Borussia Dortmund

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Pirson Comes Through His Professional Debut With A Smile and a Teary Eye

[25.10.] Usually he plays in front of 1,000 fans in the Regional League. Last night, there were 29 times as many fans when Sören Pirson made his professional debut. The 21 year-old goalkeeper went between the posts in the German Cup match against Hannover in the 50th minute after Roman Weidenfeller was shown the red card.

Frustration: Christian Wörns and Sören Pirson after the late Hannover goal.

"As the referee reached into his back pocket, I thought "it´s time", said the 1,95m (6ft, 3in) man on the hectic scenes prior to his substitution into the match. Pirson, who was promoted to BVB´s number two after the serious knee injury (torn ACL) suffered by Bernd Meier, felt no nervousness. "At first my hands were shaky as I put on my shin guards, but as I stood on the pitch the confidence came immediately. I felt very well. I had nothing to fear on the big stage."

He could not emphasize enough how much this time was worth, adding, "I would have liked Tarnat´s late long shot to have come much earlier."

Pirson hardly had a chance to defend himself in the 86th minute when Hashemian appeared free before him after Huszti´s clearing pass. "All of a sudden, Hashemian was in front of me, tipped the ball past me and was through. It´s a shame", the keeper said of his debut, "that it ended with a smile and a teary eye. A smile because I finally got to play, but a teary eye because I would have rather left the pitch with a victory."

Original article by Boris Rupert and Constantin Blass/Translated by Keith Richardson

Pirson (R) was passed by, Kruska and Wörns arrived too late. Hashemian scores the winning goal.

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