District matchdays: Kießling, Aourir and Cava Marin at penalty tournament in Quettingen

Around 70 participants in ten teams plus dozens of spectators defied the November rain at the Am Weidenbusch sportsground of TuS 05 Quettingen. Just before the final, former Bundesliga striker Kießling together with Werkself players Ayman Aourir and Sofia Cava Marin walked onto the pitch.

The "High school" team beat the “Bayer 04 Staff” team 5-3 in the final – and the trophy was presented by club trio led by Kießling. On top of that, the winners received ten tickets donated by Alexanderwerk AG for the Werkself match against Union Berlin on Sunday 12 November (kick-off: 15.30 CET). The focus then will be on Quettingen as the second of six districts this season.

Kießling: "a great sign"

Kießling highlighted the significance of the event in Quettingen. "In spite of the rain, a lot of people came here and that's a great sign," said the former Bundesliga striker. He also felt inspired on the sporting front. "When I see all the penalties then I'd like to have a go myself," he said with a smile: "Perhaps I'll join a team next time."

Werkself player Aourir also enjoyed the event. "Taking penalties always makes my whole body tingle and it's great fun," he said: "The people here are the ones who always support us at the stadium. You can give something back in an informal environment like this and that feels good." Cava Marin from the Bayer 04 Women's team thanked TuS Quettingen for staging the event and added: "Everybody here had lots of fun. It's great the club is represented here."

Before that, the teams made up of five to eleven players battled to win the tournament for around four hours. From the two groups of five the first and second teams went through to the semi-finals. The teams on pitches three and four went into a round for the defeated teams. Kießling, Aourir and Cava Marin were busy after the final signing autographs and posing for photos with their young fans.

Giorgio Italiano from the TuS board summed up gratefully: "It's great for us as a small district that Bayer 04 called in. With that we are sending out a great signal to the many young people."

district matchdays: Bayer 04 players visit

This season and next, Bayer 04 are organising district matchdays for the first time. At selected Werkself Bundesliga home games there will be events with the players in a Leverkusen district and that could include visits to kindergartens or schools as well as fan tests and competitions.