Geordie Al's Groundhopper Scrapbook: MSV Duisburg 2-1 SV Sandhausen, Sunday 7th April 2013

Monday, 8 April 2013

MSV Duisburg 2-1 SV Sandhausen, Sunday 7th April 2013

Scarves for sale on the walk to the stadium

Another team on its last legs is Sandhausen, seemingly on a return trip to 3.liga. In Duisburg, they huffed and puffed but they never looked likely to have enough, even if the game was a tale of two penalties – one given, one not. After a smooth ride from Cologne, I alighted at Duisburg Hbf having already seen the MSV Arena from the train. A long walk, but I had an hour and a half, so off I went. With a plan to stick roughly to the train line, I strolled in and out of housing estates, while the stadium buses (#945?) kept passing. The timetable suggested about 20 buses in the hour before kick off, so plenty to choose from.

Sandhausen fans arrive, beers and all.

As it was, I was there in 30 mins, suggesting it can’t be more than a couple of miles or so. With an hour to the main event, I had a saunter around the stadium’s circumference. Down one side, I found a lake with a restaurant (the ‘Seehaus’) and further on, a water skiing lake, including jumps. I don’t remember ever seeing one of these next to an English ground. There was still room to pass an athletics stadium before circling round to MSV’s main stand.

Every stadium should have a water ski park.

Where to watch the match, then? Being a supporter of the underdog, and imagining there’d be plenty of space on the away terrace (I was right there!) I plumped for the away end (€11). With experience, I can compare the two ends thus:

Home end: sunshine, warmth, beer
Away end: chilly in the shade, alkohol-frei beer

It was still an entertaining arrangement though as the Sandhausen hordes (!?) came with a plethora of flags and banners and all stood, in black and white, behind one barrier. A colony of penguins, if you like. As the match went on, 9 or 10 splintered off, I think at the constant bullying of the cheerleader to get behind the team. Certainly, with so few there he could personally eyeball you while pressing you to sing your heart out for the lads. I gazed at the pitch. Hope he didn’t take it personally.

The Zebras' mobile club shop. (I thought zebras were black and white?)

For the most part, I had a willing accomplice. A Sandhausian, who now lived in Cologne, got chatting to me. He’d come by bike, chained up right outside the away end. I explained that nobody, but nobody, cycles to a game in England. (I once cycled to Crystal Palace from my Camberwell hutch. Never again – the maps don’t show them goddamn hills!) Standing away from the ‘mass’, I think we were the only ones not in black and white.

Entry to the away end. It's like Hillsborough never happened.

Duisburg went ahead with either a well worked corner routine (their version of events) or appalling defending. Sandhausen gave away a cheap corner, a lame tackle from the left back which should have been won cleanly. The ball was played along the floor to the edge of the box for an onrushing Duisburger to hit home 1st time. As I read that, it sounds better than it was. Still, he kept it down well. Meantime, a pile of Sandhausians stood in the 6 yard box waiting for the inswinger.

Sandhausen ultras

The equaliser came via a smart looping header (though I half expected an offside flag) before the game was decided in the space of a minute. Sandhausen missed a good chance to go ahead and
Duisburg ran to the other end to see the forward round the keeper and get taken out. Blatant pen though surprisingly no sending off. The spot kick was despatched, low to the keeper’s right as he dived left. Then the game petered out, MSV missing a few half chances before Sandhausen had a blatant penalty turned down. What with the offence taking place in a corner of the stadium with about 150 fans (120 of them Sandhausen) you even heard the sound of boot on shin. Still, it’s the ref’s job to get things wrong…right?

I'm loving this design (boring inside though).

At the end, I snuck round to the home end to have it confirmed their beer wasn’t ‘alkohol-frei’ (it wasn’t). Still, this cost Duisburg €5 of my hard-earned, since I wasn’t buying a wurst without a beer. They mustn’t need the money**. I was further disappointed to find the club shop(s) had no badges to sell before I jumped on the 945 back. The journey to the station was quickened by heading down the autobahn for a junction or 2. Dull, but efficient. Luckily, I scraped into a station shop just before they closed and grabbed a couple of beers for the journey. Clever thinking – the train was delayed 20 minutes!

The basics:
€11 entry
€0 everything else. No badges, no alcohol in the away end.

Actually, I think I bought a programme. I'll have to dig it out. €2?

Attendance: 11,354

** At the end of the season, Duisburg were relegated for financial irregularities, despite finishing 11th. Sandhausen was the side reprieved. What a delicious irony.