The atmosphere at the European Championship in Germany is excellent. Fans from many countries enjoy creative dances and loud songs. A complete success. This starts on the way to the stadium. Anyone who is at Marienplatz during the European Championship matches in Munich less than three hours before kick-off is greeted from all sides by a cheering crowd of fans. Things really get more exciting on the train ride to the stadium, and even on the meters of the metro to the arena you can see people partying and hear loud chants everywhere.
In the stadium, things continue as usual. At the match between Romania and the Netherlands Both fan camps are in their seats very early. When the warm-up starts, it gets very loud. Then the line-ups are announced – each player is chosen by the Romanians or the Dutch celebrated. Typical songs from the respective countries are played over the loudspeakers of the stadium and ensure that the fans go wild again and again.
Fans create a mood when they want to, not when UEFA wants to
But suddenly it means: only three minutes left to warm up. The screens even count down to the second, so you can see how long the warm-up will take. The players immediately go to the locker room, members of the support team quickly clear away the balls. Suddenly there are only a few people left singing and clapping while the preparations for the opening ceremony are in full swing.
For this, the stadium announcer asks the spectators to go to their seats so that the ceremony can begin. Like in the theatre. And then suddenly it says again: ‘Make some real noise now!’ But that doesn’t work. The fans create an atmosphere when they want to, when they feel like it – not when UEFA wants it.
At the end of the ceremony, the national anthems are played and the good atmosphere is back. The Romanians shout as if there is no tomorrow. The atmosphere was also excellent during the first half. The Dutch celebrate, the Romanians cheer after every tackle. Sounds that are music to the ears of every football fan who is allowed to experience this European Championship in the stadium.
Stadium DJ, dancing bear Albärt and fancam complete the atmosphere
Then it’s break time. The fans continue to celebrate – until suddenly the stadium DJ appears. He plays a series of generic pop songs and the stadium announcer asks the fans to join in and dance again. As support, the mascot Albart, who sways back and forth in front of the Romanian bend, a real dancing bear, serves. The stadium becomes quieter again.
Possibly also because some fans are now using their mobile phones. The screens now have a large QR code that can be scanned to project themselves into the stadium for a few seconds via the “fancam”. A few people are taking advantage of this possibility, but the enthusiasm in the stadium is rather limited. The fans are really in the mood, but for football, not for the event that UEFA tries to make of every match.
Then the players come out again – and it gets loud again. Another 45 minutes of fire, after the match the Romanians celebrate their players for another fifteen minutes. Fittingly, this ends just as a UEFA PR clip is being played in the stadium.
UEFA does a lot of nonsense in the stadium, but one idea really catches on
There is one thing UEFA has to be given credit for: during the warm-up, video messages are played from legends of the respective countries. Gheorghe Hagi for the Romanians, Clarence Seedorf for the Dutch, Sir Alex Ferguson for the Scots.
Every time these legends appear on screen, fans erupt in thunderous cheers. The Romanians were rarely louder than when they chanted “Hagi, Hagi” that night – and they were really, really loud.