The exuberant wave of Turkish joy sweeps across Dortmund
Turkey begins its Football European Championship with an enormous wave of support. The city of Dortmund has been under Turkish control since morning. The first caravans and a sea of red-white head towards the stadium.
Two hours before the game, authorities had warned of this. A ferocious storm unleashed itself over Dortmund. The feared strong wind stayed away, and the thunderstorm barely missed Metropole. But it rained heavily instead. A short video at X shows a waterfall that pours from the roof of Westfalenstadion into the interior. The opening game of the EM for Turkey will begin at 6 pm (also on RTL and in the live ticker at ntv.de). Their opponent is Underdog Georgia. The sky set the stage for the match in Group E. It will be a wet battle. Workers needed. Moles, who dig up the softening lawn near the Red Earth.
The rain only sluggishly paused the massive Turkish wave around 4 pm, when it poured down so wildly that shoes sank in large puddles. Thousands of fans who had yet to reach the stadium were eagerly seeking shelter: They went to the many pubs, restaurants, under gas station canopies, and every unoccupied house entrance was swiftly taken. For a moment, the city was actually quiet.
But quiet was the wrong word for what was going on in Dortmund before the game. In the afternoon, around 15,000 fans, according to the police estimate on ntv.de, had set out for the arena. The train station was a riot of red and white. Everything was loud and jubilant. This also applied to a small degree to the supporters of the opponent, as the Georgians also use these colors. Over the city wall, the first caravans, horn concerts, and everywhere the flags of Turkey rang out. A small taste of what was about to erupt in the evening was given by the team of coach Vincenzo Montella, who were set to lay the foundation for a successful tournament start.
Up to 80,000 Turkish fans in the city
A tournament where the Turkish expatriate community feels like a second host. Nearly three million people with roots in this country live here. And in Dortmund, the community is significant. Of the 600,000 inhabitants, almost 40,000 have Turkish ancestry. On the streets and squares of the city, they celebrated, while the pubs were primarily taken over by English and Scottish fans, who were also in large numbers in Dortmund. Red-white clusters also formed at drinking halls, loud, boisterous, and peaceful. The fan march, which had set off in the afternoon, was also full of enthusiasm. The wave rolled through the city, Turkish popstars were rumored to have been present.
At the fairground, just a few meters from the stadium, fans took refuge during the heavy rain under large canopies and covered passages and continued their wild party. The "Turkey, Turkey" was sung again and again, flags were waved, and people jumped up and down. Greater excitement can scarcely be imagined. The storm was at best a minor mood dampener. But truthfully, not really.
Up to 80,000 fans were expected to be in the city, many of them wanted to watch the game of their ambitious team at the Fanzone at Friedensplatz as well. However, due to the warning of heavy storms, it had already been decided not to open this one on this Tuesday. The same applied to the other three EM host cities in North Rhine-Westphalia - Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Gelsenkirchen, all of which also had a substantial Turkish community.
"Safety of Fans is priority"
"Dortmund was looking forward to a large fan party with tens of thousands of Turkish and Georgian fans in the city," said Martin Sauer, Dortmund's EM representative: "The safety of fans in our city is of utmost importance to us." Therefore, we had asked beforehand not to come if one didn't have a stadium ticket. However, many fans had made arrangements in social media. It had been mostly peaceful until the afternoon, a police spokeswoman told ntv.de. A colleague added: "It's a bit louder and more emotional than usual. But the mood is good."
Upon reaching the stadium, the fan hordes were drenched, but elated. The fans focused on the "Westfalen-Cases", which fell from the roof - until it all became chaos and Turkish fans turned their attention. The Ay-Yıldızlılar (Moon-Stars) bus drove into the underground garage. Deafening noise echoed under the ceiling. Turkey, Turkey, Turkey. Galatasaray-, Fenerbahce-and Beskitas-jerseys side by side under the red flag with crescent and star. That's what makes an EM special.
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Turkey will face Georgia in the opening game of the European Football Championship 2024 at 6 pm. Despite the heavy rain, up to 80,000 Turkish fans are expected to flood the city of Dortmund, with many seeking shelter in local pubs and restaurants.
