf Alten in our right corner.
"C'mon Alf!" I muttered to myself.
Nope, their winger absolutely leathered in a cross. Luckily for us they only had their striker near the 5 meter box.
Spahic snared the cross and flopped to the turf.
I spun towards the fourth official only to see him lowering his board.
I jogged over.
"How much extra time?" I asked. "I was watching the play."
"Two minutes," the fourth official replied.
After Spahic kicked it all the way to the other keeper, they brought the ball back down our right flank and won a corner.
I looked at the clock.
90:30
They played the corner too close to Spahic. He flopped to the ground with it and laid there.
Eventually, he got up, dawdled some more then rolled it to Hüsing.
We passed it around for a while until Tomiak hit a long ball upfield.
I looked at the clock
91:24
Muhammed Kiprit controlled the pass, circled around and played it back to Ritter. Ritter tried to play Omar through but it was intercepted.
They played a long ball up the middle. Tomiak, Hüsing and their striker raced for it.
Just as their striker looked lilke he might get their first, Tomiak launched a desperation tackle and hooked the ball towards the sidelines.
But it wasn't going to go out!
Their left winger raced for it, but couldn't quite get to it. Throw in for Holstein Kiel.
I looked up at the clock.
91:36
Everyone from Holstein Kiel raced forward.
I looked at the ref. He looked at his watch.
They threw it in.
There was a tussle for it at the edge of the box.
Zimmer poked it away into empty space.
I looked at the ref again. He looked at his watch again.
Then he raised his whistle to his lips.
And blew three of the sweetest blasts I'd heard in a long time.
I was swept away in a flood of players and coaches.
