Untold likes to send its correspondents off to overseas matches. Unfortunately things happen to them. Phil went to the Marseilles game and it took him five days to recover and file his report. Walter made it to Dortmund – and filed his copy 20 hours after the match ended. See – we’re getting better at this. – Tony
By Walter Broeckx
Where to begin my Dortmund stories? Well maybe by the most important thing. So I will come back later to the youth league match. And I will also write an article about the scandal of Dortmund and Germany. But first let us turn our eyes to the events as they happened from around two hours prior to kick off for our CL game at the Signal Iduna Arena, home of Borussia Dortmund.
When standing outside the old Dortumd Stadion ‘Rote Erde’ where they now have installed beer tents and the Bratwurst heaven we went for the Bratwurst. Haven’t eaten anything for more than 7 hours I was very hungry and I allowed myself two Bratwursts. Don’t worry I will train a bit harder in the next days to get rid of the fat.
The Bratwurst was excellent and as Bratwurst should be. Juicy, fat, lots of mustard on it (do it yourself), in a too short sandwich. Forget calories, diets, cholesterol, … not when I am about to see The Arsenal. I can recommend them if you want. And if you like them and don’t mind a quick and fat snack before a game. I confess…I’m one of those people who doesn’t mind.
A nice Dortmund fan came up to us and wished us a nice game of football. But he told us that we should dream about what we did in Munich. Oh no, they were Dortmund and what we did there was possible because Bayern Munich don’t have the same support as they have. He told us we would enjoy ourselves and enjoy the atmosphere but should forget about winning. Oh well…
While standing there after having our copious two course meal of two Bratwurst we had a drink and then I could meet with Ian Jenkinson. He has found our little group after some texting and it was very nice meeting you Ian. We talked for a while, expressed our love for the Arsenal, and for Untold of course. And most of all on how we hope that Wenger will be the man to lead us back to glory in the next few years.
But as it was a cold and wet night outside the stadium Ian and his party decided to look for shelter over there and we followed them shortly after. After a long time waiting for the security check we were allowed in and took our positions in the North stand, opposing that immense and huge Yellow Wall.
Walter and Ian outside the stadium before the game. It couldn’t go wrong, already all smiles
But when waiting for the security check I suddenly knew that we would win today. I suddenly was filled with an amazing confidence. This would be an historical night and I was going to witness it. How did I know this? From whence came this feeling? Well on the outside of the stadium was a big video wall where they showed a few things like Hummels not being ready to play. And then they wrote something that this was their 100th European game at home.
And then came the message that made me so sure. On the wall came the message that up to now no English team had ever managed to win against them in their own stadium. Now if you put such a message up before the game, in your 100th home game…and then have the Arsenal as the away team… This was the moment I knew: tonight will be that night. Tonight we will once again be the first English team to do it. As we have done it before. A remarkable calm came over me. This was the day.
Our Gooners part of the stadium was completely full. And what an atmosphere it was. The Germans are good in orchestrating things and they surely know how to bring their different stands to life with the help of the stadium announcer. So the atmosphere was cracking and it was very loud.
Of course we did our best to make ourselves heard. But I think that it was hard work for most of us. But the way I speak this morning shows that I did my part. We played a very organised game and all players ran and battled. Dortmund pressed us all over the field. They didn’t allow us much space and so we didn’t create anything in the first half. They had two chances coming from us losing the ball too deep. But apart from that lots of noise when they came forward from the crowd but Szczesny had a rather quiet evening in the first half.
In the first 10 minutes of the second half Dortmund tried to start a kind of Blitzkrieg against us. But we stood firm in defence. And after some 10 minutes in the second half I saw the first signs of Arsenal finding the first holes in the Dortmund team. I could sense it, I could smell it.
When Rosicky played the ball to Özil just outside the Dortmund penalty area the magic started. He looked up and lofted his cross towards the head of Giroud. Giroud under the attack of a Dortmund defender headed the ball in to the path of Ramsey who headed it home while risking his head from a high foot of a Dortmund defender. The goal, the now historical goal, happened with me standing some 16 meters away from it. What followed was the biggest eruption of joy I have ever witnessed and been amongst.
