From 55 meters away: Grillitsch scored the goal of his life

Florian Grillitsch was able to answer the question about the distance in a matter of seconds. “55.6 meters,” said the TSG Hoffenheim midfielder proudly. From this distance, and even from his own half, he made it 2-0 with an artificial shot in the 3-1 win at 1. FC Köln on Saturday. “You might score a goal like that once in your life. I don’t think I’ve even managed that in training yet,” said the ÖFB team player.

According to his own statement, his coach Pellegrino Matarazzo already knew what was happening when the ball came to Grillitsch from Cologne keeper Marvin Schwäbe, who had rushed far out of the goal to clear it. “I knew he was going in before he hit the ball,” assured Matarazzo: “I knew he was capable of scoring a goal like that. He has incredibly good technique. That’s why I’m happy that the ball rolled to Flo Grillitsch.”

The 28-year-old, on the other hand, didn’t seem to quite believe what he had achieved even after the final whistle. “That’s extraordinary,” he said, “and will definitely be remembered.” Especially since he doesn’t score “that many goals”. That on Saturday was only the seventh in his 182nd game in the German Bundesliga, the last one he achieved almost three years ago.

On Saturday, “everything happened very quickly. I decided intuitively,” said Grillitsch: “I knew he was coming well, he had a good trajectory. But I was trembling that the defender would still get there. Or that he would close a little is short and stops.”