The opening game of the European Championship between Switzerland and host Germany took place in the Fortuna Düsseldorf football stadium in front of over 53,000 spectators. Was that a good idea?
150 employees transformed the Düsseldorf football stadium into a handball arena within ten days.
Kenny Beele / Imago
Handball in Switzerland and handball in Germany have something in common. The sport is primarily anchored in the provinces. There are clubs in the big cities. But the heart of handball doesn’t beat in Berlin or Munich, but in Melsungen or Eisenach. It doesn’t strike in Zurich or Basel, but in Schaffhausen or Suhr. In Switzerland the scene is small; there are only 25,000 licensed players.
A playground in a well-kept area of single-family homes in the suburbs of Düsseldorf. For once there are no children playing around there, but rather 1,500 Swiss handball players standing on the frozen meadow. The icy wind creeps under the red and white jerseys. Most people wear a thick winter jacket underneath.
They are standing here on this winter afternoon because their sport will be big this Wednesday. The Swiss national team meets hosts Germany at the start of the European Championship. A gigantic handball party is taking place in the stadium where Fortuna Düsseldorf plays football. With 53,000 spectators. World record.
Busloads of Swiss handball players, entire teams, traveled to Düsseldorf. On the playground there is a team from TSV Frick, next to it there is a team from Siggenthal, there are the seniors from Fortitudo Gossau, there is TV Willisau. There is a wooden hut at the edge of the meadow. It is decorated with FC Fortuna logos and is called the “Trinkhalle”. There is Altbier in a can.
The Swiss followers march to the arena with a police escort
The Swiss Handball Association has organized a fan march to the world record game. It starts on the playground. Helpers distribute Swiss flags and posters with the likenesses of the national players. Then the train sets off, with a police escort, the streets are cordoned off. The fans sing: “I was blown away by the Dütsche.” It still remains peaceful. In Switzerland, the police only hand out parking buses in front of the hall during games. The National League A has an average audience of around 600, a provincial league.
The day before the big game, the Swiss national players are in the huge arena. Even seasoned Bundesliga professionals like playmaker Andy Schmid or goalie Nikola Portner look reverently at the roof of the hall as if they were marveling at a cathedral. They aren’t used to such a backdrop either; after all, they competed in the Bundesliga in front of 15,000 people.
To warm up, the national players play football in training: the older ones against the younger ones. This is a tradition not only in the national team, but also in the provincial clubs. The national coach Michael Suter said after the only training session in the arena: “Some of them were happy that they played football in a Bundesliga stadium once in their life.”
You act relaxed. Suter doesn’t want the record setting to take up too much space in the players’ minds. How could this be achieved? Suter answers vaguely.
EHF EURO 2024 launches in front of record attendance: 53.586 spectators in MERKUR Spiel-Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany. This is a new world record for attendance at a handball game. #GERSUI #ehfeuro2024 @dw_sports pic.twitter.com/rtc4wPp0Ng
— Srećko Matić (@srecko_matic) January 10, 2024
“The whole village is there”
In addition to Switzerland and Germany, France and North Macedonia are also playing the first European Championship group game in the football stadium. This was thought up by the European Handball Association and the German Handball Association. They are vying for attention for their sport in a competitive market. This can be achieved particularly well with extraordinary events like this opening game.
There was actually a lot of hype surrounding the game in Germany. The presence in the media and in public was huge. Handball is much bigger in Germany than in Switzerland, with around 800,000 licensed players – mainly from the provinces. From there, a women’s team traveled to Düsseldorf wearing uniform T-shirts. It says: “The whole village is here.”
The evening of the big game. The Düsseldorf Arena is packed, more than 53,000 came. There is a gigantic light show, accompanied by booming bass. Then the band Culcha Candela plays a potpourri of their songs. The names “Monsta” or “Hamma” are the superlatives on this evening. According to reports, the organizers could have sold 70,000 tickets. It is expected that the two games will generate 15 percent of the European Championship’s audience revenue – there are 65 games in this tournament.
The Swiss allow themselves to be overwhelmed by the atmosphere
In the arena, the spectators are now wondering who will handle the record crowd better. The Germans are under immense pressure. The Swiss know this and are hoping for a sensation. But they allow themselves to be overwhelmed by the atmosphere. The speaker whips up the mostly German audience. “And now 50,000 are singing the German national anthem!” he shouts.
If the hosts are outnumbered, the entire arena rises. The Swiss players are overwhelmed by the scenery and the noise. They don’t even come close to being a sensation. Lose 14:27.
“We played against 50,000 people”: a lot of work for the Swiss goalie Nikola Portner.
Patrick Suephke / Imago
The goalie Portner is the only Swiss who comes close to normal form. Last year he won the Champions League with Magdeburg. The final took place in front of almost 20,000 spectators in Cologne. Anyway. After the European Championship opening game, Portner said: “We played against 50,000 people. The pressure from the audience overwhelmed us.”
Portner also alludes to the criticism that was voiced here and there before the game. It was said that the arena was too big and the atmosphere was too unfamiliar for the players. The exceptional Swiss player Schmid thinks that handball loses part of its essence in the football stadium. Because the audience’s reactions arrive late. But Schmid didn’t want to use the unfamiliar surroundings as an excuse for the defeat.
The organizers’ plan worked and the world record was achieved. It is unclear whether it will last long. In 2028 the European Championships will take place in Spain, Portugal and Switzerland. A rumor was circulating in Düsseldorf that the Spaniards were considering holding the European Championship final in four years in the Bernabéu football stadium in Madrid – in front of 85,000 spectators.
For the Swiss fans, the trip to Düsseldorf doesn’t seem to have been worth it. There was a crushing defeat that most people didn’t notice much because of the great distance from the field. But appearances are deceiving. After the game, the Swiss and Germans celebrate in the old town of Düsseldorf, where there is bar after bar, it is said to be “the longest bar in the world”.
A Swiss fan talks to a German supporter in front of a bar. He wants to know where she comes from. The young woman answers: “I’m a country bumpkin.”
Julian Köster has an easy time of it: the Swiss allow themselves to be overwhelmed by the crowd and suffer a crushing defeat at the start of the European Championship.
Imago