He produced a colourful peace of fabric, which turned out to be a pair of Star Wars pants with Leia on the left, Han Solo on the right and (lucky) Luke in the middle. The force was with us. What a great start to the trip - Dortmund away.
Passion For The Beautiful Game
We spent the two to three hour ride to the Ruhrpott area discussing light saber models, the possible line-up of Eintracht and Australia. A few fellow companions got in touch, either eagerly waiting to join en route, or back from Frankfurt, and given Eintracht’s impressive season the belief was strong that there might be something in that game for us. But then, looking back at 19 years without a win in the amazing Westfalenstadion, that also was a big question mark. When we got to Dortmund Jabba parked the car centrally and we got to the impressive stadium with a capacity over 70,000 by public transport. This area in the West of Germany is where a lot of miners used to work and it’s a melting pot of the country’s football with plenty of Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga clubs being situated very close by (Dortmund, Schalke, Bochum, Moenchengladbach, Koeln, Leverkusen to name a few). You could compare it to the North in England, industrial and full of passion for the beautiful game.
Wurst Case Scenario
We met various other Eintracht fans near the ground for a few beers and the inevitable Bratwurst ahead of the game, which turned out to be a tasty affair. This cold Sunday evening sparked expectations and excitement for a game of football with our Eagles in this classic stadium. A Dortmund fan we chatted to explained that he had a feeling that our goalie Oka Nikolov might play an important part in the game, as he reckoned our New York bound keeper had shown great performances against Borussia in the past (meanwhile Oka has extended his contract to stay at Eintracht for another two years). It wasn’t long until kick-off now and we headed towards the away stand.
Benny ‘Air’ Koehler
We met more mates in the stand which was a packed one, and it was impossible not to admire the sights of the 70,400 that came that night, the ‚yellow wall’ as they call the 25,000 south stand right opposite ours where the hard core Borussia fans are supporting their team from. The ground was packed already as kick-off was close, and after a bit of a struggle to find a spot in the packed Eintracht block we couldn’t wait for the game to start in this gripping atmosphere. And what a start there was to the match, after only eight minutes Benny ‘Air‘ Koehler scored the opener with a header from a Patrick Ochs cross. He’s the shortest player of the squad but already scored 6 headed goals of 12 altogether in Bundesliga, most of them assisted by Ochs crosses. An incredible little side story for the ones who like their stats. The Eintracht stand went ballistic for the first time this evening.
Great Attacking Play
But was the way they played that was so impressive, as they had a lot of great chances throughout that first half, new signing Altintop (picture below) had bad luck when his chipped ball was cleared off the line from a Borussia defender and there were plenty more chances to score. You had to rub your eyes as that was unexpected, that Eintracht dominated the first half in this confident style. The downer came ten minutes after Benny’s opener when Borussian Mats Hummels equalized after a Dortmund corner. In the way the game had developed so far this came as a surprise as the Eagles were the better team by far.
Second Half Drama
At half time the gang met in front of the block and over a lager we discussed what we had witnessed so far: A great display from Eintracht who had put on a real show of play and fight this fine evening. We agreed that some Eintracht goals would surely follow, and now they would happen right in front of our stand. But when the game continued Eintracht was a tad less determined than in the first half and so the big downer came with Lucas Barrios’ scoring the second for Borussia. You could feel within the away fans that this was a big blow as coming back from a goal behind in this footballing boiling pot is a tough challenge.
Forever Jung
But our Frankfurt born and bred youngster Sebastian Jung did not loose his belief, after a corner the 21 year old whacked the ball in from roughly 20 meters distance. It was great goal despite being slightly deflected, and also his first in Bundesliga - what a place he had picked to score it! The second carnival that night started in the Eintracht stand, as probably not many had thought this might happen. The team showed a great spirit that night, and it was a fantastic game to watch on top of that. And Sebastian Jung has shown a great development recently despite tough competition for the right defender’s spot in the first team.
Turnaround With Haribo
What a great night this was. Our mate Honick handed out Haribo sweets after the second goal, his personal award for us, he even didn’t mind that there were none left for himself. The game also turned around in the sweetest way possible – after a pass from Selim Teber our top scorer Alex Meier curled the ball around Dortmund Keeper Ziegler and it was 3-2 for us again! This time the eruption in the away stand probably impressed even the fellows of the ‘yellow wall’, and I will never forget that perfectly timed shot, I still can see it now as if in slow motion, and as if time stood still there for a moment. We mutually agree that Honick will never get any of his own Haribo sweets, and we join the loud Eintrach crowd and the chants of ‘Where is the Yellow Wall?’ and the likes.
A Win For The Soul
15 minutes later we have made it, the death star was destroyed and the rebellion celebrated the triumph over the black and yellow side of the force. The team joined the fans for celebrations, and chucked their shirts into the crowd - a classic football game had come to its end, with the best possible result. To go up one goal against this strong opponent, and to then come back from behind to win the game was a truly spirited performance. You should have seen all those happy and smiley faces around. Many said afterwords that these are the games why they go to see football, these are the games that make up for all the defeats, or the dull 0-0s, and the high efforts you put in to support the team, quite often with a result not that great. But it was different that night, and I have to say it’s been the greatest Eintracht experience in a long time to witness this fantastic game, resulting with the first away win in nearly 20 years, in the best German football ground!
You can see the goals of this game here: http://bundesliga.de/de/bundesliga-tv/ - go back a few slides to the videos o the 21st matchday (‘21. Spieltag’), until you find the clip called ‘Frankfurt überrrascht BVB’.
