Surreptitious advertising or cult cheering?

Anthony Modeste from Bundesliga club 1. FC Köln caused discussions with his goal celebration in the 3-1 win against Arminia Bielefeld and received a strong rebuke from his coach.

After his goal to make it 2-1, the Frenchman ran behind the goal in the 43rd minute, where he had deposited a pack of the coffee he had produced in an FC bag from the fan shop and held it up to the camera.

Then he threw the package into the ranks.

"I never forget where I come from," Modeste said afterwards with a wink.

“It was a little thank you because the fans always support us.

So I got some coffee as a present.

I can't give my shirt away.” After the game, Modeste, who had placed the pack in a bag behind the goal during the game, distributed more gifts to the fans.

His coach Steffen Baumgart found the action less funny: "It's always thin ice in football.

You mustn't overdo it, otherwise, as I've learned, you'll usually get your face in the face.

That's putting it a bit harshly now, I don't want to say more about it." And then Baumgart became more general: "It's the case that you have to stay on the carpet and stay clear." It's "nice that we have the points.

But we should know where we're coming from.

We shouldn't even think about the fact that many things go by themselves.

It will not work."

Sky expert Dietmar Hamann expects further trouble for the goalscorer.

"He will get a penalty, rightly so," said the former international.

"In today's world, when it's all about commerce, when the relationship between fans and players is scratched, that's not very sensitive.

I have little sympathy for that.” Modeste presented his own coffee brand in December.

Former national soccer player Jonas Hector meanwhile had to be sewn up in the dressing room after a collision at the beginning of the game and then voluntarily had himself replaced.

"He had a pretty deep gaping wound," said Thomas Kessler, Head of the Licensed Players' Division at FC: "We sewed him up in the catacombs and subjected him to checks.

He passed and said it was okay.

That's why he came back on the field.

But then he noticed that he was getting a bit of a headache and felt a bit dizzy.

And then it's exemplary when he says himself that it doesn't work."

Coach Baumgart explained that Hector "had the feeling that he had problems with some coordination things like assessing the ball".

The Cologne captain collided with Bielefeld's Alessandro Schöpf after three minutes, then disappeared into the dressing room for nine minutes and came back with a head bandage.

Fifteen minutes after his return, he left the field.

“We will now subject him to more detailed checks.

If players complain about nausea and dizziness, we have a duty of care," said Kessler: "But after the game I had the impression that he was doing better."

For Schöpf things went less smoothly, he was on the pitch until the 85th minute.

"It was a kind of boxer cut, but fortunately not that bad," said interim coach Marco Kostmann: "It was glued over the eye.

A small scar remains, but that's the appeal of the flaw.” Bielefeld was also so relieved because in the last three games Fabian Klos, Cedric Brunner and Fabian Kunze had to be substituted with head injuries.

Nevertheless, the relegation battle for Arminia is becoming more and more acute - the change of coach from Frank Kramer to Kostmann has not yet had anything countable.

“Some goals against must not come.

At this moment I'm just disappointed," said goalkeeper Stefan Ortega on Sky.

The traveling fans tried to cheer up their team after the final whistle.

Because the next opponent on the Alm is Hertha BSC.

The East Westphalians earned good fighting marks, but it wasn't enough to wrest a point from the by no means fully convincing Rhinelanders.

"We showed a decent performance, but we didn't get anything," said Bielefeld's offensive player Patrick Wimmer, "we had a good week of training, but the fight wasn't rewarded."

It was the seventh defeat from the last eight games - Arminia is still in 17th place in the table and is in acute danger of relegation.

After all, a goal was finally scored again, although a Cologne player had to serve for it.

Mark Uth (3rd), Modeste (43rd) and Jan Thielmann (86th) sealed Bielefeld's 15th defeat of the season, which could have been worse given the balance of power.

However, Cologne was not consistent enough in many moments, such as when the Bielefeld goal came about: FC central defender Timo Hübers (33rd) stumbled the ball into his own goal to make it 1-1.

Nevertheless, with 49 points, Cologne is clearly on course for Europe.

Bielefeld had fired the hapless Kramer on Wednesday and made the previous goalkeeping coach Kostmann the boss.

Those responsible for sports manager Samir Arabi hoped that this step would give them an impetus in the fight to remain in the class.