We jumped up and down in celebration and it seemed to go on forever. We just couldn’t stop celebrating the goal. From then on we did what we had told each other that we would try to do: silence the yellow wall. Ok I admit that the stadium had its noisy moments still. But I checked it on my recording of the game from a German TV channel and you could hear us. Loud and clear. We out sang the yellow wall. [Yes we heard you on Sky too – Tony]
Just as the Arsenal outplayed Dortmund in the first 10 minutes after our opening goal. We should and could have added at least one more goal at that time. Ramsey again and the keeper making a marvellous block that he knew little about in fact. But he kept it out. From the corner a ball that was saved from the line. And a bit later Mertesacker just missing the cross by centimetres to not make it 0-2. It was all Arsenal on and off the field.
But Dortmund came back to live in the last 10 minutes. And they tried to start a final run at our goal. But once again our Red Wall kept the Yellows and their wall from scoring. We played the ball in the corner for the last minute and if it wouldn’t have been for an error of the assistant who gave offside against Özil when it couldn’t have been offside we still would be playing around in that corner just a few meters away from where I was standing. (Error of the ref: Özil was behind the ball when Bendtner pushed it forward. And you need to be in front of the ball to be in an offside position)
The away end was in ecstasy in that last half hour. You could feel how proud we were. And what a great evening it proved to be. After the final whistle wild celebrations followed. Everybody hugging each other. Hugging my friends from the Benelux Group hugging some German Gooners next to me, hugging Macedonian Gooners in front of us. And we kept on signing and shouting.
Even the German player that was interviewed next to the pitch by the ZDF reporter couldn’t understand the questions as we made so much noise I found out when checking my recording late last night. It made me even more proud than I already was.
History happened in Dortmund. And I was there to witness it. And believe me it felt great!
The books…
- Woolwich Arsenal: The club that changed football – Arsenal’s early years
- Making the Arsenal – how the modern Arsenal was born in 1910
- The Crowd at Woolwich Arsenal FC: crowd behaviour at the early matches
- —————————————————————————————-
- The Arsenal History Blog from the AISA Arsenal History Society
-
- The Anniversary Files: January to June
- The Anniversary Files: July to September
- The Anniversary Files: October to December
- The Anniversary Files: January to June
Cracking stuff, Walter. Good read, – glad you had a good trip. 🙂
Great stuff!! I’m totally jealous of you Walter!
That was some great stuff and i keep on saying that we need the kind of support the fans give us away from home. Our away support is fantastic, if only we could make half of this noise at home… Imagine if we could have something like a RED WALL at the Emirates.
best game I have ever been to, even tho the last 20minutes felt like a lifetime!.great to see some gooners in the home stands aswell aha.
I’ve been waiting for this report, Walter – and it didn’t disappoint. Almost felt as if I was there myself!
As you I start with important thing guess what we had on menu at work today? Since some people do not like Bratwurst (weirdos) I was able to take home some leftovers. Ate them while reading.
Great writing Walter (as usual). And I am totally jealous of you (can’t wait to read about youth league review).
Have you had time to check Lukas Podolski’s tweets? He posted instagram video that was filmed last night among away fans… Thanking the fans from getting the 3 points.
I’m really proud of everyone wearing Arsenal shirt there.
Really pleased for you and that you had a great time. Great result now roll on Sunday. Can we keep it going? I certainly hope so.
Good write Walter, really glad you enjoyed the experience & what a great win by the Arsenal.
Great article! Makes me feel like I was there and now got a sudden craving for Bratwurst! It was great to hear the Arsenal throughout the game, especially the end!
Also Walter, looks like Untold maybe getting up to the FA:
http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1608436/fa-closes-loophole-protected-fernando-torres-action-jan-vertonghen-incident?cc=5901
Changing the rules to allow the FA to take retrospective action on incidents the official has “partially seen”.
you lucky lucky man!
The Poldi-video that Finngooner talked about :
http://instagram.com/p/gY–RSOJ8E/#
I was there at the bottom of the stand must have flashed in the screen at some point but can’t find myself to be honest
And I just added a picture of Ian and me before the game. Confident Gooners 😉
@Walter,
Thank you for the article and thank you for “singing” your heart out. I think the whole Arsenal contingent players, management and Fans did us proud.
Walter,
You lucky bastard!
I was raving like a madman last night alone in my living room while Mrs Bootoomee shushed me for the sake of the girls. I couldn’t be shushed 🙂 Anyone who saw the game yesterday with other Gooners have no idea how lucky they were.
