Germany were playing France in Paris on Friday night when a series of terrorist attacks, which killed at least 129 people, hit the French capital. “National coach Joachim Löw and every individual player on the team deserve respect for this demonstration of solidarity with the victims and the entire French people”.
Advertisement
“It is no longer a friendly like any other, it can’t be a game with a La Ola atmosphere”, commented the German Football Association’s stand-in co-president Rainer Koch.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel planned to attend Tuesday’s game along with several of her cabinet ministers.
Germany’s players remained in the stadium overnight due to safety fears and were accompanied by their French counterparts before flying safely back to Frankfurt the following morning.
The Dutch football association (KNVB) has said that Bondscoach Danny Blind will travel to Hannover with 20 players on Monday.
“We’ll be painstakingly reviewing and adapting the security measures in conjunction with local authorities”, DFB security expert Hendrik Grosse Lefert told the sid news agency.
Hannover Mayor Stefan Schostock said the city was using the match “to send a clear signal that we will not allow terror to interfere with our freedom, solidarity and our living together”.
Germany has a good record against the Dutch, with 15 wins in the previous 40 matches, 10 defeats and 15 draws.
However, six members of the squad will not be taking part in the fixture.
Loew will have a few challenging calls to make as he finds himself without Manuel Neuer, Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger, who are all being rested. Holland will want to build from their victory over Wales and also showcase that they have not been knocked too far back having failed to qualify for Euro 2016.
Hanover: What was originally meant to be just another football friendly to try out tactics and players has now changed into a sign to the world as Germany made a decision to play their friendly against the Netherlands here on Tuesday evening.
Advertisement
“The two teams will be professional tomorrow, but the result will not be as important as it normally would have been”.
