The European Championship in Germany is loud and colorful. The tournament delivers the full stadiums we had hoped for and some deafening moments of celebration.
The weather was bad before Turkey’s first match of the tournament. Really bad. Just an hour before kick-off, a waterfall rushed down from the stadium roof onto the first rows of seats in Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion.
Cancelling the game was conceivable and certainly an option, at least for neutral spectators. But neither the teams nor the fans backed down. When the match between Georgia and Turkey kicked off, the stadium was full and extremely loud.
Cheers over Güler’s goal impressed even experienced Dortmund reporters
The Turkish national anthem: sung along loudly. The spectacular long-range goal by Turkish crowd favorite Arda Güler: the reason for an explosion of joy, something rarely seen even in Dortmund. A decibel meter at the Sportschau reached over 110 dB.
ARD radio reporter Holger Dahl has already experienced a lot in the Westfalenstadion. The Champions League miracle against Malaga, for example. And now Güler’s goal. “I have very, very rarely experienced this stadium so loud,” he says. And of course: the Turkish fans are known for their loud support. 131 decibels have already been measured in Galatasaray’s stadium.
Stadium capacity close to 100 percent
It is possible that this figure was reached on Wednesday evening on one of the fan miles in the country or in the Hamburg stadium, when Cenk Tosun shot the Turks into the round of 16. But it is not only at the games of the unofficial co-host that the stadiums are full and the fans loud. The average capacity in the group phase was around 98 percent. On average, 51,738 spectators went to the stadium per game. The last time there were more was in 1988 – also in Germany (59,243 spectators on average).
It is logical that tournament director Philipp Lahm was satisfied after the first ten days of the tournament. A “very, very nice atmosphere,” said Lahm, who has become a top groundhopper, in a press conference on Monday. He travels by train from game to game and thinks that Germany is a good host and the guests create a good atmosphere.
Sports psychologist: Mood can also have a negative impact
The obvious conclusion that teams like Turkey, Germany or the Netherlands are carried through the tournament by their fans is not necessarily correct. At least that’s what someone who should know says: sports psychologist Bernd Strauß from the University of Münster. “Even well-intentioned cheers can have a counterproductive effect. That’s not what we want here, but it can increase the pressure even more.”
Normally, athletes hardly notice the atmosphere around them during their game. They concentrate on their task. However, a high mood and an unfavorable game could cause the players to concentrate on themselves, “that they think about what will actually happen if they fail now and don’t score,” says Strauss. This is called “failure under pressure.”
Nagelsmann quietly complains about German fans
This causality is not a rule. Of course, atmosphere can also do what it is supposed to: motivate. At least that is what national coach Julian Nagelsmann is hoping for. After the last group match against Switzerland, he indicated that he felt it was too quiet in Frankfurt for a long time. The hosts’ fans, of all people, have not yet distinguished themselves as mood makers, despite many white and pink jerseys in the cities.
“It’s been quiet for a long time,” said Nagelsmann at the press conference after the game. Niclas Füllkrug’s goal not only saved the group victory, but also Nagelsmann’s conclusion: “Such a small explosion moment was not unimportant at the end of the game,” said the national coach happily.
Further highlights are already on the horizon
The current tournament tree still has some potential highlights in store. Netherlands versus Turkey, for example, would be a possible quarter-final. These were two of the loudest and most conspicuous fan camps so far.
The venue would be Berlin. The city with the largest Turkish community in Germany. So there are plenty of reasons to look forward to the next tournament days.
