Dennis Windisch had jokingly said the day before: “I’ll probably hit the crossbar.” His cousin, who had often hit the woodwork, could only smile. But when the FC Bayern fan stepped up at the half-time break of the Telekom Cup and actually hit the bar from the halfway line, he could hardly believe his bad luck. Had he leaned over the ball a little further, had the ball gone down a fraction of a second earlier, Windisch would be €10,000 richer now.
Before Thursday evening’s Volltreffer competition staged by FC Bayern partner Telekom at the Allianz Arena, he had practised the shot from the halfway line at his local pitch in the Upper Franconian district of Forchheim. “I tried five or six times – nothing worked,” Windisch told fcbayern.com. He was surprised his effort at the stadium looked more promising. “When the ball left my foot, I thought it was really good.”
The stands went silent – and heard the ball crash off the bar. A murmur went through the stadium, Windisch sank to his knees in disappointment, his hands clasped over his head. “It was just bitter.”
A keeper for district league club SG Lindenberg, Windisch takes punts again and again – some of them end up as assists. He learned this precision by watching his idol Manuel Neuer in the hope his long balls would pay off one day. “That’s why I felt it might work out.” In the 8-0 victory over Darmstadt in 2023, Harry Kane had demonstrated how to score from about 50 metres. Windisch was just inches short of a success.
The prize money would have been useful with regard to his upcoming training as a driving instructor – “but we’ll manage anyway,” said Windisch. His focus is on the positive aspects. From this distance, it’s much harder to hit the bar than find the net. He usually plays in front of 100 spectators, so it was a unique experience to take a shot in front of 72,000 people. “That’s much more important than the money. A moment I’ll never forget. It was indescribable.”
FC Bayern fans on their impressions of Saturday’s open training session:
Many friends and acquaintances contacted him on Instagram after it. “I’ve never received so many messages.” He learned that no other participant had performed as well as he had in the competition. “I was told it was the best shot taken from the halfway line so far. I think that’s comforting.”
His first visit to the Allianz Arena was ten years ago. In 2015 he got tickets for the DFB Cup match against SV Darmstadt and travelled to Munich with his brother. “It was stunning to be at the stadium because I had only seen it on TV before.” A year later, the two brothers became members and regularly followed matches live.
Windisch has supported the German record champions around 60 to 70 times at the stadium so far, but his appearance at half-time during the Telekom Cup remains the absolute highlight for him. “Nothing tops that,” he said with a smile.
FC Bayern won their second acid test:
Topics of this article