I haven’t written a post for this blog for quite some time.  This has been partly as a result of illness but also being a bit involved with the Don’t Mention The Fussball (DMTF) Podcast.  I have been revived from this blogging slumber by the remarkable match played by Hertha in the second round of the DFB Pokal against SG Dresden on October 30th 2019. 

I’m not going to dwell too long on the technicalities of the game but more on the atmosphere as the evening progressed.  The background of the game was framed by the comparative closeness of Dresden to the Capital, the strength of their fanbase and the decision by Hertha to allow well over thirty thousand yellow clad Dynamo supporters into the Olympiastadion.  The effect was almost like two sets of home fans facing each other across the stadium.  There were rumours before the game that some fans of other clubs were going to infiltrate the crowd in order to make trouble, start fights and so on.  Luckily, as far as I am aware, those fears proved to be baseless and the event passed peacefully and in a good natured fashion.  These factors alone would have been an electrifying experience but the way the game unfolded it turned it into something quite extraordinary.

You really cannot say that the price of the ticket didn’t provide value for money.  None of the normal 90 minutes of football . . . oh no!  We “enjoyed” a full 120 minutes of football plus penalties (if you consider that a bonus).  In terms of the goals they trickled in at regular intervals creating anguish and the relief not necessarily in that order.

The run of play started with Dynamo going ahead with a goal from Moussa Kone after 36 minutes and it was accompanied by the customary site of Hertha Fans burying their faces in their hands.  Not all was lost however as the goal was followed by an equaliser from Dodi Lukebakio twelve minutes later.  With just five minutes to go in the second half things were looking up as 
Ondrej Duda slotted one home from the penalty spot!  Happy days we thought, what can go wrong with just five minutes to go?  With Hertha, five minutes is an eternity in which to mess things up.  Sure enough at 90 minutes Patrick Ebert made it 2:2 and all square with Hertha faces disappearing into those hands once more.

So, penalties . . 

• Patrick Ebert scores 0:1
• Vedad Ibisevic scores 1:1
• Sascha Horvath scores 1:2
• Vladimir Darida scores 2:2
• Janine Muller fails. 2:2. Thomas Kraft Saves!
• Javairo Dilrosun scores 3:2
• Moussa Kone scores 3:3
• Karim Rekik fails (Oh my God - this can’t go wrong now!). 3:3
• Luka Stor scores 3:4
• Davie Selke scores 4:4
• Kevin Ehlers fails 4:4 Thomas Kraft Saves again!!!
• Marko Grujic scores!!  5:4

​The Hertha Fans went mad, absolutely bonkers.  It was a gruelling night of fan experience and it took it’s toll in terms of emotional energy and I suspect physical energy for the teams.both sides to be fair but will never understand those spectators leaving before the end.  Sure it was late and it was cold (the cars were covered in from when we left the stadium) but to miss the final chapters of such an epic battle is crazy.

I made it home by about 02:00 and cracked open a beer to celebrate and thought - What a night that was!

Saturday the 23rd of August saw the first game of the season at the Olympiastadion as Werder came to Berlin.   There was a decent sized crowd there for the match (59,672) and the atmosphere was, as always, fantastic.  A great little Choreo was performed by the fans in the Ostkurve before the start and I managed to catch a bit near the end on my phone to share -

After just 16 minutes our new striker Julian Schieber placed a header past the keeper and into the net. The crowd loved it! Well apart from a few guys wearing green for some inexplicable reason (perhaps they were colour blind - very sad).  Hertha had pretty good control and, if I remember correctly they had 9 shots to only one from Werder in the first half.


They picked up where they left off in the second half where Schieber picked up a second within two minutes of the start! Briefly we were in heaven, but then it all unravelled.  Hertha lost focus following a disputed refereeing decision and then went on to concede two goals in two minutes.  They came close a few times but couldn't score again.  You know things are not going your way when Sandro Wagner is brought on and sadly, it didn't help and at full time it was 2:2.  A few photos from my phone to give a taste of the afternoon.

One piece of bad news was Genki Haraguchi injured his shoulder and it sounds like he'll be out for at least three weeks. It's a shame as he was doing really well with his debut up until that point.

