The match therefore went to extra time, where it became increasingly open. The Wolves once again posed the greater attacking threat but were unable to make their chances count. At the other end, Dusan Pernis kept his team in the game with a number of important saves, meaning there was still no winner after 120 minutes. The Green-and-Whites then showed nerves of steel in the shoot-out: David Vajagic, Bruno Katz, Leeron Danioko, Michael John and Saido Balde all converted their five penalties. Pernis saved Düsseldorf’s fifth spot-kick to seal a 6-5 victory and a place in the last 16.
“Came through an away test as a team”
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Head coach Niklas Bräuer was understandably proud: “We played very well for 60 minutes, had a lot of control of the ball and kept playing our way into the final third. Unfortunately, we weren’t clinical enough there, but we thoroughly deserved to reward ourselves by going 1-0 up. After that, we had a spell where we let the momentum slip away from us. The key thing for me is how we stuck together as a team and helped each other. The boys then showed incredible maturity in the penalty shoot-out. Dusan gets his reward for a strong performance by saving the decisive penalty. I’m extremely proud that we came through an away test like this as a team.”
**VfL Wolfsburg U19:** Pernis – Neininger, Greger, Saidykhan, Mandity (79. Furuseth) – Furtado Brito (111. Vajagic), Hint (68. Balde) – Seretis (90.+3 Paananen), Peters (69. Danioko), Katz – Sticherling (79. John)
**Goals:** 0-1 Sticherling (54’), 1-1 Tchatakpara (84’)