Vincenzo Grifo praises ‘magnificent bastard’ Noah Atubolu after record-breaking penalty save | OneFootball

SC Freiburg’s Bundesliga season is suddenly back on track following two consecutive wins. Julian Schuster’s Breisgauerhave overcome upset losses against Augsburg and Köln and rebounded with wins against VfB Stuttgart and now Werder Bremen. It remains doubtful, however, that Freiburg would be celebrating a 0-3 away win at Bremen without keeper Noah Atubolu’s services. Atubolu save Romano Schmid penalty in the 59th-minute when the guests were only up 0-2.

Atubolu did far more than live up to his reputation as a “penalty killer”. Nearly five months after making his record-tying fourth consecutive Bundesliga penalty stop against the very same club, Atubolu surpassed four previous keepers (all German) who had previously accomplished that feat. Atubolu moved past famed 1860 Munich man Thomas Zander, as well as German national team keepers Frank Rost, Bernd Leno, and Hans-Jörg Butt with his fifth consecutive penalty save.

It’s been quite the eventful last few months for Atubolu, who also found himself chasing a Bundesliga record for scoreless minutes last spring. The former Germany U21 No. 1 (22 caps) ultimately had to end up settling for a Freiburg club record, itself a great accomplishment. Now that Atubolu is no longer eligible to represent Germany at the highest youth level, a call up from Julian Nagelsmann during the October international break is surely coming.

Just as he did when Atubolu broke the club record, certified SCF “club man” Vincenzo Grifo gushed over the local lad he’s watched grow and mature. While Atubolu conducted a short interview with club media, Grifo received his opportunity to register his feelings with Sky Germany. Grifo – a native of nearby Pforzheim – praised Atubolu in the highest of local colloquial terms. In Baden, the word “Sauhund” carries with it positive contextual connotations.

“We [myself and the goalkeeping training staff] always discuss it and at the end of the day, I’m the one who gets to implement it the pitch,” Atubolu said. “We’ve now done that five times as a team. I just hope it continues like this in the future.”

“I just have to say that he’s a [magnificent] bastard,” Grifo noted with a mischievous grin while speaking to Sky. “[He stopped my last penalty in training]. After that, he said he wanted to stop doing it because he had his confidence. Hats off to him, he saved it today.“

Grifo himself converted a penalty earlier in the match. The 32-year-old recently broke a disastrous spell of six consecutive misses (three official) from the spot for his beloved club with a conversion late in matchday one’s 1-3 home loss to Augsburg.

“This time, I decided to shoot in the same corner as against Augsburg,” Grifo told Sky afterward. “Last year, I missed three. Now I have the courage again and I’m very happy that things are going so well.“

GGFN | Peter Weis