This morning, there is widespread praise on social media for Wolves winger Daniel Podence, who stood up for Hwang Hee-chan during a training match against Como 1907.
Gary O’Neil has been putting his players through their paces over the last few days in the blazing Spanish heat.
Training has been good and intense, with some new and returning faces making decent impressions.
Last night, Wolves took part in a training match against Italian club Como 1907, who play their football in Serie A.
It was a chance for Wolves players to get some match action, and an opportunity for O’Neil to try a few things.
He named a different team for each half, and interestingly Mario Lemina was the captain to start the game. Potentially, this could be a hint regarding the coming season.
Wolves ended up winning the game 1-0 thanks to a header from Matt Doherty, which was assisted by Rayan Ait-Nouri.
But the game was sadly marred after Wolves winger Hwang Hee-chan allegedly overheard a racist remark from a Como player.
Hwang reported his to the referee and there was then an angry reaction from the Wolves players. Daniel Podence is then said to have thrown a punch at the Como player involved, leading to him being sent off.
Gary O’Neil confirms Hwang Hee-chan overhead racist remark
After the game, Gary O’Neil said (via E&S): “Hee-chan heard a racist remark. You could see a coming together and Hee-chan was clearly upset by it, as were the lads, you could hear a lot of them trying to comfort Hee-chan and stick up for him.
“Daniel was then sent off for his part in sticking up for him, which obviously went too far. Daniel’s apologised for his part in it already.”
O’Neil went on to say that he asked Hwang whether he wanted to have the match abandoned. The player wanted to continue.
The manager also said that Hwang will now be fully supported by the club following his ordeal.
Wolves have said they will be making a formal complaint to UEFA regarding the incident.
Wolves fans praise Daniel Podence
This story has received quite a bit of attention in the media.
Lots of outlets have covered the story and it has therefore gone far and wide, with many fans learning about what happened.
Many Wolves fans were full of praise for Daniel Podence for standing up for one of his teammates in the face of something so horrendous.
Some Wolves fans liked what Podence did so much, that they have actually called for him to stick around for the 2024/25 season.
As well know, Podence spent last term out on loan at Olympiacos, with Wolves having tried to sell the player last summer. Podence has reportedly been keen to turn his move permanent, and is even said to have bought a house in Greece in anticipation of moving back.
It remains to be seen what will happen regarding his future. But some fans really respect what he did last night and feel he could be great for the group.
Solidarity with Hwang
It is quite remarkable that things like this can still happen in 2024.
It is an absolute disgrace that this still goes on and hopefully there will be some form of punishment for the Como player involved.
The response from O’Neil was really good and you just know that Hwang will have the best support from the club following this, just as he did when he suffered discriminatory abuse from some SC Farense fans in pre-season two years ago.
O’Neil is probably right with what he said about Podence’s reaction. He probably did go too far and Podence is said to have apologised.
But the player is going to get a lot of respect for what he did. Ultimately, people are seeing someone standing up for a friend in the face of something absolutely disgusting.