The finishing touches are still being put on the Europa-Park Stadion, but come Thursday evening, our team will move into its new home for the very first time. SC Freiburg will host FC St. Pauli in a friendly to celebrate the move and open the stadium, with kick-off at 18:15 CEST.
Vincenzo Grifo appears extremely excited the day before the big opening. “To be honest, the friendlies we play during international breaks aren’t usually ones we look forward to. This time there’s a lot of excitement before it,” said the midfielder ahead of Thursday’s meeting with the leaders of the 2. Bundesliga. Last Friday, before heading north to the capital for the 2-1 win at Hertha BSC, the team took a look around the finished dressing room. Now, they will be able to get on the pitch and Grifo is looking forward to getting that opening-day feeling: “I think the new stadium is great and I hope that, along with our fans, we can make it feel like our home as quickly as possible.”
An international break always means the team will be shaken up a bit, and this time no less than 15 players from the first and second teams are currently with their respective national teams. This means that the fans will see some players who aren’t always a member of Christian Streich’s squad, Johannes Flum, for example. The 33 year old has spent the last three and a half years at St. Pauli, but returned to Freiburg to gain promotion to the 3. Liga. “SC and Pauli are both teams who have really grown to be a part of me,” said the midfielder. “I think it’s a great gesture from Christian Steich to let me be a part of this special game.”
15,000 fans will be the first ones to have an opportunity to follow SC from the new stands of the Europa-Park Stadion at the game on Thursday. Build-up for the game and the opening ceremony will start at 17:30 CEST before a 18:15 kick-off. The ceremony will include speeches from Oliver Leki, Volker Finke and Christian Streich.
