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 . .
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.
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!
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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