In the round-of-16 match between Germany and Denmark of the Euro Cup that took place at the Westfalenstadion, also known as Signal Iduna Park, absolutely everything happened and it was one of the most striking days of the competition without a doubt. Beyond the fact that both teams offered a very attractive, daring match with many scoring opportunities for both teams, the weather and human stupidity agreed to be protagonists in the 90 minutes of the match.
Germany sealed their place in the quarter-finals with a solid victory thanks to goals from Kai Havertz (penalty) and Jamal Musiala. Julian Nagelsmann’s men missed clear chances that left more than one person in the stands impressed, but they did not end up succumbing to one of the unwritten rules of football: ‘he who forgives, pays’. What’s more, the semi-automatic offside saved their lives and they were in favor of Denmark by disallowing a goal by Joachim Andersen by just a few millimeters, a situation that was much discussed.
But the match in Dortmund will be remembered for two external events. The first forced the match to be stopped for a total of 25 minutes in the first half due to a very dangerous situation for the protagonists. The second, which went unnoticed by almost all spectators, delayed the start of the second half, and some feared that the worst would happen.
Far from the situation turning positive, it started to hail and the stadium’s leaks turned into quite strong and even high-risk waterfalls. However, the spectators took it with great good cheer and took advantage of the opportunity to bathe in the leaks. The weather was on their side, and Oliver decided to continue the match 25 minutes later.
A hooded man on the roof of the stadium
The start of the second half was delayed as if that were not enough, but very few knew the reason for this. The newspaper ‘BILD’ has revealed the reason why the main judge Michael Oliver was observing the ceiling together with the captains of both teams, Ilkay Gundogan (Germany) and Kasper Schmeichel (Denmark) before the last 45 minutes of the duel began. round of 16 In the realization nothing was clear.
A hooded man with a backpack had climbed onto the roof of the stadium in the middle of the match, and the German authorities feared the worst with whatever intentions this person had. Luckily, it was all just a scare and the relevant German police authorities detected him during the match.
According to the information released by the German media, a helicopter came to illuminate the area and he was kept under surveillance throughout the second half of the match. Once the game was over, he was arrested at gunpoint. He is 21 years old and it is not yet known what his intentions were.
An impressive thunderstorm
Michael Oliver, the referee of the match, stopped the Germany-Denmark game in the 36th minute of the first half due to a thunderstorm that could have posed a danger to the players who were playing on the pitch. The referee, who had been warned about the weather conditions a day earlier, did not hesitate for a second to send the players to the changing rooms. “Due to the bad weather conditions, the game has been interrupted. More information to follow shortly,” read the video scoreboards at Signal Iduna Park.
