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Hours had passed by since his spectacular debut but the smile had not faded from the striker’s face. Max Moerstedt repeatedly received gestures of recognition from his team-mates and the staff members. A tap on the shoulder here, a friendly pat there. At the night-time post-match snack at the team hotel, the 18-year-old was on the receiving end of a number of nice gestures. Due to the late drama of the match, it was to an extent that almost seemed the make the modest TSG youngster a little uncomfortable. But Moerstedt absolutely deserved the attention thanks to an outstanding piece of play at the MCH Arena in the small Danish town of Herning.
It was a piece of link-up play in the 89th minute of TSG’s match away to FC Midtjylland that wowed all football fans – and made the opposition players sink to the turf in awe: Umut Tohumcu played a lobbed pass into the path of Pavel Kadeřábek down the right wing. He delivered his cross sharply into the penalty area – and it actually came in slightly behind Max Moerstedt. But what happened next is a moment that will be remembered for a long time and may be seen again soon when it comes to the vote for the Goal of the Month. The striker opted for a scissor kick and met the ball perfectly. The shot crashed against the right upright and rebounded into the goal from there. With everything happening so quickly, the TSG supporters initially feared that the ball had gone out of play. But then the celebrations erupted. It was 1-1 – thanks to one of the most spectacular goals in TSG’s recent history, scored by one of Hoffenheim’s youngest-ever goalscorers. All in all it was an historic goal that secured TSG an important point in their UEFA Europa League opener.
Floodlights. Final minutes. The European stage – Max Moerstedt could have hardly wished for a better moment to score his first competitive goal in professional football. “A huge dream came true for me today. When Pavel played the cross, I tried to get away from my man. The rest was then natural and also somewhat lucky, I simply wanted to direct the ball at goal,” said the U17 World Champion after the final whistle when asked about his artistic goal, which was described by the commentators on air for broadcaster RTL as a goal “in the style of Ibrahimovic”.
The headlines on the morning after the match were of course about the youngster. “Moerstedt’s magic,” was the title in the Hessische Allgemeine. “Moerstedt’s dream goal bodes well,” wrote the Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung. Coach Pellegrino Matarazzo also praised the striker. “You can’t learn quality, it requires diligence and a lot of work. Max Moerstedt is very professional and has shown his quality today. It’s important for him to get playing time. He will get that with us so that he continues to develop.”
TSG and Max Moerstedt will already be in action again on Sunday at 17:30 CEST (Live Ticker at tsg-hoffenheim.de). Pellegrino Matarazzo’s team will then welcome SV Werder Bremen to the PreZero Arena for the big anniversary matchday.
