No one can stop the Turkish party night
The Turkish national team and their fans in Berlin celebrate a historic party night. The DFB team has to endure a fierce concert of whistling because they are not playing as emotionally as their opponents. There was also a middle finger to the AfD.
Somehow it was bound to happen. The first defeat under Julian Nagelsmann for the German national team and then, of all things, on their home debut, which degenerates into a kind of away game. Against Turkey. In Berlin. This is not a normal soccer match. Certainly not a simple "friendly". It's about much more, as the closely interwoven history of the two countries for more than half a century ensures. It's about pride, identity, homeland. And at the end there is a long, historic Turkish party night.
In front of 72,592 frenzied spectators in Berlin's Olympic Stadium, the vast majority dressed in red and white, a young and euphoric Turkish national team celebrated their first victory in Germany in 72 years, since the 2:1 win in June 1951. Hand in hand with the fans, the men of coach Vincenzo Montello, who has now won all of his first three games, earned the triumph with more heart, passion and fight.
"We didn't have the emotionality in all positions," said national coach Julian Nagelsmann accordingly after the game on RTL. "A few did very well, but some didn't reach the emotional level to push themselves to their limits." The Turks managed that on the pitch and in the stands. And that had an effect. Striker Niclas Füllkrug later acknowledged: "You have to say that we had an away game here in the capital. The Turks built up a lot of emotion. That's when we start to flounder."
Whistles for Gündoğan and the gray wolves
Before the DFB team swims, Turkish pop songs play in the Olympic Stadium and Summer Cem from Mönchengladbach raps: "Easy easy, tamam tamam". "As if we're playing at home," predicted Montello on Friday, referring to the crowd in the stands. Even before the game, thousands are celebrating his team on the streets of Berlin. They come from Berlin, Dortmund, Frankfurt and Kiel. They are all happy that they can finally see their national team play in Berlin again. They are completely over the moon. In sharp contrast to the DFB fans, who have been critical of their team for many years.
The last time they met in front of a crowd was in 2010, when a certain Mesut Özil scored to make it 2:0. At the time, he cheered cautiously and was booed by the Turkish supporters. This time, DFB captain İlkay Gündoğan receives the abuse in his first match against Turkey. For many Turks, players who choose to play for the DFB team but have Turkish roots are a kind of traitor. Unpleasant.
The Turkish party night begins during the day. After the fans have fortified themselves in the restaurants in Kreuzberg in the afternoon, there is a march to the stadium in the early evening with almost 2000 fans, during which there is a lot of drumming and singing. However, there were also incendiary incidents here and there and videos on social media showed symbols of the "Grey Wolves", classified by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as an extreme right-wing organization, being displayed.
"Heuss Turks" and "away victory"
The march begins at Theodor-Heuss-Platz of all places. It was the former German president who guided around 150 Turkish vocational school graduates to Germany in 1958. In Germany, they were christened "Heuss Turks". This marked the beginning of the immigration of the so-called "guest workers", years before Germany signed the recruitment agreement with Turkey in 1961. Exactly 50 years ago, recruitment was finally halted.
History and explosiveness - and yet very few fans with a Turkish migration history, just as few Gündoğan or the Cologne-born Salih Özcan from BVB, who played for the Turkish side, will think of Theodor Heuss or the stop in 1973 when they think of the history of the beginnings of their parents and grandparents, their families in Germany. Although they contributed enormously to the German economic miracle, many of them hardly felt accepted by German society as equal fellow citizens. The term "guest worker", which conveys meanings that enable exclusion and discrimination, already ensured this.
Even today, unfortunately, there is still often a division between "us" and "them", although it should be clear in both Germany and Turkey that people can have two identities, both Turkish and German, within themselves. That would also send a signal against groups like the Grey Wolves. But back to soccer. Back to the Turkish party night. Which, at the beginning on the pitch, isn't really a party at all.
