American defender Chris Richards scored the first Bundesliga goal of his career on Saturday against SC Freiburg in a crucial 2-1 victory. With the score tied at 1-1, Hoffenheim had a corner kick with 15 seconds left in the game. The ball was whipped into the box, and it would be the 21-year-old Alabama native who got his head on the ball.
Chris Richards Goal Vs Freiburg
USMNT defender Chris Richards scored a stoppage time match winner for Hoffenheim today! It was his first Bundesliga goal.
Look at what it meant ❤️ pic.twitter.com/VVUKw5E6UH— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 11, 2021
CHRIS RICHARDS AT THE DEATH!!!!@eastmamba scores his first Bundesliga goal to give @tsghoffenheim the win!
— U.S. Soccer MNT (@USMNT) December 11, 2021
Enjoy your evening #SCFTSG | @eastmamba pic.twitter.com/ZR5rJIfJQ6
— TSG Hoffenheim EN (@tsghoffenheimEN) December 11, 2021
Richards jubilantly celebrated his first goal since June 14, 2020, when he was still playing with Bayern Munich’s second team. This will only speed up his integration with the USMNT. Head coach Gregg Berhalter has begun calling on Richards more and has given the youngster two starts in World Cup qualifying against Costa Rica and Jamaica. Richards has six caps with the national team.
The FC Dallas Academy product has been seeing a great uptick in minutes played at Hoffenheim. Bayern Munich loaned Richards to Hoffenheim in Feb. 2021 and the American has become a consistent starter while on loan. This season he has eight Bundesliga starts and 15 total appearances.
Unfortunately for Richards there weren’t any fans in attendance due to Germany’s latest Covid restrictions. The country is seeing its highest spike in cases since the pandemic began and reported a record for cases in one day on Thursday with 103,000 positive cases.
