Vincenzo Grifo

Vincenzo Grifo (Italian pronunciation: [vinˈtʃɛntso ˈɡriːfo]; born 7 April 1993) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a winger or midfielder for SC Freiburg and the Italy national team.[1]

Vincenzo Grifo
Personal information
Full name Vincenzo Grifo
Date of birth (1993-04-07) 7 April 1993
Place of birth Pforzheim, Germany
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position(s) Winger, midfielder
Club information
Current team
 SC Freiburg
Number 32
Youth career
1996–2006 1. CfR Pforzheim
2006–2010 Germania Brötzingen
2010–2011 1. CfR Pforzheim
2011–2012 Karlsruher SC
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2013 1899 Hoffenheim II 21 (9)
2012–2015 1899 Hoffenheim 12 (0)
2014 → Dynamo Dresden (loan) 13 (1)
2014–2015 → FSV Frankfurt (loan) 33 (7)
2015–2017 SC Freiburg 55 (20)
2017–2018 Borussia Mönchengladbach 17 (0)
2018– 1899 Hoffenheim 7 (1)
2019 → SC Freiburg (loan) 16 (6)
2019– SC Freiburg 0 (0)
National team‡
2013 Italy U20 4 (1)
2018– Italy 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11:44, 5 June 2019 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 October 2019

Early life

Grifo was born in Pforzheim, Germany, to Italian parents; his mother is from Apulia, while his father is from Naro, in the province of Agrigento, Sicily.[2][3][4][5]

Club career

Early career

Grifo began his footballing career with local youth sides 1. CfR Pforzheim and Germania Brötzingen, before joining 2. Bundesliga side Karlsruher SC in 2011.[2][3][4]

1899 Hoffenheim

In July 2012, he joined Hoffenheim on a free transfer, signing a two-year contract with the club. After initially playing for the reserve side in the Regionalliga Südwest, he was soon promoted to the Hoffenheim senior squad, and made his debut with the club in the Bundesliga on 19 October 2012, in a 3–2 home win over Greuther Fürth, coming on as a substitute for Takashi Usami.[2][3][4] His performances earned him a two-year contract extension,[2][6] and saw him make a total of 12 substitute appearances throughout the 2012–13 season, as well as 13 appearances and 5 goals in the Regionalliga.[2] In the summer of 2013, he was officially promoted to the first squad, and was given the number 32 shirt.[2] He spent the next seasons on loan with Dynamo Dresden and FSV Frankfurt; with Frankfurt, he registered 7 goals and 10 assists in 35 appearances throughout the 2014–15 season.[2]

Freiburg

His performances led SC Freiburg to purchase him for €1.5 million in July 2015;[2][3][4][7] Grifo played a key role in helping the club to win the 2. Bundesliga title and obtain promotion to the Bundesliga, registering 14 goals and 15 assists in 31 league appearances throughout the 2015–16 season.[2][3][4]

In the opening six matches of the 2016–17 season, Grifo registered one goal and four assists in the Bundesliga, as well as three goals in two appearances in the DFB-Pokal.[2][3][4] He finished the season with 6 goals and 12 assists in 30 league matches.[8]

In his time at Freiburg he scored 20 goals and made 26 assists in 61 league appearances.[8]

Borussia Mönchengladbach

On 28 May 2017, Bundesliga rivals Borussia Mönchengladbach announced the signing of Grifo on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee, thought to be around €6 million. The transfer went through on 1 July.[8]

Return to 1899 Hoffenheim

On 11 June 2018, Hoffenheim signed Grifo on a four-year deal.[9]

On 6 January 2019, Grifo returned to Freiburg on a loan deal until the end of 2018–19 season.[10]

Return to SC Freiburg

On 2 September 2019, Grifo returned to Freiburg permanently once again, having spent the second half of the 2018–19 season on loan at the club.[11]

International career

On 6 September 2013, Grifo earned his first cap for the Italian Under-20 team under manager Alberigo Evani, scoring a goal in a 3–3 draw against Switzerland in Lugano.[2][12] On 14 October 2013, Grifo earned his first call-up to the Italy Under-21 side from manager Luigi Di Biagio for Italy's Euro 2015 qualifying match against Belgium.[2][13]

Grifo made his senior debut for Italy, managed by Roberto Mancini, as a second half substitute during a 1–0 friendly win against the USA in Genk on 20 November 2018.[14][15]

He made his first start for Italy on 15 October 2019, in a 5–0 away win against Liechtenstein, in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying match.[16]

