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Europa League - Bröndby IF

7/29/2016

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Thursday night saw Hertha play Brøndby IF in the first leg of the Europa League 3rd round qualification.  It was a glorious, warm (if somewhat sticky) summer evening at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark and a good natured capacity crowd was there to enjoy the spectacle. It proved to be a great night to be a football fan in Berlin with a total of 18,454 fans in attendance on the night and, it appeared, about half of them must have taken flares with them!

Walking around Prenzlauer Berg before the match felt like we were on holiday in Spain or some other Mediterranean hotpot.  It felt slightly surreal because of the number of Danish cars and buses parked up in the neighborhood but I guess it was only to be expected. The bars and restaurants had their tables outside in an attempt to lure you into eating and or drinking there.  We plumped for the Golden Buddha in the end, an old haunt of ours.  A nice spicy bit of Thai food washed down with a bottle of Sekt by way of a preemptive celebration!

After eating we made our way to the entrance of the ground and met up with a friend of ours to down a couple of beers before going in.  The atmosphere was added to by the patch of scrub-land next to the entrance being used as a makeshift public convenience / pyrotechnic testing ground!  Also, whilst we were waiting both team coaches arrived with the Brøndby vehicle being greeted by one or two “gestures” by some of the waiting Hertha fans.  

 
For the moment at least I think I’ll just let the pictures below tell the story and perhaps later I’ll type a little more . .
The best single thing from the game itself was the goal from Vedad Ibisevic - what a corker!  

​Check it out on the Hertha highlights below - about two minutes ten seconds in.  Wow.
When it was all over there were the post match celebrations . . . . spectacular but there'll be a fine that Hertha can ill afford because of all of those pryros.  But hey, I was still celebrating!
Ole Ole Ole
Hertha BSC,
Wir spielen im Europacup,
​Power von der Spree!
After this game I think I’ll post something about my thoughts about Pyros in my next post.  Watch this space . . . . 
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An Exciting Year Ahead For Hertha

7/27/2016

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Well last year was a bit of a roller coaster of a season.  Overall Hertha ended in a better position that anyone dreamed of at the start of the year but ride ended with a downhill run that inevitably left fans with an aftertaste of disappointment.
Hertha have not lost any of their key players in the summer period which is pretty good news.  The only outgoing changes being Roy “Beers Up” Beerens  moving to England  (Reading FC) and Hajime Hosogai returning to Jos Luhukay at VfB Stuttgart.  In terms of retentions perhaps the most notable is Jay Brooks who has signed a new contract to keep a little stability in the defence alongside Sebastian Langkamp. 
Hertha need better squad depth to be able think about coping with the Europa League and to this end Hertha have made a couple of signings so far this summer in the form of Ondrej Duda from Legia Warsaw and well rated 19-year old Allan on loan from Liverpool.
With Ondrej Duda Hertha have brought in a young (21), fast, attacking midfielder who has a fair amount of experience for one of his age.  This includes scoring a goal against Wales in the Euros.  Allan supplies another option in central midfield although with a more defensive skillset.  Youngster Kurt could also be given the chance in midfield as could Maximilian Mittelstädt who had a few good spells as an U19 in the National team.  If they are lucky they could pick up some Europa League experience as well.
Naturally, time will tell as to how well these new additions “gel” with the team.  In many ways this is more important than the individual quality of the players

Here we are in late July: the ink is barely dry on Ondrej’s contract, the start of the Bundesliga is still a month away and yet, Hertha are in the action against Brøndby IF in the third round Europa League qualifier at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark on Thursday. 

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It will be my first visit to see a match in this Berlin stadium although I have walked/cycled passed it hundreds of times.  I’m quite looking forward to the event but I hope it all turns out better than Hertha’s last venture into the Europa League in 2009!  More about the game in my next post.
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Brexit

7/19/2016

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The last few weeks have been pretty grim for me if I was honest.  The “great British public” have, in my opinion, been duped by an unscrupulous bunch of political opportunists to voting Britain out of the EU.  I know the eventual consequences are some way ahead of us yet but this event left me feeling as if a close relative had died. I also know the EU is not perfect, it has many flaws, but there are so many little things that add up to something great as well.  How can countries working together be bad? 
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Gatwick airport - welcome to Britain
In my opinion it would have been better to try and fix those problems rather than running away because you’ve been spun a load of lies by a few politicians and the gutter press.  Another thing that winds me up is the high proportion of the leave voters that were “old” - 65+ who "wanted their country back" - whatever that means.  They voted for something that is going to affect the young people of Britain far longer than its going to affect them.  Rant over . . . . . . back to Hertha as soon as I’ve processed some of my training photos . . 
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