Watching Live Football Match

Before I went to Germany, the only thing that crossed my mind whenever the name ‘Bremen’ pops up is ‘Werder Bremen’; the football club in Bremen. Although I’ve heard about ‘4 Musicians from Bremen’ tale when I was a kid, I really don’t remember it until I have arrived here.

So, of course watching Werder Bremen live in their stadium is one of my must things to do. And even if I could do more, like working part time for them, that would be lovely! But apparently it’s not easy. Getting the ticket is so difficult. Tickets have been sold out weeks or months before the match itself. Well, maybe in winter it’s easier to get the ticket. But freezing in the stadium for 2 hours? Naaah, I’d better wait.

Luckily, I know somebody that has a boyfriend who work for ticket sales :) How’s that… After months trying to look for info, suddenly the info comes to me… God really works in mysterious way!

But still, it’s not easy to get tickets. The tickets have been sold out, so the only chance is waiting for people who return their tickets. After waiting while praying, then the good news came: We got the tickets!

So this is it. Finally I get a chance to see European football match live; after just seen it in TV for several years. I will feel the atmosphere. I will feel the excitement.

On the D-day, we’re 8 people in the end. We watch it from the standing sector, the cheapest one. We buy for this sector because we want to feel the real excitement, and not because of any financial reason. Standing sector is the place where all the party happens. However, there’re 2 standing sectors: one for the hard core fans on the right side and the other is for calmer die hard fans on the left side. As a foreigner girl, I am not advised to go to hard core fans sector. (There’re 3 foreigner girls in our group). I think I can understand this situation as in Indonesia I also stay away from the potential-riot-making hard core fans.

I never have been to Werder-Stadion before.

So, although I know that it’s located in suburb area, I am so surprised to see that the stadium is located close to private housing. My God, I wonder how it will be if the match end up in riot??? Maybe that’s so Indonesia!!

Today, May 10th 2008, is the last home game of this season for Werder Bremen. The opponent is Hannover 96. As Bayern Muenchen has won the Bundesliga title, Werder Bremen needs to stay at 2nd position in order to be able to compete in European Champions League. Also, Werder Bremen always claim itself as the strongest team in Northern Germany; so to win against other Northern football team is a must. And I’ll be witnessing all of these ambitions.


So there I was, joining other 42,099 fans in the stadium and absorbing the aura.
We arrived about 1 hour before the match started. And some minutes before the match, the players start to do their warming up. To welcome the players into the field, the announcer will say the first name of the player and the fans will scream the last name. For example, the goalkeeper: Tim Wiese. The announcer will say, “Tim” and the fans will scream “Wiese!!!”. For the players who only have ‘one name’ like Naldo and Diego, there’re other rules. For Naldo, the announcer will say, “Nal… Nal… Nal…” and the fans will scream, “Do!!!”. And for Diego, the announcer will say, “Dieee…” and the fans will scream, “Gooo!!!”. So lovely :) And of course, when Hannover players were announced, we all just scream, “Booooo!!!”

Finally, the match will start. However, there’s a ritual before it started. The anthem of Werder Bremen is aired and all the fans stand up and lift their scarf. They then sing along together. Very nice! This is exactly the atmosphere that I want to feel: being in the middle of the football crowd singing their anthem. I feel really really grateful.

Then, the kick off! The party is started. Singing and shouting are continuously filling the atmosphere to support Werder Bremen. Of course the hard core fans sector is the leader in directing what to sing or shout. During this, I learned a song about Werder Bremen is the number one team in Northern Germany and some supportive shouts. Cool!!!

And after about 14 minutes, then the first goal for Werder Bremen is made. It’s a very nice collaboration between Naldo and Hugo Almeida. After the goal, the announcer guides the fans, that the one who pas the ball is, “Nal… Nal… Nal…” and the fans shout, “Naldo!!!”. Then the announcer says that the goal scorer is, “Hugo” and the fans scream, “Almeida!!!”. After that the announcer asks about the score like, “How’s the score for Bremen?” the fans shout, “One!”. And the announcer asks again, “And for Hannover?” the fans scream, “Null!”. Then the announcer says, “Thank You!” and the fans say, “You’re welcome!”.

After the Goal

In the first half, the score is 2-0 for Bremen. We’re happy but we hope that there’ll be more goals in the 2nd half because Hannover goal will be in front of our seats. And apparently our wishes are coming true! More 4 goals are created in the second half, make the final score becomes 6-1 for Werder Bremen. I even can record the 4th goal with my camera because the goal is initiated by penalty, so I am well prepared. Diego’s penalty is blocked but then Ivan Klasnic can take advantage of the rebound to score. I upload this video in youtube. In less than 24 hours, this video has been viewed for more than 100 times although I haven’t told anybody about it!!!

The Goal

There’s also a slight drama from this game. The 3rd goal scorer, Tim Borowski, is withdrawn after making the score. This would be his last home game with Werder Bremen as in the next season he’ll join Bayern Muenchen. When he’s walking to the dressing room, he has to walk about half a stadium. All the fans are shouting his name emotionally, expressing their thankfulness. In the other hand, Tim Borowski also bows and claps, appreciating the fans. It’s so touchy!

When the game is over, all players walk circling the stadium, thanking the fans while distributing some balls. I feel so happy and content that I can experience all of these. Everything is so perfect. The weather is so perfect at that time, it’s so warm and sunny. The score is good, it’s the biggest score for Werder Bremen during this season. And this is the last home game, so the stadium is full capacity and the fans go crazy. Sooo perfect!!! I hope this wouldn’t be the only live European game that I watch. It’s just the beginning…

For more videos, check out at http://www.youtube.com/user/seafoodgirl