Fuss about world champions: Tumult at the Roman Derby: Hummels shows self-criticism

A few days after the tumult at the Roman derby, the German soccer world champion Mats Hummels from AS Roma made self-critical comments about his behavior on the turbulent evening for the first time. “In retrospect, the Faller annoys me,” said the 36-year-old in his podcast “Alone is difficult.” “I don’t like it when you fall when you don’t have to fall. There is also clear criticism of myself.”

Hummels Club won the “Derby della Capitale” against city rivals Lazio Rome 2-0 last Sunday. In the third minute of added time there was an altercation between Hummels and his opponent Valentin Castellanos, which resulted in a large crowd forming on the sidelines and a red card for the Lazio striker.

The trigger was “a classic, solid foul from me, without it being serious,” said Hummels in retrospect. “Then the brother just kicked me flat out. Full throttle in the thigh.” That “hit him a little bit out of nowhere” and “made him angry for a moment.”

“Not a headbutt, but a little headbutt”

Hummels and Castellanos then stood “upper body to upper body” and the German defender admitted: “He gave me a little head push – not a head kick, but a little head push – and the faller was really unnecessary. There’s no other way to say that. That also annoyed me afterwards: I don’t have to fall.”

The 2014 world champion admitted that he provoked Castellanos’ dismissal. “It was really like this: “Now you’re really going to fly down and I’ll take care of that.” A bit in that direction,” said Hummels.

Overall, the Argentine striker still “deserved” the red card. “There were many situations before in the game where the opponent in question caught my eye a little,” said Hummels. “There was a bit of theatrics beforehand and a scene like that with our goalkeeper. He was always involved. He’s always been at the forefront.”