Japanese athlete missed the critical spot-kick. - Uchino's Düsseldorf-related emotional incidents.
Poor Takashi Uchino!
Dusseldorf's own Fortuna finds itself in a heartbreaking situation thanks to the disappointing penalty miss by their 23-year-old player in the relegation play-off game against Bochum. The final score was 5:6 after extra time, resulting in a glaring missed spot in the upcoming Bundesliga promotion race.
Dusseldorf's coach, Daniel Thioune (49), was visibly heartbroken, saying, "There's a great void here. The team has had an extraordinary year. I've witnessed so many tears. They at least deserved better."
Probably seeing the most tears was Uchino himself! In his 14th spot on the penalty shootout, his nerves failed him, and he sent the ball over the Bochum goalpost. Former national player and Fortuna president Klaus Allofs (67) added to the heartbreak, saying, "We were so close to attaining the Bundesliga promotion, but the nerves didn't agree."
Thioune said, "This traumatic occurrence happened after 120 minutes of intense competition, and then seeing little Takashi sitting there was so heart-wrenching." The infield video captured Thioune and Uchino embracing on the field for an extended period.
It's shocking how this happened to Uchino - Dusseldorf's right-back who has only a 350,000 Euro value and whose importance to the team is minimal, as he's only started four full games in their past season. In this very game, he was only substituted in during the 83rd minute.
After the penalty drama, the first to run towards him was teammate and half-Japanese player Shinta Appelkamp. Also, Ao Tanaka (25/Japan) is considered a mentor for Uchino.
At Fortuna, Uchino is well-liked. He's quite modest, reserved, and always has a smile on his face. He just had what could be considered a huge achievement when he led Japan's U23 to the qualification for the Olympics a few weeks ago!
Uchino came to Germany alone from school at the age of 17 and played in the A-youth team of 1.FC Dusseldorf. Then he moved on to Alemannia Aachen. Interestingly, unlike many other Japanese players, he did not have an interpreter at the modest clubs and managed to learn German on his own.
Right now, he's getting tons of support on social media - particularly on Instagram - with lots of fans cheering him on instead of mocking him.
Here's hoping he can move on from this horrifying ordeal as soon as possible.
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Source: symclub.org
