He gave me presents right before we parted. Freiburg’s Nils Pettersen, who is about to retire, instilled hope into his team with his first league goal this season.

Freiburg won 2-0 against Wolfsburg in the 33rd round of the German Bundesliga in the 2022-23 season held at the Europa-Park Stadion in Freiburg, Germany at 3:30 am (Korean time) on the 20th. Freiburg is in 5th place in the league (59 points) and has ignited competition for the Champions League (UCL) of the European Football Federation (UEFA).

It was an important victory. Freiburg pushed hard from the beginning against Wolfsburg, who were aiming to advance to the UEFA Europa League (UEL). However, goalkeeper Kuhn Castiels and Wolfsburg’s dedicated defense failed to overcome and the score continued 0-0 until the 70th minute.

The goal was finally scored. Christian Günther, who was substituted in the 25th minute of the second half, scored within a minute. The mid-range shot he made up his mind was hit by the opponent’s defense and refracted, and he was able to score the lucky opening goal.

It even made the cuneiform bone. The main character was Petersen. In the 30th minute of the second half, Pettersen, who came on as a substitute along with Günter, put his foot exactly on Roland Seolrey’s low cross and shook the net once again. With the goals of Günther and Pettersen, Freiburg could not let go of their hopes for advancing to the UCL, chasing 3rd place Leipzig (60 points) by one point.

It was a more meaningful goal than ever. It’s not simply because Freiburg’s UCL competition or because it was Pettersen’s first league goal this season. Pettersen announced his retirement at the end of the season, as it was his last goal at home.

Pettersen is a favorite of Freiburg fans. Loaned to Freiburg in the winter of 2015, he chose a complete transfer even though the team was relegated, and made a significant contribution to Freiburg’s promotion in one season with 21 goals in 32 matches. It is no exaggeration to say that he was the first-class contributor to the creation of Freiburg today.

He held his retirement ceremony prior to the match. On this day, which was the last home game, Freiburg’s management presented special gifts such as a picture frame for Pettersen, who was leaving the team with ‘youth’ Jonathan Schmidt (contract expired). And Pettersen repaid his club’s love with his last home goal 스포츠토토.