Hoffenheim 2-2 1.FC Nürnberg, Bundesliga, att. 25,730
What is there to say about Hoffenheim?
A village team playing in front of 3,000 people not 5 years ago, now
mainstays in the Bundesliga. Of course,
having a tiny stadium in the hills above Hoffenheim was no match for their
meteoric rise, so they’ve gone the whole hog and bought themselves one of those
large out of town super stadia, built in the middle of nowhere yet easily
accessible from the motorway next door. Like the Reebok, then.
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| Pointless signs #647 |
It’s not greatly handy for the pedestrianised populace, though the stadium has
it’s own bahnstop, some 20+ minutes walk away.
For you city types it might even be described as a pleasurable stroll,
through fields of corn. There’s also a couple of biergartens en route and a stall selling hundreds of scarves
(see pic). What is not on display is
stuffed in boxes underneath the tables, where Rangers and Motherwell (amongst
others)had been relegated to. Who’d NOT
want a Motherwell scarf?
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| Why would you? |
Also, one stand sold scarves purely insulting teams (‘Scheiss Bayern’). Now, while I can subscribe to the message,
why would I buy a ‘Scheiss Bayern’ scarf in BAYERN COLOURS? (Or Dortmund, or St. Pauli…take your
pick). Is the idea that I wear it as an
away fan at THEIR ground while sat ‘under cover’ in their end? Cos they won’t be able to read the ‘Scheiss’
bit as it’s round my neck? Equally,
would I hang it up at home? I might hate Newcastle United (however ‘entertaining’
they might be) but I don’t want to see some black and white monstrosity on my
wall, let alone reference to their name.
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| NOT how I got here. |
Today I came from Heidelberg, which meant a rail replacement bus (Germany has
them too) to Neckargemund, then a S3 train to Sinsheim Arena/Museum, calling at
every village on the way. Still, this is a necessary evil if Hoffenheim are to
ensconce themselves as the team of the region.
In this day and age, with
football dominated by the urban conurbations, Hoffenheim need all the support
they can muster. What will happen if
(when?) they get relegated, as many in Germany hope they do, seeing them as
having bought their success (like big teams don’t!)?
I told a lie when I said the Rhine-Neckar Arena is in the middle of
nowhere. There is a large transport
museum next to it, so if you’re interested in planes, trains and automobiles (I’m
not) then you could easily combine a trip to both. It looked impressive to the untrained eye.
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| A farmer arrives early... |
At the stadium, the standing tickets (€12) had sold out, so I had to get myself a seat. The cheapest
was €20, in Sektion R, right next to the ‘Bitburger Kurve’, their main
terrace. Despite worries over
sightlines, I had a punt and booked myself in on the back row. I could always stand. But I need not have been concerned. I was inside the stadium early – partly a
result of Hoffenheim having one of those infernal card systems to buy
refreshments. Well, they’ve diddled
themselves out of some of my money there then. So I decided to take a few pics,
which is how I ended up taking a €41 seat by the side of the pitch. Hurrah, I wouldn’t have to watch the match
through a net.
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| A club shop offering...don't think I didn't consider it. |
The teams came out to a bewildering number of kids waving large flags on the
pitch. The Nürnberg
corner was full, but there were a few away fans dotted around elsewhere. Seasoned Nürnberg fans without tickets
for the away end took over the block next to the away end, so we had the odd
site of a fence separating the away fans from…other away fans. What with the number of empty seats in the
home end, might I make a suggestion to Hoffenheim? Increase the size of the away end!
The official crowd was 25,730 but this looked a blatant exaggeration – there were
way more than 5000 empty seats. I’d have
said a nearer 22k. Were they ‘doing an
Arsenal’ and massaging the figures for sponsors, etc?
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| An interesting sculpture outside the stadium. |
The match was quite a thriller.
Hoffenheim went two up just after half time with a tap-in but in a crazy
opening 15 minutes of the second half, Nürnberg managed to bag
themselves a pair. Hoffenheim opened
with a header from a corner before Modeste, having missed everything else, was
given one on a plate that even he couldn’t miss. When 1.FCN pulled it back (I can’t remember
their goals) the scene looked set for a crescendo, but that was it, save for a
couple of near misses.
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| Hoffenheim ultras pre-match |
There was one point of controversy though, which collided with the one moment
of pure class. In the last minute of the
1st half, Hoffenheim found themselves clean through, wide left, and
the deftest of chips beat the keeper.
Sublime finish – yet it was chalked off.
I thought for offside, but there was no flag. The ref had simply blown for half time. But surely not when there’s a goalscoring chance? And anyway, I could SWEAR the whistle went
AFTER he shot. Note to self: must youtube
this. (Turned out it was disallowed
because the officials wrongly thought it hadn’t crossed the line; the spin on
the ball brought it back into play).
I spoke to another guy later who’d been to the match. It turned out we were staying the same room
at the hostel. He was behind the goal
where the ‘goal’ was scored and he had no idea what happened but he wondered if
the ball hadn’t crossed the line…!
Attendance: 25,730 (Wirsol Rhein-Neckar Arena)
The Damage:€20 ent
€6 badge
€1 prog
= €27
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| Outside of the stadium |
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| Scarves galore |
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| Fence separating the home terrace and seats |
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| Welcome to the... |
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| Plenty of space to move into the expensive seats... |
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| Full time. |
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| The scarf waving says excited, the face says .... |
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| Away fans on the right |
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| The teams come out. |
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| Nurnberg corner. |
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| An interloper in the home end. |
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| Outside the stadium. |
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| Home time! |
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