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Soccer
It was the perfect end to the year: VfB Stuttgart reached the knockout stages of the DFB Cup with a 1-0 win against SC Freiburg on Wednesday. Sasa Kalajdzic, who had to go through a long road of suffering since joining the Swabian Bundesliga club a year and a half ago, secured the winning goal.
“It was a difficult road, it was difficult,” said the ÖFB legionnaire in the ARD interview after shooting VfB to victory in a thrilling match in the 15th minute.
The Viennese moved from Admira to Stuttgart in early July 2019 for the rumored 2.5 million euros. Two weeks later, in the final test match before the start of the second division season, Kalajdzic suffered a torn cruciate ligament, a torn internal ligament and a torn external meniscus in his knee. Opponents then like Wednesday: Freiburg.
Short assignments and previews
The forward was out for months and only helped in the last meters, especially with short appearances and a blow, to fix the promotion.
In the Bundesliga he started straight away, scoring three goals in his first three games and being appointed to the ÖFB national team. A little slump followed, but “in the last one or two weeks you have noticed that Sasa is fresh again,” said his coach Pellegrino Matarazzo. Despite his size, the six-foot man “knew how to play and combine football,” emphasized the VfB coach. The 23-year-old is also dangerous. And in a way a symbol of the Stuttgart resurgents.