Style of play

A modern, intelligent, and creative midfielder, with good offensive capabilities and an eye for goal, Grifo usually plays as a winger on the left flank, despite being naturally right-footed, a position which allows him to cut into the middle and shoot on goal, due to his finishing ability as well as his striking accuracy from distance; a versatile playmaker, he is also capable of playing as an attacking midfielder, as well as in several other attacking positions, and has frequently been deployed as an outside forward. Considered to be a talented and promising young player, he is mainly known for his technique, flair, class, and dribbling skills, while his vision, range of passing, set-piece delivery, and crossing accuracy make him an excellent assist provider. A dead-ball specialist, he is also an accurate free kick and penalty kick taker.[2][3][4][17][18][19][20][21][22]

Career statistics

Club
As of 5 June 2019[1]
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
1899 Hoffenheim2012–1312000——120
Dynamo Dresden (Loan)2013–1413100——141
FSV Frankfurt (Loan)2014–1533720——357
Freiburg2015–16311410——3214
2016–1730623——329
Total612033——6423
Borussia Mönchengladbach 2017–1817010——180
Hoffenheim 2018–197120——91
Freiburg (loan) 2018–1916600——166
Freiburg total772633——8029
Career Total1593583——16738

International
As of 15 October 2019[23]
Italy national team
YearAppsGoals
201810
201910
Total20

Honours

Club

SC Freiburg[1]

Individual

References
  1. "Vincenzo Grifo". soccerway.com. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
  2. Marina Belotti (23 November 2016). "Ventura, guarda quanto è forte Grifo: fa volare il Grifone e sogna l'Azzurro" (in Italian). Calciomercato.com. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  3. "Freiburg's Vincenzo Grifo: 'Happy with how things are going'". Bundesliga.com. 14 October 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  4. Elmar Bergonzini (29 March 2017). "Friburgo, Grifo il trascinatore. Grazie al maglione di Baggio" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  5. Giuseppe Granieri (4 March 2013). "ESCLUSIVA TMW - Hoffenheim, ag. Grifo: "Convocazione in Under 20 è un sogno"" (in Italian). TuttoMercatoWeb.com. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  6. Stefano Sica (29 October 2012). "UFFICIALE: Hoffenheim, Grifo rinnova" (in Italian). TuttoMercatoWeb.com. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  7. "FREIBURG SCHNAPPT SICH GRIFO" (in German). Bundesliga.de. 3 June 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  8. "Fix! Grifo wird ein Gladbacher". kicker Online (in German). 28 May 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  9. "Hoffenheim sign Vincenzo Grifo from Borussia Mönchengladbach". Bundesliga. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  10. "Vincenzo Grifo per Leihe zum SC". SC Freiburg. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  11. "Sport-club verpflichtet Grifo" (in German). SC Freiburg. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  12. Giuseppe Granieri (6 September 2013). "ESCLUSIVA TMW - L'ag. di Grifo: "Esordio con gol in Under 20: fantastico!"" (in Italian). TuttoMercatoWeb.com. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  13. "SEI VOLTI NUOVI TRA I CONVOCATI DI DI BIAGIO PER IL MATCH CON IL BELGIO" (in Italian). FIGC.it. 3 October 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  14. Football Italia staff (20 November 2018). "Grifo: 'So happy with Italy debut'". Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  15. Football Italia Staff (20 November 2018). "Politano breaks the ice for Italy". Football Italia staff. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  16. "Historic manita in Liechtenstein". Football Italia. 15 October 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  17. "ITALIANS - Grifo 'chiama' la Serie A. Vieira-Pirlo: è scontro" (in Italian). Calciomercato.it. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  18. Andrea Martino (6 March 2017). "Bundesliga: Vincenzo Grifo – "La meglio gioventù!" – Vol. 24" (in Italian). zonacalcio.net. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  19. Nick Bidwell (3 May 2016). "Nick Bidwell's Notes from Germany: Dortmund defend Hummels as fans turn against him". World Soccer. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  20. Ross Dunbar (23 December 2016). "9 Bundesliga stars who'd make fine Premier League buys in January". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  21. Sam McGuire (23 February 2017). "European Paper Talk: Julian Brandt tops Liverpool's summer wishlist". Sky Sports. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  22. Anthony Barbagallo (17 November 2018). "Who is Vincenzo Grifo?". Football Italia. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  23. "Convocazioni e presenze in campo: Vincenzo Grifo" (in Italian). FIGC. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  24. "Scorer" (in German). bundesliga.de. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
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