The Swiss stay cool
Schotte shocked: “We play football like Deutsche Bahn”
19.06.2024, 18:04
The European Football Championship is set to be the most sustainable in history. Fans will be brought from their cars to the railway line. This is an excellent approach, but the plan is sometimes extremely stressful for passengers. Greetings from Leverkusen.
One thing in advance: this time Deutsche Bahn is not to blame. At around 12 noon, a few idiots, sorry, a few unauthorized people had entered the track somewhere near Leverkusen. The result: a long, very long break. Nothing happened for almost an hour. Noise barriers on the left, noise barriers on the right. There are definitely more attractive backdrops when traveling by train. But you can’t choose.
The train, the RRX, was full. And the mood on board was good too. Numerous Scots and Swiss had made their way to Cologne. The national teams of both countries will meet there in the evening (9 p.m.). They are the European Championship dessert of the Germany game, so to speak. The team of national coach Julian, better known now as “Julsi”, Nagelsmann will face Hungary in the first duel of the second match day in Group A. They suffered a defeat to Switzerland in the opening match – a shock for their coach.
While DFB fans and Hungarians made their way to Stuttgart, the Scots, who had been badly beaten 5:1 by the Germans on Friday, and the Swiss were in Cologne. But the journey was once again interesting. As was the case at the start of the European Championship in Munich, as was the case in the now world-famous “Gelsenkörken”. And there have also been complaints from Stuttgart. Now it’s Cologne. Everything is supposed to be green and sustainable. Parking fees of 24 euros (!) near the stadium are supposed to deter people. A great idea, without irony, but the alternative route has to work too.
Well then, snuff
The Swiss, known for their calmness, patiently endured the train conductor’s announcements. Of course, nobody can do anything about people on the road. Perhaps not about “no information” about the onward journey either. But the fact that nothing happened for a long time after the announcement: “continues in a few minutes” caused unrest among a group of Swiss. One compensated for his dissatisfaction with a good dose of Gletscherprise (editor’s note: a snuff).
The Scots in the car were not heard for a long time. Some had their eyes closed, the night in Dortmund had obviously been short. A surprising number of “Bravehearts” flooded the city’s pubs on Tuesday and enjoyed the spectacle between Turkey and Georgia. It was a party after all. And parties, as the Scots know, are worth celebrating. They had already created some beautiful and emotional moments at this European Championship. They had enchanted Munich, drunk the city dry, and in Cologne they had given a grandmother an umbrella in the pouring rain. The Scots are what the Icelanders once were: cult fans.
When one of them wakes up, looks at the clock and clearly does not think he is in Cologne, he says: “Oh dear, we play football like the German railway.” Football fans in the car laughed their heads off, a very lonely conspiracy theorist rambled about UEFA, Russia and World War III. He said, mainly to himself, that he could not provide any proof, but that was just the way it was. After an hour the train started rolling again. One of the Swiss group lists the next stops on the journey together. There will be seven cities at the end of the trip. Another says: “That’s enough for the next 20 years.”
“The Scots are on fire”
As the train pulls into Leverkusen-Mitte, the fans of the “Bravehearts” sing the hijacked classic: “The Scots are on fire”. A reference to the popular Northern Ireland party song “Will Grigg is on fire”. Is that allowed? Of course, after this journey you can do anything. Although, not quite. When a train passenger pulls into the shadow of the BayArena after the train has pulled in and the doors only open with a delay, he kicks them three times with full force. The four security guards on a nearby four-seater seat inside are not amused.
After the first weekend of the European Championship, Deutsche Bahn had drawn up an initial balance sheet. Rail operations were stable overall, the company announced. Between Friday and Sunday, 1.2 million passengers used the ICE and IC trains. DB Board Member for Long-Distance Passenger Transport Michael Peterson was enthusiastic and praised: “There has never been as much rail traffic at an international football tournament as at this European Championship. We are delighted that 160,000 fan tickets have been sold. In terms of sustainability, UEFA EURO 2024 will set new standards. The team with the most rail journeys in the current group phase is Switzerland. We are happy to host all the teams in the European Championship in the group phase and on the way to the final in Berlin.”