It runs the 23rd minute in the duel between SC Freiburg and Union Berlin. At 1-0 for the guests, Freiburger Roland Sallai will find its teammate Lucas Höler with a high pass. In the penalty area of the Berliner, Höler heads the ball from a short distance to the head of his opponent Paul Jaeckel. The ball jumps back, on the striker’s upper arm – and rolls right in front of his feet. Höler pushes in for supposed compensation.
However, the SC cheer only takes a short time. Var Markus Schmidt intervenes and continues to referee Felix Brych that the Freiburg is a criminal handball. Brych collects the hit. The question: Was it punishable handball or just a contact on your shoulder?
The tricky scene, which is also difficult to clarify with pictures. AFP via Getty Images
armpit
According to the DFB rules, “the border between the shoulder and arm (when the arm is attached) runs at the bottom of the armpit”. So if the ball jumps on the arm below the armpit and, for example, “immediately after he has touched the ball with his hand/arm (whether intentionally or not) in the opposing goal”, the gate must be revoked.
Streich: “This is not a hand”
For Christian Streich, the matter was clear after two views on TV: “I only saw the ball on the jersey by Lucas.” The trainer tapped his shoulder in the press round after the game: “This is not a hand.” That is why he was “completely puzzling” why the supposed hit did not count.
Above all, the SC trainer got upset about Var Schmidt: “That he doesn’t even say that Mr. Brych should look at that again.” It was a “probably game -decisive scene”. “They later led 2: 0 and 3: 0 in this game. That’s why we need the 1: 1,” said Streich, whose team ultimately defeated 1: 4, “and he takes it away. Maybe I’m visually impaired, but Taking this gate away – it’s amazing. “
The gate was correctly revoked
DFB apprentice Lutz Wagner in conversation with the ball
However, the referees are clearly different. DFB apprentice Lutz Wagner explained in an interview with the ball: “Referee Felix Brych really noticed it on the square. Var Markus Schmidt and his team then determined in the Cologne video center with doubt that the ball from Lucas Höler Below the armpit and thus in the criminal area of the upper arm. The gate was correctly revoked. “
Regardless of his great trouble over the Höler scene, Streich granted a deserved defeat and criticized the renewed defensive susceptibility of his team. Due to the defeat, RB Leipzig can already displace the Breisgauer from the Champions League places on Sunday evening in the game against FC Augsburg (7.30 p.m., live! At ball). A tie is enough for the Saxons.