Second division Preußen Münster played a 1:1 draw against SV Elversberg last weekend. For one player, it was a very special match.
It’s done: Yassine Bouchama’s dream finally came true on Saturday. In the home game against SV Elversberg (1:1), the Preußen Münster midfielder made his long-awaited second division debut. After Bouchama did not play in the first eight games and was not even in the squad at times, he played from the start against Elversberg.
Until he was substituted in the 67th minute due to a yellow card, the 27-year-old justified his nomination for the starting eleven and was one of the Eagles’ assets. He was awarded a grade of 2.5 by “kicker”, no player on the pitch was rated better.
Bouchama had to wait a long time for this moment, but the boy from Essen knows it all. In recent years, he has fought his way from the bottom to the top with a lot of commitment and perseverance. The “street footballer” had never attended a youth performance center and played in the regional league for his hometown club FC Kray until 2019.
He has been under contract at Hammer Straße since 2022, followed by a sensational march from the Regionalliga West to the 2nd Bundesliga. In total, Bouchama played 71 competitive games for the Prussians, in which he scored eleven goals and set up another eleven. Now he was able to prove his skills in the German lower house for the first time.
Yes, I am proud of my debut in the 2nd league, I have only dreamed of this for a long time. After all, five years ago I was still playing in the regional league.
Yassine Bouchama.
“Yes, I am proud of my debut in the second division, I only dreamed of it for a long time. After all, five years ago I was still playing in the regional league. I have always believed in myself in the past few weeks too. Because I know what I can do. It was clear to me that I would get my chance at some point if I give my best in training every day,” the Essen native told “Bild” afterwards.
It will be exciting to see how many more second division games the Prussian professional will play in his career. One thing is clear: Yassine Bouchama’s unconventional path should encourage many amateur footballers. After all, at the age of 22 he played in the regional league in front of just under 100 spectators, this season he could play in front of over 60,000 fans in the Veltins Arena.