I do think that if any Gooner deserved to be there yesterday, it’s you Walter. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Walter you sexy beast! Brilliant write up 🙂
Bootoomee
All the fans yesterday deserved to be there, specially Walter. When u hear Arsenal chants on TV from the most noisy stadium, man they make me proud. They deserve the praise to help securing the win too.
Walter,
The Link u provided shows how important its for the players to feel the support of theit fans. Ramsey being an ideal case
Indeed Yassin as we have always said at Untold: supporting the players who have a difficult period in their career is the most important thing. We have done this all the time and defended our players till they go away. But as long as they are pull on our shirt, we will be there to support them.
And to be honest 24 hours after the win…I am still buzzing for the moment and despite me having slept only 4-5 hours last night I still can’t go to bed and have to relive it again.
Va Cong, I think the sexy beast is Ian 🙂 🙂
In some ways that was even more impressive than the Bayern win. Amazing how this team spirit has grown in the last year or so, seems a better spirit than under rvp or cesc, not blaming them …or at least not blaming one of them…but there is just something about this bunch that many on here have picked up on long ago. The improvement of Ramsey to world status, the signing of Ozil, what Giroud has become….then well Gibbs Bac Szcz Jack Flam Arteta The little Mozart, Bfg, Kos the subs that come on to close the deal…wellthe whole team really. Something special happening before our eyes, and people on here spotted it before many others. Hate to gloat…but…
Oh my god!!
What a trip, what a game and what an experience!! Like you Walter i am still buzzing from it. I have just arrived home in Dublin this hour. It was a long trip but so so worth it to witness that piece of history. To have soaked up all that Dortmund pressure and then have the gushing release when Ramsey scored was absolutely amazing.
There was a half second pause when Ramsey’s header crossed the line before bedlam ensued! Myself and my friends grabbed each other, then other random Gooners jumped on us in delight. It was just one of those moments that i will never forget.
And you and i are very much on the same wavelength Walter because i was looking at that very same big screen while we were waiting to enter the stadium and i thought that it was very unusual for them to be putting those kinds of stats up. My German is very basic but i could understand what these messages were saying. They were just tempting faith and i too thought that maybe today is the day.
After such little sleep over the past two days i am going to bed now but tomorrow i will upload a clip that i have of the last 60 seconds of the game, the final whistle and the wild celebrations and singing that followed.
Wow, i’m going to need to take a week off work to recover from that!!
A couple of stats that i just love (i haven’t checked the first ones validity): 1. That is the first time in 60 matches that Dortmund have not scored at home. And 2. We have now beaten both of last seasons CL finalists this year away from home while keeping two clean sheets.
But we haven’t played anyone of note yet, Wenger is clueless, and all the players are rubbish…..
Man, i just love being an Arsenal fan………
Agree Mandy, there is something special in this squad, a very good group of players with a great team spirit and then some.
We also have a nice blend of experience, players nearing their peak and young developing players. Lets hope two of our experienced players, Sagna & Rosicky sign new contracts.
Finally, I don’t think this team is quite the finished article, I suspect AW plans one or two tweaks to the squad to strengthen it further.
@Walter and Ian
Thank you for adding the pictures!
The only time I’ve been in Germany, was to change planes at Frankfurt. There was a promise of bratwurst in this article. 🙂
—
So, here is my attempt on the wurst story about Dortmund you’ve probably ever read.
Earlier today, I went looking (on the Internet) for best bratwurst.
According to Google, Canada is part of the USA so when I search for stuff I obviously am looking for information in the USA. So, a bunch of places in Wisconsin think they make good bratwurst. Well, to all the people who think Wisconsin is best, I will put in a mention of Stawnichy’s in Mundare, Alberta, Canada. Stawnichy’s is Ukranian, but the Germans were in the Ukraine for a long time, and maybe something rubbed off? (Half my heritage is German Ukrainian.)
Fine, look for best bratwurst dortmund. Now all the hits are from websites in the UK about people drinking beer in a pub and watching Dortmund on TV.
Do some more digging. I have tried to learn German 3 times (it is my heritage on both sides), but the vocabulary ties me in knots. But I know some words. I found a web page in German which seemed to be about the best wurst in Dortmund. As near as I can tell, it wasn’t bratwurst they were talking about, but currywurst (I could be spelling that wrong). I think the name of the shop is Wurst Willi’s, and it is both a restaurant and a fast food place. Where it is in relation to the stadium, I haven’t a clue.
