“Vaduz played well and mixed things up. We won the ball back several times in the first half, but weren’t focused enough up front,” summed up Christian Streich. “I saw a few good things, however a few bad too, such as our passing accuracy and some players’ tackling. It’s important that we work hard on these aspects in training to make sure they are better than they were today.”

Different stages of pre-season

Even though SC are very much used to the setup in Schruns – this being their 15th summer training camp there – the players only arrived on Thursday, meaning they had little time to prepare for the friendly against FC Vaduz.

While Freiburg’s first competitive game is three weeks away, FC Vaduz’s campaign in the Swiss Challenge League starts in a week’s time with an away game at FC Wil. As a result, it was clear which side was further ahead in pre-season, as Vaduz took control of the opening stages.

Narrow deficit at the break                                           

Not much had happened for the 400 fans in Schruns before the referee blew up for a drinks break after 30 minutes due to the high temperatures. The most dangerous moment up until this point came after eight minutes when Yannik Keitel made a last-ditch tackle to deny a chance for Vaduz.

SC were without Philipp Lienhart, Roland Sallai and Wooyeong Jeong, who were given a rest after their first training session since returning from international duty. Freiburg came into the game more after the drinks break, but then went behind. Yannick Schmid headed home from a free-kick after 42 minutes. At the other end, Vincenzo Grifo was kept out by Benjamin Büchel (44’).

Höfler scores from the spot

Vaduz went into the second half of 60 minutes 1-0 ahead in Schruns. Freiburg completely changed their team for this period, and equalised 12 minutes into the ‘second half’. Nicolas Höfler converted a penalty after a handball in the box (72’).

The second period of 60 minutes was intense but lacked chances again. Freiburg took until the 106th minute to create the next notable moment. Kimberly Ezekwem’s shot was well saved by Büchel, though. Ten minutes before the end, FC Vaduz’s goalkeeper was again on hand to deny a powerful drive by Baptiste Santamaria from the edge of the box (110’) and it ultimately ended 1-1.

Freiburg line-up for the first half: Uphoff, Sildillia, Keitel, Heintz, Kübler, Tauriainen, Haberer, Weißhaupt, Höler, Demirovic, Grifo

Freiburg line-up for the second half: Flekken, Schmid, Gulde, Rosenfelder, N. Schlotterbeck, Furrer, Höfler, Santamaria, Ezekwem, Burkart, Schade