The referee team around Tobias Welz came under heavy criticism after the cup semi-final between VfB Stuttgart and SC Freiburg (2:1). Even the hosts, who were ultimately victorious, had clear words to say.
The disallowed goal from Freiburg striker Lucas Höler in the first minutes of extra time in the cup thriller at VfB Stuttgart caused a lot of discussion even among the home team. National player Deniz Undav also criticized referee Tobias Welz harshly.
“I don’t think you can make a worse mistake than the referee. Good for us, of course, but you can never, ever whistle that away,” said Undav after the 2-1 win after extra time. His head coach Sebastian Hoeneß saw it similarly: “You can’t dismiss the situation. We would have reacted the same way as Freiburg did.”
After the game went into extra time 1-1 after goals from Maximilian Eggestein (28th) and Undav (70th), the sports club celebrated a goal from previously substitute Höler. But referee Welz called for a foul against Stuttgart’s central defender Jeff Chabot and disallowed the goal.
Freiburg’s captain Christian Günter complained afterwards: “If that’s a foul, then I think I have to end my career here and now because it’s really nothing. He runs against a 1.95 man, he just flies over and it’s never a foul.”
Video: Freiburg struggles with the referee
Stuttgart star Undav: “I don’t like him anyway”
Günter also hinted at criticism of Welz’s management of the game: “I wanted to talk to him, but I don’t think he wanted to talk to me. I think that says something.” He was also annoyed about the short stoppage time – especially in comparison to the Bundesliga game against FC Bayern (2:3), when Freiburg were given “eight minutes”.
Undav also criticized the communication with the referee. “You can’t talk to him either,” said the VfB striker: “I don’t like him anyway. We already had a problem.”
Welz “couldn’t control the game really well today,” said Undav: “He gave too many yellow cards. At the beginning he mainly called for fouls that weren’t fouls.”