Whenever I watch a footballer writhing around on the floor in faux agony, I always wonder what their coach would say.

Given how Christian Streich went down, you’d think that coaches may be encouraging it, although the Freiburg coach was on the receiving end of a decent shoulder charge from Eintracht Frankfurt’s captain, David Abraham.

With the Bundesliga match already in injury time, and Freiburg winning 1-0, Abraham’s trip to retrieve the ball from the Freiburg technical area ended with a brawl and two red cards.

Abraham was sent off, as was Freiburg’s Vincenzo Grifo, even though he had already been substituted earlier in the match.

Pay attention to Streich’s face at the moment of impact:

More footage:

D. Abraham🆚C. Streich

E. Frankfurt’un kaptanı David Abraham, Freiburg Teknik Direktörü Christian Streich’e vurması sonucu ortalık karıştı ve kırmızı kart gördü.🎥 pic.twitter.com/V0KlKisZ3R

— Sporx (@sporx) November 11, 2019

One of the few times VAR has got a decision right in the end. Perhaps it’s just England where the new technology has turned into a farce.

The Guardian below reporting on the aftermath:

“He felt provoked but that shouldn’t happen … he knows that,” Frankfurt’s sporting director, Fredi Bobic, said of Abraham. “There will be consequences for everyone involved.”

…Streich said Abraham apologised to him afterwards and the coach considered the issue to be over.

“Football is a contact sport,” said Streich, who said he tried to brace himself pre-contact. “That was on the wrong side of it, though. It was a heated game, we need to calm down, it’s done, and not have silly talk about it now. At 54 you can be run over by a young buffalo; you can’t hold yourself against it any more.”

At least Streich was magnanimous with his post-match comments, even if he did look to milk that contact.

If Jose Mourinho returns to the Premier League any time soon, I would be perfectly OK with a player dishing out some shoulder contact.

[source:guardian]