Akpoguma Admits Relief, After Slipping While Taking Penalty Kick

TSG Hoffenheim of Germany defender, Kevin Akpoguma has admitted he felt a deep sense of relief after scoring his penalty kick during a shootout that ensued in his team’s German Cup clash with Greuther Fürth, as he slipped while going for the ball, BSNSports.com.ng reports. Before then, Akpoguma had already netted his first goal for Hoffenheim in the same encounter but, with the game going into lottery of the spot kick due to a draw between both sides, the new Super Eagles’ utility player admitted he did not have the best connection when it mattered most. Greuther Fürth indeed held their own against the German Bundesliga side on Tuesday evening in the DFB Pokal fixture at PreZero Arena in Sinsheim, ahead of which the former Germany under-20 national team captain had been involved in 69 first team games without a goal to his name. Although he netted three goals for Hoffenheim’s reserve team before earning promotion to the main squad, Akpoguma spent 5,134 minutes in total prior to his first goal for Die Kraichgauer, for which his previous best effort had been an assist in a Bundesliga match against RB Leipzig in December 2017. The story, however, changed in the 49th minute and with ‘The Village Club’ trailing 2-1, as Akpoguma restored parity when he headed home a free-kick that sent the game into extra time, after which he was successful from the penalty spot despite slipping. Sadly, though, his personal relief was different from that of the entire team, as TSG eventually lost the shootout 7-6, thereby marking a sad end to the year for Akpoguma, who previously played for Karlsruher SC, Neureut 08, Bavaria Wörth, Schwarz-Weiß Speyer and Rot-Weiß Speyer, then joined Hoffenheim in 2013.