Freiburg, third in the Bundesliga, are racing from record to record. And the players are also setting personal records. Vincenzo Grifo has been hot on the heels of Mehmet Scholl and Otto Rehhagel since the win against Fürth.
Last Tuesday, in the cup match against third division team Osnabrück, the Freiburg team’s most reliable shooter was substituted shortly before the game. On Saturday in the Bundesliga match against Fürth, on the other hand, it was immediately clear that Vincenzo Grifo would take the penalty kick at 2-1, which Lucas Höler had taken. And as always, he converted it. “As a rule, I already feel very confident,” Grifo said in the Sportschau interview, “but it’s also getting more and more difficult. The more penalties you take, the more the goalkeepers adjust to it. “
The Italian has been on the spot ten times in the Bundesliga so far and has always scored. Only Hans-Joachim Abel (16), Ludwig Nolden (15), Otto Rehhagel (12) and Mehmet Scholl (11) are ahead of him in the rankings of 100 per cent scorers who have been on at least ten times. So Grifo could even catch up with the former Bayern player next Saturday in Munich if Sport-Club are awarded a penalty there.
Player of the match and 11.37 kilometres run
But that will be nowhere near as important to the 28-year-old as the success of the team, of which he is once again one of the mainstays this season. Grifo has been in the starting eleven in nine of the last ten games and has played a major part in the fact that Sport-Club is the only unbeaten Bundesliga team, and not just because of his three goals and three assists. In addition to the converted penalty, he also prepared Nicolas Höfler’s 2:0 from a corner against Fürth and was “Player of the Match” in the kicker (grade; 2.0). With 11.37 kilometres, he was also the Freiburg player with the most runs.
The fact that the lead came from an own goal and Höfler’s header landed in the net with the help of the post and the goalkeeper only underlined for Grifo that “a lot is going in our favour at the moment – but we also work for it, we fight for the victories”. For his coach, this was most symbolised on Saturday by Lucas Höler, who “marched, marched, marched” in the second half against Fürth despite the 120 minutes of Osnabrück in his legs. The fact that he also took the penalty as a result, “that helped us brutally,” praised Christian Streich.
With ten unbeaten games in a row, Sport-Club have set their Bundesliga club record, extending the starting record they had already set. “We can be proud of ourselves and enjoy this because we didn’t steal the points,” said Grifo. And even the SC coach is currently feeling “a certain serenity and less pressure than in some years”. But that has not only to do with the surprising points haul of 22 after ten games, but also with the team’s development. “Many things are working very well, defensively we are working very well together and can also set footballing accents again and again,” said Streich, “the team presents itself very stable and hungry.” And accordingly travels with self-confidence to next Saturday’s top match at Bayern, where they could already set another record.
