Matchday: Eintracht Frankfurt v Hoffenheim

When: 1 May 2010 Where: Commerzbank Arena, Frankfurt, Germany

No chance of winning the Bundesliga. Champions League qualification? That’s out too. Even the Europa League has passed them by. With no threat of relegation, Eintracht Frankfurt (9th place) and Hoffenheim (11th place) were left with ‘Die goldene Ananas’ (‘the golden pineapple’) as their only realistic chance of silver(or should that be gold?)ware this season. It had all the makings of a momentous encounter.

Okay, okay, as much as I would have loved to see one of the captains proudly holding aloft a gold replica of a pineapple at the end of the match, I have to admit that the opening paragraph is slightly misleading. There is no real golden pineapple, the term is used by Germans to indicate that a match is a dead rubber. Yes, neither team had anything to play for other than pride. And it showed (highlights here).

Frankfurt were the slightly more forceful in the 1st half but didn’t create a great deal before Pirmin Schwegler put them ahead with a 30 yard screamer just before half-time. Hoffenheim were very disappointing in the 1st half. They have a lot of good young players in their squad, but this season they’ve flattered to deceive. Luiz Gustavo, their Brazilian defensive midfielder, was the pick of their players and my man of the match. He was very composed on the ball and made good use of possession. He did a good job defensively too.

The 2nd half was similar to the 1st, not much goal mouth action and both teams giving the ball away like it was going out of fashion. In the end Hoffenheim managed to overhaul Frankfurt’s lead, thanks to 2 goals from Ghanaian substitute Prince Tagoe. The 1st of which was brilliantly set up by two more promising young Brazilians. Carlos Eduardo’s driving run and through ball fed Maicosuel who laid on the perfect cross for Tagoe to tap home.

I would love to be able to provide a deep tactical analysis of the game but, to be honest, I lost interest. My ‘goldfishesque’ attention span needs constant entertainment in order to keep me focused. Luckily, from my seat at the back of the Haupttribune (main stand), I was able to observe a cracking atmosphere in the beautiful and sunny Commerzbank Arena, packed with 50,000 spectators in that end of season carnival mood.

As an Evertonian, I appreciate a bit of tradition and history when I go to a match, so I always look forward to hearing Eintracht’s pre-match song,‘Im Herzen von Europa’ by the Frankfurt Police Choir, which always gets the faithful home following nicely loved up on all things Eintracht just before kick-off.

Once the match kicks off it’s over to the Ultras in the ‘Westtribune’ ( you guessed it, West Stand) behind the goal, buoyed by their ring leader with a megaphone, hooked up to other megaphones in the stand. His job (how he got it above others I’ve no idea) is to screech chants into the megaphone with as shrill a voice as possible, which the rest of the mob then follow. My German friend ironically calls this ‘organised happiness’, meaning that the Germans are so rigid and lacking in creativity that they need someone to tell them what to sing.  Most of the chants had similar melodies to those you’d hear in English grounds, even sometimes with the same words.  One I hadn’t heard before watching German football is called ‘Pippi Langstrumpf’ (Pippi Longstocking). It’s a source of huge pride amongst fans of all German clubs and each set of fans thinks their version is the best. Personally, I don’t think anyone does it better than the ‘Frankfurter Jungs’.

Whilst my friend’s quip about ‘organised happiness’ was a bit tongue in cheek, there is definitely less wit, creativity and humorous banter than you would normally hear in an English ground. Where 2 sets of English fans will play off against each other depending on the state of play, as well as coming up with witty little numbers about individual players, German fans seem to have a set of songs that they stick to every game.

What I do like however, is that the players at all clubs always make a point of coming to acknowledge their fans at the end of the game. When I say acknowledge, I mean approaching and genuinely applauding the fans, donating the odd shirt or pair of boots, even climbing up the barriers and having a sing-song with the megaphone. To me, it’s one of many examples of German clubs making an effort to maintain bonds with its fans.

English clubs, take note.

Geoff Edwards

Geoff Edwards is a football-mad Englishman who fell in love with a German girl, moved to Germany, and then fell in love with German football (much to the chagrin of said German girl). He can be found most Saturdays in German pubs watching ‘Bundesliga Konferenz’ or at home, looking for creative ways to follow Everton FC on the internet.