Becoming true locals

On Wednesday night, we finally decided to try the other local thing (aside from Oktoberfest) - soccer - I mean, fußball! Michael, Danica and Matt headed out to the Alianz arena during the day while I was at work and managed to secure us tickets for the game that night. Michael also managed to buy us scarves so we fit in a bit more! Naturally we are now official supporters of Bayern München.

The train trip out to the stadium was painful, crammed in like sardines. Everyone was struggling to fit, Matt in particular was squashed, and then he got a bug in the face! I couldn't hold onto anything so I just clung to Michael. And it was just all full of football fans, and a handful of sad looking locals who obviously go through the pain of sharing their normal transport with thousands of loud and obnoxious revellers.

The boys at the train station

At last we got off the train and made our way through the throngs of people till we could finally see the arena itself. It was amazingly lit with red and it really was fantastic to finally see the famous stadium in person. We made our way all the way around the stadium then climbed several flights of stairs. I did mention that we left buying tickets until the day of, so of course we were seated way way way up the top. But to be fair, once we got to our seats, we weren't at all disappointed. The view was spectacular and you could still see everything that went on.

The game itself was amazing. Fast paced and constantly changing. The players were incredibly skilled and for the first time in my life, I was really enjoying a football game. But it wasn't the game itself that had us most amused. It was the crowds.

First, there was the section of red and white supporters right behind the goals. Both ends. But one end in particular had massive flags and these were clearly the season ticket holders. There would easily have been 300 or more of them sitting there en masse and they all had their songs, clapping and waving movements down pat. At one point right near the end, they all turned their backs on the game, linked arms and started singing and swaying to the crowds above them. They also had a zulu warrior move which they did in perfect unison, and a scarf twirling manoeuvre that looked spectacular from a distance!

At one point, these supporters, and the supporters behind the other goal had a clap off. This was incredible to observe and listen to! But sitting high up, just slightly to our left was the support team for the opposition. The Hanover team wasn't represented in great numbers, but they sure brought their voices and their precision clapping! They even brought their own drummer! But we couldn't help but laugh at one particular clap chant. We swear that it went something like this....



clap clap   clap clap clap    clap clap clap.... arsehole! Clap clap   clap clap clap   clap clap clap... Arsehole!

And this was sung particularly after the Bayern München goalie saved the ball!

But ultimately, the commentator was the best. He got the whole crowd involved. The calling and responding by the crowd is all a part of the show. This started at the beginning when the Bayern team were introduced individually. The commentator would announce the player's number, and say their first name, while the entire stadium shouted the surname in unison. It was remarkable. Clearly the players are very well known. The players were shown on the screen but it was clear that most the fans were die hard!








This same call and response technique was used when a goal was scored by Bayern. The announcer would say the game minute in which the goal had occurred, then by who - first name only, and waited for the crowd to call the second name - and then:

Announcer would call:	Crowd would respond:
Bayern München!	Zwei!	(the scores)
Hanover!	Null!
Danke!	Bitte!

Of course this last part is kind of like 'Thank you' and 'You're Welcome' which amused us no end. It was hilarious to hear the announcer thank the crowd for helping him, and even more funny to hear the crowd respond in kind!

Danica and Matt were loving it, and that was before we explained what was being said by the crowd! Once they knew what was going on, they joined in every time.

And there were many opportunities to join in. A the end of the night, Bayern München took the game 4 goals to one. We were very proud to have picked such an awesome team. The goals were all spectacular and we were very impressed. We now cannot wait to go back, and in the mean time, I am looking forward to watching the Bundes League on tv! What is happening to me....