It was the spectacular appearance of the NFL stars in Germany. The fans also played a role, but they were disappointed at the Allianz Arena.
Munich – It was jNot exactly a sporting treat, but the event was an NFL game between the Carolina Panthers and the New York Giants was a great success. For the second time in the history of the National Football League there was a game in Munich Allianz Arena and the fans came from everywhere – and celebrated wildly. Another highlight was the song selection and some videos for “Country Roads” went around the world.
NFL game in Munich: Great atmosphere – fans want to shout “Major Tom”.
But another song caused confusion in the Allianz Arena. During the game, fans were able to vote via a QR code on the scoreboard as to which song would be played during “Sing Along”. A “Sing Along” is intended to motivate fans to sing along and it is of course best if many people are looking forward to the song. Besides Country Roads, it was “Major Tom” that most guests were most looking forward to.
In addition to celebrities such as Markus Söder, Manuel Neuer or Machine Gun Kelly, the fans were the real winners, as the atmosphere from the arena made its rounds on social media. And then the moment came, Major Tom was recorded. The song became particularly famous (again) as part of the preparation for the EM 2024 as goal music in the preparation games and the unofficial anthem of the DFB-Teams.
“Four, three, two, one”: NFL fans still continue to sing in German in the Allianz Arena
But then the little shock: It was the English version of the Peter Schilling classic. Instead of “Then it takes off and completely detached from the earth, the spaceship floats, completely weightless,” the chorus was introduced as: “Four, Three, Two, One. Earth below us, drifting falling, floating weightless, calling, calling home”.
The fans boycotted the English chorus and simply sang the German version after “…two, one”. However, there was a slight kink after the chorus when the second verse was in English again. There was already confusion about the song during the European Championships; UEFA wanted to play the official European Championship hit after German goals.
A fan who thought he had voted for the German version of Major Tom told tz.de: “That was really crap. I was shocked.” Nevertheless, (almost) everyone cheered about the game. Only the New York Giants fans had to leave the stadium with a slightly depressed expression. In overtime they were lucky at the coin toss, then immediately lost the ball and the Carolina Panthers were able to celebrate their “home win” with 20:17. The game was officially considered the Panthers’ home game. (ank)