Turkey started aggressively, with fans cheering frenetically and consistently whistling Germany out of possession. But the cold shower followed after five minutes: Left-back try-scorer Kai Havertz makes it 1:0. German fans show a sense of humor and chant "away win", the Turkish boos and whistles die down more and more. As vociferous as the Turkish fans were at the beginning, their team was tame on the pitch. At times, the cold Berlin arena was as quiet as it had rarely been in the capital on this eventful Saturday. Çüş.
No political stage for Erdoğan
But with every mini-opportunity for the Turks, of which there will soon be a few, but which do not yet pose any real danger, the fans are happy to shout their hearts out again. Soon the spectators light up the stadium with their cell phone lights. A little kitsch is a must at any Turkish celebration. But leaning back and drinking Çay? No way.
Shortly afterwards, Ferdi Kadıoğlu scored the deserved 1:1 (37'). Maşallah. The stands explode, they've all come for this moment. Turkish jubilation - including a little political explosiveness. In the lower tier, two Palestinian flags are waved alongside the Turkish flags.
On Friday, Turkey's autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had put Berlin in a state of emergency, visited Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and once again caused trouble with pro-Hamas statements. There were a few small counter-demonstrations. "The Turkish president is an Islamist hate preacher. At his behest, the Turkish army is committing war crimes against ethnic and religious minorities on a daily basis," criticized Middle East expert Kamal Sido from the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP). "It is incomprehensible that our head of state and our head of government are rushing to shake this man's hand."
Erdoğan originally wanted to come to the Berlin Olympic Stadium, but then he flew back to Turkey. And so, fortunately, the exciting match did not degenerate into a political stage. There are no other political actions apart from the few flags. People want to watch soccer here. And live. This is a Turkish party.
"Turkish night in Berlin"
At last there's some real action at a DFB match. After the equalizer, every situation, no matter how small, is once again celebrated frenetically - until a geological event causes the final furore. The last volcanic eruption in Turkey took place in Nemrut Dağı in 1881, but with the score at 2:1 shortly before the break, the next one occurred in Berlin.
Kenan Yıldız, in only his second international match, smashed a brilliant shot humorlessly over keeper Kevin Trapp and into the box (45+2). Crossbar, post, goal. The entire Turkish bench jumps up and goes crazy. The kind of emotion Nagelsmann demands. Complete ecstasy, a lead at the break against the great footballing country that coach Montello had proclaimed a European Championship favorite during the week. Easy, easy, tamam, tamam.
After great preparatory work from Florian Wirtz, Füllkrug crashed the party like an uninvited guest with the next German lightning goal, this time shortly after the break (48'). The game now goes back and forth more and more often and is a joy to watch. In the 71st minute, a handball penalty (Havertz) was awarded after video evidence. Yusuf Sarı says teşekkürler and scores in his third international match to make it 3:2.
The party is alive again, nobody can stop it this evening. The DJ has put on the next song, it's time to dance again. Until late into the "Turkish night in Berlin", as the Turkish newspaper "Hürriyet" writes. Because then it's over. The historic victory for Turkey is perfect, the red and white fans proudly watch the best videos from the stadium on their cell phones in the subway. They meet up for a motorcade on Ku'damm and to celebrate at Kottbusser Tor.
"Health for the feet", dear DFB
And somehow Germany also wins in terms of international understanding. After all, the party night is a middle finger to the AfD and right-wing populists who, after the game, rant on social media about the "population exchange" conspiracy narrative originating from far-right circles and claim that Germany is "finished" because of whistles against the national team. In any case, the German team has often been booed recently due to poor results.
In Turkey, people always politely thank guests, in this case after what felt like a home game for the DFB team: Ayağınıza sağlık! "Health for your feet" is the literal translation, which has never been more fitting.
Julian Nagelsmann acknowledged that the German national team struggled with emotion during the match, leading to a less enthusiastic performance compared to their Turkish opponents. This led to a historic victory for Turkey in Berlin, with the crowd significantly supporting their team. Despite the loss, the German team managed to win in terms of international understanding, as the German fans politely thanked their visitors with the phrase "Health for your feet".
Source: www.ntv.de
