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A Halloween match against Gladbach

10/31/2015

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Well it was a fine sunny autumnal day that greeted Borussia Mönchengladbach to the capital to face Hertha on match day eleven of the Bundesliga. I for one approached the ground with a sunny disposition after spending the morning walking along the Spree enjoying the autumn colours. The fine weather made it easy to forget that it was also Halloween and there were horrors yet to unfold on this day.

As you can see from some of the photos below it was a great afternoon for football with it warm enough for me to be wearing just jeans with my Hertha shirt and scarf (up until the first half at least). The game however didn’t go quite to plan with Hertha making unfortunate mistakes and only keeping 42% of the possession. The price was paid after one save from Jarstein was followed up by another shot that he couldn’t get to and Langkamp couldn’t touch for risk of knocking it in himself. Sadly, just two minutes later Per Skjelbred lost possession and the resultant shot picked up a slight but cruel deflection into the back of the net. Then, to add injury to discomfort, Salomon Kalou who had a few attempts at goal was hit on the temple by a bullet of a ball to leave the field with what turned out to be mild concussion just before half time. With two goals conceded in two minutes and our striker leaving the pitch covered in blood all before half time, this was starting to live up to the Halloween billing!

The second half only slightly deviated from the “nightmare on Herthastraße” theme with a slight pullback from Sebastian Langkamp resulting in a yellow card and a penalty which swiftly converted into a 0:3 lead. At the other end Alexander Baumjohann was pulled and tripped in the box giving Hertha a penalty this time. Baumi feinted to the right and slotted it high into the back of the net. For a few minutes we thought we had a slight chance but it wasn’t to be and the extra time fourth goal for Gladbach added insult to injury and concluded the Halloween horror.

In just six days’ time we go to meet Hannover ’96 in match day 12 so there is little time to dwell on Halloween and equally little time to recuperate and regroup for that key away game with H’96 fresh from a 2:1 away win at HSV. Onwards and upwards Ha Ho He!

Here are a just few photos of the day and a video showing the support from the Ultras and the Ostkurve.

The Ostkurve in fine voice just before the teams emerged
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Berlin Festival of Lights 2015

10/14/2015

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Whilst many of our players were running around Europe during the International break Berlin celebrates its Festival of Lights.  During the festival many of the major landmarks are lit up with moving lightshows to impress tourists visiting the city and the Twittersphere is filled with #festivaloflights and #BerlinLeuchtet hashtags.  Some of the displays are only put on for selected days but the core ones, at the cathedral, Brandenburg Gate and various buildings just off the Unter den Linden go on for just over two weeks (2.-18.10.2015).

Anyway, here are a few pictures to give my reader a snapshot of my wanderings over the last few days 
The Berlin Cathedral / Berliner Dom
The Brandenburg Gate / Brandenburger Tor
 . . . and a few more random snaps . . .
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On the 25th Anniversary of Reunification - HSV

10/5/2015

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This was a busy weekend in Berlin.  It was the 25th anniversary of the reunification of Germany after the fall of the wall on the 9th of November 1989.  The celebrations were muted compared to those for the fall of the wall last year but there is no surprise there bearing in the effect the division had on the city.
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The weather had been wonderful in Berlin in the days preceding the weekend and it provided a great build up to the Hertha game against Hamburger SV in the Olympiastadion. 

Over 65,000 fans made their way to the ground to support their team in the blazing sunshine. 


The Ultras had prepared a Choreo to celebrate the anniversary and there was a great atmosphere leading into the match.  A couple a beers outside the Osttor and a snack from one of the stalls outside set the scene!  The Choreo was superb (see last post) and the crowd was well up for a great match. 
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The theme was the divided Germany over a Hertha flag with the grey wall running between the two halves. When the wall falls the two halves came together sandwiched between banners saying "We combine East and West because Hertha stands for all Berlin".
Powerful symbolism combined with organisation of epic proportions from people that some would right off as a troublesome rabble!

From the home teams perspective at least, they were rewarded in spades!  I’ll leave the in match reports to people far better qualified than me but I will impose on you my thoughts as how Hertha plated on this day.  Clearly the score line would be enough to warm the heart of any Hertha fan even on the coldest Berlin night but perhaps there was even more to this game.

As I have said many times before I know nothing about football and any views I express here are without the benefit of replays and zooms by enthusiastic cameramen.  For me, as a fan looking down on the pitch, there were a couple of standout points and these were both at the front of the team  I my opinion Salomon Kalou had a much better game.  Not only did he score the opening goal (and a cracker it was s well) but he performed better as an overall player.  He held the ball better, he was not so easily knocked off the ball and he even did a bit of barging himself.  He was not the lack lustre character we were sadly becoming used to.   Long may this continue and all credit to the man and whatever brought about the change!
Secondly, our new striker Vedad Ibisevic;  he finished off the game where in the past we would somehow managed to throw it all away at the last minute.  Perhaps he will gel at Hertha and bring the goals we so badly need. 

Who know, perhaps he could be the inspired signing that will keep Hertha, in the short term at least, away from the danger zone and in a position where we can seriously build to the future.  I for one really hope so.

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Hertha's Einheit Choreo Against HSV

10/4/2015

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On the 25 anniversary of the reunification of Germany Hertha played Hamburger SV in the Olympiastadion and here is the Choreo that the Ostkurve put on for themselves, their team and the other fans.  The game that followed was an impressive 3:0 win, more about that later!
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