A real friendly game

There was really something going on at Millerntor on Friday. A week before the start of the league, the anticipation of real football could be felt throughout the wider football community. This is actually never the case in test games. The lack of competitive atmosphere also usually puts a dampening pall on the throats of football fans. Not on Friday. The guest at this test, meaningless from a football perspective, was none other than Besiktas Istanbul – multiple Turkish champions. But that didn't play a big role in the friendly match at Millerntor anyway.

The interpersonal aspect was important in this friendly match: African refugees reported on their experiences in front of the fan rooms and there was no real separation between Besiktas and St. Pauli fans. However, the loud Besiktas supporters took advantage of the good acoustics in the north - especially the Carsi, the "Ultra Besiktas". A fan group that has also become quite active in the current disputes around Gezi Park. As a result, expressions of sympathy rained down from all possible corners in the stadium.

FC St. Pauli – Besiktas Istanbul

FC St. Pauli – Besiktas Istanbul

FC St. Pauli – Besiktas Istanbul

Michael Frontzeck

FC St. Pauli – Besiktas Istanbul

Carsi in Bengalo

FC St. Pauli – Besiktas Istanbul

FC St. Pauli – Besiktas Istanbul

FC St. Pauli – Besiktas Istanbul

FC St. Pauli – Besiktas Istanbul

FC St. Pauli – Besiktas Istanbul

I was lucky enough to be able to talk to a photographer on the sidelines who also took photographs at Gezi Park. Not only was he able to tell me a little more about the different groups on the Nord and thus give an idea as to why there were brief scuffles among the Besiktas fans in the first half. It is entirely understandable that different political currents are trying to use such a tense political situation like the events at Gezi Park to gain advantages for themselves. And that doesn't have to be the case for everyone...

The same photographer also told me that he is currently suing a Hamburg newspaper because they printed his report and photos of Gezi Park but reproduced them completely incorrectly. I experience this quite often in Hamburg anyway, that reality doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the journalistic outpourings of certain editorial teams. It is all the more gratifying when reports in newspapers are questioned and individuals defend themselves against false reporting.

So you see: it was a thoroughly political evening. That's why there's hardly any football to be seen in my pictures. By the way: in the cover photo you can see an old St. Paulian and a new player from FC St. Pauli.

By the way, I won my internal bet that pyrotechnics would be used. I was also standing directly in front of the Nord when the Bengalos and firecrackers started. I was just at one recently Game in Portugal and so the lighting and sound didn't really surprise me. However, I confess that I don't like firecrackers - not only because my ears were ringing hours after the game, but also because a folder was carried right past me to receive medical treatment on the sidelines, out of the smoke. Get well soon! Oh yes: I noticed that there was an announcement from the German and Turkish-speaking stadium announcers, but I couldn't understand it acoustically - even though the large-format loudspeakers were quite close to me. What did the ardent fans think about it?

And I still have one question: is a dressed speedster actually a real speedster? I think so, because the last one Speedster at Millerntor was also dressed...