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Maina and his fellow FC Koln teammates were abused and peltered with objects by furious Fortuna Dusseldolf fans during their 2-2 draw in a 2. Bundesliga clash that took place last Saturday.
Kenyan midfielder Linton Maina has reacted to finding himself at the center of an ugly incident following FC Köln's hard-fought 2-2 draw against rivals Fortuna Düsseldorf in a fiery Rhine derby.
After delivering another standout performance and scoring his third goal of the season, Maina was shockingly pelted with projectiles and subjected to abusive chants during his post-match interview.
As Maina stood for an interview with Sky Sports reporter Thomas Wagner, things quickly took a turn when hostile Düsseldorf fans began hurling insults and objects at the 25-year-old.
Their chant, “Every Cologne player is a son of a b**ch,” reverberated through the stadium, and the situation escalated further when an e-cigarette was thrown toward the Kenyan international.
Wagner, clearly taken aback, was quick to call out the fans’ behavior, stating, "Something is being thrown at Linton. That's pretty antisocial, you could say."
Despite the chaos, Maina maintained his composure, choosing not to let the hostility fully disrupt his interview. However, he did not shy away from expressing his frustration about the unsavory situation.
"To put it bluntly, it feels like crap when you get something like that at the last second," Maina shared candidly. "I don't know whether I should be angry or disappointed."
The Harambee Stars prospect was already in the spotlight for an on-field altercation with Düsseldorf forward Jona Niemiec, which saw him receive a booking in the dying seconds of the match. Yet, it was the post-match abuse that left a bitter taste, overshadowing what should have been a positive reflection on his performance and the derby’s intensity.
Maina’s reaction to both the missile-throwing and the general hostility of the Düsseldorf crowd was commendable. The midfielder, who has enjoyed a blistering start to the season with three goals and three assists in just six matches, admitted that the recent string of results had been frustrating for his team. Reflecting on FC Köln’s back-to-back matches without a win, Maina described the situation as a "catastrophe."
“Everything is fine, everything is fine,” he initially said before expressing his deeper frustrations. “We have to be somewhere else on the table. The one point from the two superior games against Magdeburg and Düsseldorf felt like a catastrophe.”
The Rhine derby may have ended with a dramatic draw, but the unsportsmanlike conduct of some Düsseldorf fans will leave lasting memories for Maina, who continues to be a crucial player in FC Köln’s push for promotion back to the Bundesliga.
Despite the hostile reception, the police were satisfied that no major violent incidents took place during the derby, with operations manager Thorsten Fleiß noting, "I am glad that the focus of this football match was on sport and that there have been no major violent incidents so far."
Maina’s calmness under pressure and resolve to keep pushing his team forward speak volumes about his character. If his current form continues, both on and off the pitch, it’s clear that Linton Maina is set for an impactful season in Germany’s second tier.
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