There is something about Dortmund being known for mixing mustard with ketchup. I didn’t look into the whys and wherefores of Dortmund mustard. Yellow or brown seed? Hot? Horseradish in it?
I did find some pictures of lots of brats being cooked at the Christmas Market in Dortmund. But I have no idea if the Christmas Market is open yet (my feeling it is seasonal), or how close it is to the stadium. I did find a page about people going to a game at the stadium, who said that on the north side of the stadium it was common to find many vendors making brats. They also said that you needed to get a “visitor card” in order to buy beer. Something to do with returning the glasses the beer was in?
The German soccer club I used to belong to in Edmonton, got all their bratwurst from the Italian Centre Shop. Gee, how German do you think that sausage was? 🙂 (The Germans were not nearly as long in Italy, as the Ukraine.) They also had a thing about steak tartar (sp?). And a German community (from the Sudeten originally) near where I went to high school, was into schnitzel. And it seems there are restaurants in Dortmund known for schnitzel.
I hope this wasn’t the worst wurst news you’ve seen. 🙂
Walter & Ian, you guys sure sound like you had an amazing time over at Dortmund. There was something about that game that made it feel like a final, could it be the levels of noise? Perhaps, but the atmosphere felt electric even for us watching from home. It was nice to see some gooners sitting among Dortmund fans, looking so relaxed.Didn’t think that was possible, and Sky kept showing it. Amazing game, amazing result.
Records……No records are safe when Gunners come marching……
ARSENAL away fans silence the Dortmund yellow wall…..will this make the record books too?????
Just read another stat. We are the first team in 9 years to beat Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at their homes in the same year.
Anybody got any more??!
@ AL
Yes the atmosphere was unbelievable and there was just a line of stewards between us and the Dortmund fans. There wasn’t the slightest hint of trouble.
In fact, in the lead up to the game we encountered a lot of German (and a few other nationalities) Gooners. There was a big mix of Arsenal fans and it was fantastic. It is great to know that some were mixed in with the Dortmund fans.
Nice to see the picture of Walter and Ian.
@Ian – that is so good to hear that there was no trouble between the fans.
Walter, Tony,
Really looking forward to this Sunday. I am convinced that this team has the technical as well as mental ability and resolve to atleast get a point of not win at the Old Ffartroad. But I keep worrying about the referee – innumerable fouls committed by their players which go unpunished, the lopsided interpretation of the offside rule in their favour, and the numerous soft penalty decisions that have been best described by Le Proff as “Old traffordesque”.
I want to write to PGMOL and ask them, not for any favours, but for a fair refereeing in the game. No Favours for any team! Just stick to the rules! Is there an address where I can contact them?
Hi ,Walter and Ian , thanks for the input and thanks for for cheering the guys on !
Thanks for bringing down the famed yellow wall !
Up the Gunners !
Walter and Ian
So very well done and written. Thanks.
rantetta
I know this is off subject here but I’d like to thank you for your comment in my piece on Arsene and for the clip of Arsene at the presentation. Thank you.
Editors,
You, like me, may wish to reflect on what happened last time we had a 5 point lead in the Prem…
Be that as it may, Come on Arsenal.
charles veritie
You are truly welcome.
The thing is, I just love Mr Wenger so much, for what he has brought to our club and the way he conducts himself.
I promised myself I’d write him a letter for his 60th birthday. I didn’t. But you wrote an excellent article that spawned beautiful replies (and a tear or two from me). Please keep writing.
For anyone who may have missed that article, here’s the link.
Happy Birthday Arsène Wenger
Arsène Who?
http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/archives/31871
Rantetta
I like your comment ‘and the way he conducts himself’
I could not agree more with you on that.
Because I followed up Glen Hoddle’s move to Monaco I began learning about Arsene but of course only scraps in all we had then the English press.
When he arrived at Highbury we began to get interviews with him and saw the way conducts himself. I could see why David Dean was so impressed with Arsene.
Once again thank you for your kind words of appreciation.
Another one for the stats junkies; Arsenal were the first English team to win at the Bernabeau in 2006, and now we are the first English team again to win at Dortmund. No mean feat, given that both stadiums are fortresses where even the very best have to be at their absolute best to come away with anything:)
@AL
Nice one!!