A foul, a whistle, a penalty - everything looked in place for Werder's third goal in Nuremberg. Aaron Hunt was felled by Javier Pinola in the 75th minute...
A foul, a whistle, a penalty - everything looked in place for Werder's third goal in Nuremberg. Aaron Hunt was felled by Javier Pinola in the 75th minute...
A foul, a whistle, a penalty - everything looked in place for Werder's third goal in Nuremberg. Aaron Hunt was felled by Javier Pinola in the 75th minute but Werder's captain picked himself back up, went over to referee Manuel Gräfe and signaled to him that it was not a penalty! The referee took back his decision and Pinola, who had thrown up his hands just seconds earlier, went over to Hunt and thanked him for his extremely sportsmanlike gesture.
Bremen's playmaker received respect and recognition from all sides. "Hat's off!" praised head coach Robin Dutt. "That shows that he's not only a good footballer but also a great guy. I don't think very many people in the Bundesliga would do that," added Raphael Wolf. And goal scorer Franco Di Santo said: "He did what's right."
The gesture by Werder's number 14 sparked international media reaction from Turkey to Norway, and Vietnam to the USA. "An example for Fair Play in the Bundesliga" the Spanish sports daily Marca (see News) wrote about Hunt. "Thumbs up for this one" wrote the English subway magazine Metro online (see News). And the English-language daily The National from the United Arab Emirates said the 27-year-old is the "first candidate for the FIFA Fairplay prize" (see News). The fairplay award is given out every year as part of the world footballer ceremony.
While this award is still a long ways away, Hunt was honored by the Werder fans after the Nuremberg match. They crown him the Man of the Match. But it was a tight vote as he received 32 percent to 30 percent for Di Santo, whose volley blast gave the Green-Whites a 1-0 lead and who played very strong all match long.
