In a duel with Timothy Chandler Vincenzo Grifo went down in the penalty area on Sunday, but the Freiburg player directly admitted that he had not been hit. He earned great respect from Frankfurt coach Oliver Glasner for this.
0:2 SC Freiburg were already behind, when Grifo entered the penalty area with speed in the 55th minute and went down next to Timothy Chandler – the outcry in the stadium was great, the supporters of the Sport-Club demanded a penalty kick. But it was Grifo himself who took the wind out of the sails of all the demands.
“I didn’t have the feeling in the game that he had hit me, that’s why I wanted to apologise immediately that it wasn’t a swallow. I don’t want to do that. I want to be fair …,” the Italian insisted on DAZN after the game, before adding with a smile. “… Even if it would have helped us. But we already want to win by fair means.” It wasn’t enough for that in the end. It remained 0:2 and Freiburg’s first home defeat since March.
“The players are the reflection of the coach “
In particular, he impressed Eintracht coach Oliver Glasner. “I ran into him and congratulated him, he is simply a sportsman “, the 47-year-old emphasised at the press conference. In his hymn of praise, he also included his counterpart on the Freiburg bench. “Vincenzo Grifo has shown what he and SC Freiburg stand for: For honest football, for fair play, for sportsmanship and therefore congratulations to him and to you Christian. Because at the end of the day, the players are always the reflection of the coach. Therefore: fantastic action,” the Austrian concluded.
Streich himself was also more than taken with his protégé’s action. “I am very pleased. That’s right and that’s exactly how it should be,” the Freiburg coach added of the much-discussed scene.
In the course of resolving the situation in harmony with the opponents, Grifo was lucky that referee Florian Badstübner did not issue the yellow card required by the rules.