But hey, a point is a point and certainly better than no points at all.  In the coming months Hertha will need to sort their heads out and not allow themselves to be thrown so badly by decisions they don't agree with or feel were unjust.  It's all part of the game and an important one at times like these when two points were lost by a few minutes loss of focus.  Easier said than done I'm sure but onwards and upwards!

May 10th saw the skies above Berlin clear a little as over 76,000 fans made their way to the match in the Olympiastadion. The trains were packed with blue, white and yellow. When we arrived the Terracen by the South gates was packed with Dortmund fans - I think I was wearing the only Hertha shirt there!

Ok the match plan fell apart after 40 minutes and I'd rather not think about how it went. Hertha nearly made it to half time before the flood gates opened with two goals in three minutes from Lewandowski and Jolic. This was to be mirrored forty minutes later by another brace, this time by a a free kick from Lewandowski and two minutes later a goal from Mkhitaryan. Previous posts talked about our back line, well, at one point Marco Reus was left totally unmarked at the edge of the box waiting for a cross that luckily didn't happen on that particular occasion. It wasn't zonal and it wasn't man marking but I guess someone attacked the ball before it got to Reus. Not sure it was a Hertha player though. You just can't play like that and expect not to get hammered.

The heaviest defeat I can recall watching in the Olympiastadion but the atmosphere in the build up was great.  I've added a few pictures below to give you a bit of a flavour of the build up.

Sadly I missed the first the first 30 seconds or so of the Hertha Choreo in the video clip below so you will need to fill in the gap at the start with your imagination!

The visiting Dortmund fans put up a good show as well - credit where it's due . . . a little "Yellow Wall" in the capital.

By half way through the match it had clouded over and the temperature dropped. Perhaps the skies over Berlin were watching the match with increasing concern as well.

Still, it rained overnight so those skies had a good cry and by the following day the sun was back out again - HaHoHe Hertha BSC.

(Enough of the weather metaphor!)

Tuesday evening sees the arrival of Bayern in an Olympiastadion, full to the brim, with the atmosphere buzzing.  The match could, if things go badly, see Bayern become the 2013/14 Bundesliga champions. To say the least, I'm not too keen on that idea. It's bad enough that Hertha might loose but for Bayern to be "crowned" as a result? That would be a bitter pill indeed.

Match day.
Well the sun was shining in the middle of the afternoon on match day in Berlin. I was hoping it was a good omen for later on in the evening but just a few minutes later the sky went black and opened. A deluge of rain and hail with rumbles of thunder in the distance. I hope that wasn't an omen!!

The match

I'm not going to dwell on the match too much. The possession figures say a lot about how it went. Bayern had 77% of the ball and only 7% of their passes went astray. It didn't go all Bayern's way and Hertha were in the opposition penalty area long enough to force the penalty which Ramos put away.

The thing I take away from this match was the superb atmosphere and the massive levels of support for the home team. Even though everyone must have known Hertha's backs were going to be rammed against the wall the chanting and singing went on from start to finish. It was totally awesome!

The video below shows Hertha fans in full voice down perhaps but not defeated!

Well the Schalke game ended in a disappointing 2:0 home defeat.  We deserved more with the way we played especially in the second half but goals from Szalai (26) and Draxler (90) meant no points stayed in Berlin. 
The standard of play was fairly equal and the "one on ones" (Zweikämpfe) were about 50:50 although Hertha had 18 shots to Schalke's 11. Hertha looked dangerous on the counter attack and we had our chances but sadly we didn't take them as Timo Hildebrand made save after save. 

The video clip below shows the fans before the match.

You can stll use cash for the first four matches this season which includes up to the FSV Mainz match on the 28/09/2013.  After that I believe it will be card only.  I got mine from one of the girls that was registering them inside the ground on the first match of the season.  You hand over your 10EUR and it gets charged to the card and they hand it over - job done.  You buy stuff with the credit on the card and deosits for the mugs/glasses get
carged back ointo the card when you take them back.  You use it like an Oyster card for those familiar with that system.