Vincenzo Grifo (; born 7 April 1993) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

club

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg () or just Freiburg, is a German football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions from the 2. Bund ...

. Born in Germany, he plays for the Italy national team.

Club career

Early career

Grifo began his footballing career with local youth sides

1. CfR Pforzheim 1. Club für Rasenspiele Pforzheim 1896 e.V., commonly known as 1. CfR Pforzheim is a football club based in Pforzheim, Germany. The club play in the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg, which is the fifth tier of football in the country. History On 3 J ...

and Germania Brötzingen, before joining

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

side

Karlsruher SC Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. Domestically, the club was crowned German champion in 1909, and won the DF ...

in 2011.

1899 Hoffenheim

In July 2012, he joined

Hoffenheim Hoffenheim () is a village in Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It belongs to the municipality of Sinsheim and, as of 2020, it has a population of 3,191. History The village, settled since prehistoric times, and first mentione ...

on a free transfer, signing a two-year contract with the club. After initially playing for the reserve side in the

Regionalliga Südwest The Regionalliga Südwest ( en, Regional League Southwest) is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. It is one of five leagues at this level, together wit ...

, he was soon promoted to the Hoffenheim senior squad, and made his debut with the club in the

on 19 October 2012, in a 3–2 home win over Greuther Fürth, coming on as a substitute for

Takashi Usami is a Japanese professional footballer who plays for Gamba Osaka in the J1 League. He plays as a forward or a winger. Club career Gamba Osaka Usami made club history by making his professional debut for Gamba Osaka at the age of 17 years and ...

. His performances earned him a two-year contract extension, 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. In the summer of 2013, he was officially promoted to the first squad, and was given the number 32 shirt. He spent the next seasons on loan with

Dynamo Dresden Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or Dynamo Dresden, are a German association football club based in Dresden, Saxony.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Ka ...

and

FSV Frankfurt Fußballsportverein Frankfurt 1899 e.V., commonly known as simply FSV Frankfurt, is a German association football club based in the Bornheim district of Frankfurt am Main, Hesse and founded in 1899. FSV Frankfurt also fielded a rather successfu ...

; with Frankfurt, he registered 7 goals and 10 assists in 35 appearances throughout the 2014–15 season.

SC Freiburg

His performances led

to purchase him for €1.5 million in July 2015; 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. 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 The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...

. He finished the season with 6 goals and 12 assists in 30 league matches. In his time at Freiburg he scored 20 goals and made 26 assists in 61 league appearances.

Borussia Mönchengladbach

On 28 May 2017,

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.

Return to 1899 Hoffenheim

On 11 June 2018, Hoffenheim signed Grifo on a four-year deal. On 6 January 2019, Grifo returned to Freiburg on a loan deal until the end of 2018–19 season.

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. On 13 November 2022, he scored his first Bundesliga hat-trick in the first 20 minutes in a 4–1 win over

Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as 1. FC Union Berlin () or Union Berlin, is a professional German football club in Köpenick, Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweid ...

International career

On 6 September 2013, Grifo earned his first cap for the Italian under-20 team under manager

Alberigo Evani Alberico Evani (; born 1 January 1963), sometimes misspelled as Alberigo Evani, is an Italian football manager and former player, who was deployed as a midfielder. He started his club career with Milan, where he spent the majority of his playin ...

, scoring a goal in a 3–3 draw against Switzerland in Lugano. On 14 October 2013, Grifo earned his first call-up to the Italy under-21 side from manager

Luigi Di Biagio Luigi Di Biagio (; born 3 June 1971) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. A former defensive midfielder, Di Biagio last played for Ascoli Calcio 1898 in 2007, and previously also played for several other Italian clubs ...

for Italy's Euro 2015 qualifying match against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. On 20 November 2018, Grifo made his senior debut for Italy, managed by

Roberto Mancini Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the Italy national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for his time at Sa ...

, as a second half substitute during a 1–0 friendly win against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Genk Genk () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality only comprises the town of Genk itself. It is one of the most important industrial towns in Flanders, located on the Albert Canal, ...

. On 15 October 2019, Grifo made his first start for Italy in a 5–0 away win against

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarch ...

during a

UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2019 to November 2020 to determine the 24 UEFA member men's national teams that advanced to the UEFA Euro 2020 final tournament, played across Europ ...

match. On 11 November 2020, Grifo scored his first goals for Italy, the first in the first half, and the second in the second half via a penalty shot, in a 4–0 home win against

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

during a friendly. On 16 November 2022, he scored another brace in a friendly match against

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

Style of play

An 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

, as well as in several other attacking positions, and has frequently been deployed as an

outside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. Considered to be a talented and promising young player, he is mainly known for his technique, flair, and

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

skills, while his vision, range of passing, set-piece delivery, and crossing accuracy make him an excellent

assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

provider. A dead-ball specialist, he is also an accurate

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

and

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

taker.

Personal life

Grifo was born in

Pforzheim Pforzheim () is a city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwest of Germany. It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the nickname "Goldstadt" ("Golden City") ...

, Germany, to Italian parents; his mother is from Apulia, while his father is from

Naro Naro ( scn, Naru ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Agrigento, on the island of Sicily, Italy. It is bounded by the comuni of Agrigento, Caltanissetta, Camastra, Campobello di Licata, Canicattì, Castrofilippo, Delia, Italy, Delia, Favara, Ag ...

, in the

province of Agrigento The Province of Agrigento ( it, Provincia di Agrigento; scn, Pruvincia di Girgenti; officially ''Libero consorzio comunale di Agrigento'') is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in Italy, situated on its south-western coast. Follo ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Grifo goal.''

Honours

SC Freiburg *

: 2015–16 *

runner-up: 2021–22 Individual *

top assist provider: 2015–16 (11 assists)

References

External links

*
Profile at FIGC.it
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grifo, Vincenzo Living people 1993 births German men's footballers Italian men's footballers German sportspeople of Italian descent German people of Sicilian descent Men's association football wingers Men's association football midfielders Italy men's international footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Italian expatriate sportspeople in Germany TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players Dynamo Dresden players FSV Frankfurt players SC Freiburg players Borussia Mönchengladbach players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Footballers from Pforzheim