Edin Terzić names Mateu Morey as Borussia Dortmund's "hidden hero"

Borussia Dortmund's 3-0 win over SC Freiburg was an action packed game filled with positives for the Schwarz-gelben. Donyell Malen, Ian Maatsen, and Niklas Füllkrug all had a say in the final result, and on most match days any of them could have stolen the headlines with their performances.

The player that stole the show however was a certain Mateu Morey. Morey, who has been struggling with injuries since the 2021 DFB Pokal semi-final against Holstein Kiel, was finally able to make his competitive return for the club, and the Westfalenstadion crowd welcomed him with open arms like a long lost son. It was a beautiful moment for the player, the fans, and the club; a moment summed up by head coach Edin Terzić in his post match interview:

"If you want to pick a player, lets [pick] Mateu Morey, because Mateu is our hidden hero. He is here now for more than four years. Every player that we sign we try to convince them by showing him this stadium...and Mateu was here for four and a half years, and for three years now he has been doing his rehab to get back, and he never played in front of the spectators in our stadium...it was a very long way from the hospital to the pitch, and if you want a hero of the day it has to be Mateu Morey."

- Edin Terzić

Despite not having played in front of the fans as Terzić notes, Morey got a full taste of the passion they exude upon his return, with the crowd welcoming him back in immense fashion. It's a moment that Morey has said that he won't be forgetting anytime soon in his own interview with the club after the game:

"I'll stick all the videos and photos of this day in an album. I want to have something like that because this day was really special. It'll always be in my heart...I worked so hard for this moment. In the end I did it. Now it's time to keep up the fight for more."

- Mateu Morey

Morey's "fight for more" will certainly include a fight for more minutes on the pitch. With the departure of Thomas Meunier to Turkey, the right back position has freed up some space that Morey can try to capitalize on. The player will have to compete with Julian Ryerson and Marius Wolf for minutes at right back going forward but his few minutes on the pitch against Freiburg showed promise. The player even almost scored on his return, which would have been an exemplary statement to make.

Morey's contract is set to expire at the end of the season, but it isn't a foregone conclusion that the club will not offer him an extension. It will certainly depend on both fitness and performances, but also on the personnel that the club look to target in the coming months. Time will tell how Morey's story at Dortmund will continue to unravel, however having faced the hardships he has and having worked his way back to fitness, he deserves the opportunity to show what he can do in this Dortmund side which, barring Ryerson, doesn't have a starting right back to dispense with anyway.