Asano attributes superb performance to protest coins: "The chocolate energized me."
After another energetic performance that proved critical in helping his side secure a win, VfL Bochum attacker Takuma Asano credited the Union ultras with supplying him a snack that gave him extra power.
Takuma "Jaguar" Asano has once again come through for his German club this season. The Japanese international scored his fifth goal of the current league campaign and played a crucial role in initiating a counter-attack that allowed VfL Bochum to sink 1. FC Union Berlin on Saturday. Asano has now come close to equaling his entire total of top flight goals (six in 52 games) for Bochum in the last two years.
Speaking to the Sky microphones afterwards, Asano credited the 1. FC Union Berlin ultras with supplying him with a little extra kick. As part of widespread protest actions across the Bundesrepublik this weekend, German footballing supporters are throwing chocolate coins onto the pitch to protest the newly approved DFL investor deal.
The coins came flooding onto the pitch at the beginning of the 12th minute of the match. Asano seized upon the opportunity and noshed on one of the chocolate pieces. Shortly thereafter, he came close to scoring twice before finally netting the opener in spectacular fashion at 45+5. The 29-year-old remained one of the most eye-catching players on the pitch throughout the match.
"I saw the chocolate and ate it," Asano conceded during his post-match interview, "The chocolate energized me, so it was a good decision."
Asked about the incident themselves, Asano's teammate Kevin Stöger and VfL trainer Thomas Letsch offered up their own jokes on the matter. Stöger, after crediting the whole team with a well-played match, offered up a chuckle on his colleague's "chocolate doping".
"I definitely would have had one too if it brought me luck," Stöger laughed.
"We'll see if we can't find some more of those coins," Letsch added.