Broken camera is to blame
Hoeneß rages after penalty shootouts in the Supercup
A choice that isn't a choice at all: The captains of VfB Stuttgart and Bayer Leverkusen are faced with a fait accompli before the penalty shootout. The decision can only be made on one goal – because a camera is broken. This outraged Stuttgart coach Sebastian Hoeneß and goalscorer Deniz Undav.
Sebastian Hoeneß was angry. The VfB Stuttgart coach was not only annoyed about the victory that had once again been wasted, he also struggled with the penalty shootout on what he saw as the wrong goal. Because this had to be played in the German Supercup in front of the Leverkusen fan block. The banal but momentous reason: According to those involved, a goal camera for the goal line technology was broken on the other side of the field. A spokesman for the German Football League (DFL) confirmed this following Stuttgart's 3-4 defeat. Bayer Leverkusen saved themselves from the point thanks to Patrik Schick's late goal to make it 2-2 (1-1) in regular time. The double winner then won there.
“It was simply decided to play it on the Leverkusen side because a camera on the other side was broken. That's obviously bitter from our point of view,” said coach Sebastian Hoeneß of the ultimately losing club. “It does change something, but from our point of view it can no longer be changed.”
VfB had led for a long time at the BayArena. “I think something strange happened during the penalty shootout,” said Stuttgart goalscorer Deniz Undav on Sky. VfB captain Atakan Karazor “won the side selection and wanted to shoot at the goal (in front of the Stuttgart fans), but the referee simply said: No, we won't do that because the camera is broken and we'll go over.”
Then there would be no need to choose sides, said Undav, with the caveat: “If that’s the case.” His club “didn't lose because of that, we lost because they were better. But something like that shouldn't happen anyway.”
Anger over conceding a goal in the 88th minute was overwhelming
However, the anger in the Stuttgart camp was even greater that VfB had to leave Leverkusen empty-handed again after the thrilling duels of the previous season. “What pisses me off the most? When you play with one more man and then concede such a shitty goal,” complained Undav, who gave VfB the lead with his first touch of the ball after being substituted before the equalizer came in the 88th minute .
“It's bitter. We were once again very close. It felt like we had to take our hands away from the trophy at the last second,” said Hoeneß. He was also annoyed by a Leverkusen professional and the pack formation after the end of the game. “It was another player who felt he had to make us feel like we had lost,” said Hoeneß: “He made fun of us.”
