Football 3000 police officers on duty
Whistles, boos and pyro all around Nagelsmann’s home debut
As of: 9:29 p.m. | Reading time: 3 minutes
Supporters of the Turkish national team set off pyrotechnics before the game against Germany
Source: AFP/CHRISTIAN MANG
Away atmosphere at the German national team’s home game against Turkey. Even during the warm-up, national coach Julian Nagelsmann’s players were whistled. This continues throughout the game. Before the game, a fan march caused a large police operation.
The game had not even started when the players of the German national soccer team already got a small foretaste of what awaited them in the game against Turkey on Saturday evening in the Berlin Olympic Stadium, which was sold out with 75,000 spectators.
When the three German goalkeepers Kevin Trapp, Oliver Baumann and Janis Blaswich came onto the pitch to warm up shortly after 8 p.m., there was a loud whistle concert. And this was repeated when the field players followed shortly afterwards. When captain İlkay Gündoğan appeared on the stadium screen, loud boos could also be heard. There were also isolated whistles during the German national anthem immediately before kick-off.
The 33-year-old is playing against his parents’ home country for the first time. “It will be a very special game for me, no question about it,” Gündogan said before the game. The FC Barcelona midfielder was born in Gelsenkirchen to Turkish parents and played for Germany’s national teams as a youth. Now he faced Turkey in an international match for the first time.
“You can feel an emotional tension in the stadium”
“When I think about it, it took quite a long time,” said Gündogan, and of course he was referring to his first international match against Turkey. When this encounter last took place in Cologne in autumn 2020, Gündogan was not there. He was infected with the coronavirus.
also read
Now, in the days before the test match, Gündogan said it would certainly not be a normal game for him, but one that would be “emotional”. He has always emphasized his ties to Turkey and supports aid projects, such as most recently after the earthquake catastrophe. “My grandparents, parents and other relatives still live in Izmir, I have many friends there,” said Gündogan.
Early goal for the German team: Kai Havertzs (No. 7) scored 1-0 against Turkey
Source: AFP/RONNY HARTMANN
Tens of thousands of Turkish fans were there on Saturday evening. “In the capital with a very interesting duel, it’s a nice home debut. The team knows what to expect. “You can feel an emotional tension in the stadium,” said national coach Julian Nagelsmann on “RTL” shortly before kick-off. It is the head coach’s first game in Germany since taking office. He made his debut in October on the USA trip against the USA (3:1) and Mexico (2:2).
Before the game there was a fan march by Turkish supporters. They had gathered at Theodor-Heuss-Platz. Shortly after the start of the fan march, some Turkish supporters set off pyrotechnics in the block, even though this was forbidden by the police. The police then initially stopped the march. Once the fireworks had gone off, we continued.
also read
In Berlin, around 3,000 officers were on duty on Saturday for the international match and some rallies that took place throughout the day.
