Saturday at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin: everything you need to know about the international match between Germany and Turkey

The test match against Turkey is not about points, but the match is still important for DFB coach Julian Nagelsmann. The new national coach has just a few games left before having to name a competitive team for the 2024 European Championship in his own country. After three disappointing tournaments, players and fans are craving a sense of success.

Nagelsmann wants to do many things differently from his predecessors Joachim Löw and Hansi Flick. That is why he will probably turn to fresh forces against Türkiye again. Along with former Union players Robert Andrich and Grischa Prömel, Bremen striker Marvin Duksch and reserve goalkeepers Oliver Baumann and Janis Blaswich, there are five players in the squad who have never played for the senior team.

The first two games with Nagelsmann showed a positive trend. After falling behind, they celebrated an easy 3-1 victory against the United States. In the second game of the trip to the United States there was a fair 2-2 draw against Mexico, although in this game the coordination problems in the defense became visible again.

Under Italian coach Vincenzo Montella, Turkey qualified for next summer’s European Championship with wins against Latvia and Croatia. A German did the preparatory work: Stefan Kuntz was Turkey coach until the end of September and achieved an almost perfect result with three wins and a draw in four qualifying matches. However, he fell out with the association and with parts of the team. Shortly before his dismissal, he said: “Players have to get to the level of giving 100 percent. If they don’t give 100 percent, it hurts me.”

Bundesliga fans know what level many of the players can reach at the best of times: with Kaan Ayhan, Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Salih Özcan three players who were born in Germany and trained as footballers here could be used.

When Hertha played Galatasaray in the UEFA Cup in 2008, an impressive 62,612 spectators came to the Olympic Stadium, of which the Turkish team’s fans were “two-thirds”, as Hertha coach Dieter calculated at the time. Hoeneß.

On Saturday, 10,000 more spectators are expected than 15 years ago and it is likely that the distribution between German and Turkish fans will be repeated. Julian Nagelsmann’s team can expect a raucous concert of whistles every time he touches the ball. That’s what the passionate fans of the Turkish team are known for.

In October 2010, the German national team once faced Turkey at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, at that time the main match of group A of the European Championship qualification. Every time he touched the ball, Mesut Özil, then 21 years old, was whistled mercilessly by thousands of Turkish and Turkish fans, and insulting chants were also heard against him. Many Turkish fans were upset by his decision to play for the German team and not for Turkey, his parents’ homeland.

Miroslav Klose made it 1-0 in the 42nd minute and Mesut Özil himself made it 2-0 midway through the second half against Turkish goalkeeper Volkan Demirel. Özil’s celebration was extremely restrained and when the stadium announcer announced the scorer, he was again accompanied by a strident concert of whistles. Miroslav Klose finally scored 3-0 in front of 74,244 spectators.

Overall, the balance speaks clearly in favor of the DFB. In 21 matches, Germany beat Turkey 14 times, with four draws and three losses. The last match was on October 7, 2020. In Cologne the test match at that time was 3-3. Germany’s scorers were Draxler, Neuhaus and Waldschmidt, while Tufan, Karaca and Karaman scored for Turkey.

Spectators should arrive early at the Olympic Stadium and, if possible, use public transportation, police recommend. “The big challenge is the large number of events that occur throughout the day,” says police spokeswoman Dierschke.

There could be traffic restrictions throughout the city. In total, more than 3,000 officers from the Berlin police and the federal police will be on duty on Saturday, who will have to protect not only the international match but also the demonstrations. Due to the dynamic situation, it is not possible to quantify exactly how many emergency services are specifically responsible for the international match, explains Dierschke. But the police expect a peaceful football party.

Broadcast: rbb24 Inforadio, November 18, 2023, 8:15 am