The evening of Wednesday the 20th of April 2016 saw some wonderful weather here in Berlin to greet the long anticipated DFB Pokal semi-final in the Olympiastadion.
| Ticket sales had gone through the roof right from the first day so a huge crowd was expected right from the word go. None of them appeared to have gone to waste as fans arrived by S-Bahn, U-Bahn, car, bus and even bike to enjoy the fine spring weather and the hospitality of the Olympiastadion. |  |
Well what can I say about the DFB Pokal semi-final between Hertha and Borussia Dortmund? I’m afraid on this occasion our boys were outclassed and the better team one. In terms of the support however quite the reverse was the case.
| Berliners came out in force to support their team as 76,233 supporters poured into the Olympic Park from far and wide making the Olympiastadion a sea of blue and white. Hertha had provided a special flags for the fans commemorating the event and gave spectators unaccustomed to twirling scarves the chance to show the team colours! |  |
When I first went into the stadium itself a sizable number of hard core fans were already in the Ostkurve and were drumming and singing with gusto. To give some perspective on the depth of support for this team my arrival was some hour and a half before kick-off and the atmosphere was already buzzing. The YouTube clip below gives just a small sample.
| Timed for when the Hertha team came onto the pitch the ultras had prepared a Choreo that (as it turned out) one of the best shots of the match. It was great to see it unfold as a few tens of thousands fans pulled mobile phones out of their pockets to take photos (including mine!) |  |
Once the time for some football to be seen came there was no fall off in terms of the support. In fact the tempo picked up with flags flying, scarves in the air and vocal chords on overtime. Just awesome – Sha la la la la la la Hertha BSC!
Even when all was lost and the DFB Pokal final dream was finally over the atmosphere did not fizzle out. There were some that left early (there always are) but who cares about them? Certainly not me! As the team approaches the Ostkurve the fans that that started over three hours before were still going.
Believe it or not, there are those that question the support for football in Berlin . . . I know its weird isn’t it.
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