As the emotional holiday in Freiburg reached its climax, Christian Streich once again demonstrated his human greatness. On the lap of honor, a fan who stormed onto the field wanted to get very close to him, but was rudely pushed away by a steward. Streich lovingly helped the young supporter, who was in tears, up and lay in his arms for a few seconds. But this scene was just one highlight of an emotional farewell party – even if Streich didn’t want to overestimate all the posters, gifts, chants and T-shirts.
“The people kindly applauded and I applauded them because they are great too,” said Streich with his usual modesty after the 1-1 (1-1) draw against 1. FC Heidenheim: “I just want to thank you very much Everything.” He ended the evening of his 195th Bundesliga home game surrounded by his loved ones. “My sister and my parents are here, then we eat something and drink a glass of wine together,” he said: “It’s nice in the garden.”
Since 2012 he has provided many beautiful moments himself, and Streich has won hearts all over football in Germany. Even Heidenheim players and fans paid homage to him with a standing ovation. The Freiburg supporters loudly cheered their cult coach as the “best man” and raised a larger-than-life cardboard cutout of their “legend” in front of the curve. The players wore shirts that read: “You never go all the way. Thank you for everything!”
“He’s not just a coach”
After a short speech, Streich stood in front of his curve with tears in his eyes and bowed. He took his victory lap to the sounds of the Rolling Stones. The fans clapped enthusiastically and La Ola walked through the stadium. Thank you for “all the years of passion, attitude and humility” was written on a huge banner. Next week at Union Berlin, the coach will finally say goodbye after twelve and a half years as head coach and 29 years at the club.
“He’s a bit extraordinary, he has a different style,” enthused Vincenzo Grifo: “He’s not just a coach, he’s also interested in people. Football is a tough business, but he knows every player privately. You have a lot of great conversations with him, so you build a lot of trust.” Streich is “an extraordinary overall package,” emphasized sports director Jochen Saier.
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Streich’s special quality is “the combination of objectivity, empathy and humanity. Nevertheless, he also has the sharpness and clarity in the dressing room at the right moment.” Captain Christian Günter added that one “cannot appreciate enough what he has done for this club, also for us as a team”: “We would have liked to have given him a win because we know that it would have been the best thing for him.”
Because Streich wouldn’t be Streich if he could have fully enjoyed his farewell after the draw resulting from goals from Ritsu Doan (29th) and Nicolas Sessa (38th). “It’s a joke,” he emphasized: “I’m going home with the feeling that we’ve lost two points again.” On Saturday he wants to take advantage of the last trip to Europe.