Will Berlin survive the British invasion?

You can see and hear them everywhere. They drink beer from plastic cups in the fan zone under the Brandenburg Gate. They occupy the Irish pub on Hackescher Markt. They step off late trains to the Hauptbahnhof. They take off their shirts. They show off their tattoos. They sing “She’s Coming Home.” They hang flags over the Spree. The English fans are flooding into Berlin. Meanwhile, Berlin is flooding them. And Berlin is hoping it can somehow survive.

The local daily Berliner Zeitung is not playing diplomacy and asks directly in its headline: “Will there be mass brawls in the European Championship final?” The days in the German capital have been very tense recently. On Friday, the city of 3.7 million was visited by the Austrian extremist Martin Sellner, who gave a lecture in the district of Lechterfelde Ost about a white Europe and the expulsion of Muslims from the country. His speech was drowned out by a noisy anti-fascist demonstration. On Saturday, an anti-Israel march was held in the district of Schöneberg under the slogan “Stop the genocide in Gaza.” During the demonstration, clashes with police broke out and several people were taken to hospital. A few days ago, a 37-year-old Cameroonian man died in a knife attack. He was attacked because he was blocking a parking space with his car. Such scenes no longer affect Berliners. They are used to it.

The French writer Honoré de Balzac predicted of Berlin in the nineteenth century: “It may one day become the capital of Germany, but it will always remain the capital of boredom.”

He was very wrong.

Battles on the horizon

Police officers expect there could be more abuse during Sunday’s final. Everyone remembers the disgraceful scenes at Wembley three years ago, when a crowd of drunken hooligans stormed the pitch, kicked and trampled on the guilty Italians, attacked the police, and stuck fireworks in their wake, leaving a very unpleasant memory.

Now the English without tickets will surely gather at the Olympic Stadium. According to the British media, fifty thousand fans have gone to Germany. Berlin airport authorities estimate that up to two hundred and fifty thousand passengers will pass through the airport over the past weekend. Ticket prices on the black market start at 1,300 euros. Twenty-five thousand islanders have already traveled to Dortmund for the semi-final. However, at that time, few believed in Gareth Southgate’s creeping team.

But faith is now much greater. One good game for the English was enough, in which they finally played without the handbrake. Foden looked like a Premier League star, the midfield dominated, and there was no need to save his skin with a penalty in the last act of extra time or after the penalty shootout. For those who travelled to Germany from the islands, there were also nineteen thousand English people living in Berlin. They could be seen during the match against Holland in the fan zone at the Brandenburg Gate, where most of the crowd praised the “Sons of Albion”. German services do not expect any excesses from them. The British minority in Berlin is seen as dandy, arrogant and pretentious.

On the contrary, those who have already arrived or will go to Germany. During Euro 2024, the English have already had a fight with Serbian fans in Gelsenkirchen, and exchanged violent blows with the Dutch in Dortmund, where chairs and tables were thrown out of a pub and the police had to disperse the crowds. They also clashed with Germany after their match against Spain, forcing them out of the tournament. They provoked them by throwing beer glasses at them and singing: “Have you ever seen the Germans win a war?”

Then the Germans decided to win the first match. On the fist.

Zero Kanye address

Gareth Southgate also had beer mugs thrown at him after the goalless draw with Slovenia in Cologne. The most criticised manager of the entire tournament has reached another European Championship final. The experience of that game will give us the right mindset about what lies ahead, about the media and all the noise surrounding the final. We will be calmer this time. Harry Kane said in the press conference before the match. He added: The way the tournament went built our faith and resilience. And those are the qualities that distinguish those who win tournaments.

Haters might ask after these words: How could the England captain know this? The 30-year-old striker has not won anything in his career so far. And when he came to the Bundesliga to finally lift the trophy, Bayern had to acknowledge their league supremacy for the first time in twelve years. Even Wolf Voss, the commentator for the semi-final between the Netherlands and England on MagentaTV, made fun of the fact that Kane could be a goalscorer on German soil – and no one else. The striker himself has already made three attempts – in the 2019 Champions League final (0-2 against Liverpool), the 2021 Euro final (defeat against Italy on penalties) and last year’s German Super Cup against RB Leipzig (0-3 defeat). In the press conference, the player admitted that he would trade all his individual achievements for the team title.

The title that all of England are waiting for, as their team will play in the final of the tournament for the first time without being the host. Another guest at the press conference at the Olympiastadion, Jesus Navas, certainly has the talent of Gareth Southgate. The veteran of the Spanish team faced the English coach on the pitch – in 2006, in the UEFA Cup final, which Sevilla beat Middlesbrough 4-0. Some time ago. The victory in the 2012 European Championship, also achieved by the winger, seems like an indelible memory.

– Everything I do touches me. It’s amazing to be here at 38 years old and playing for my national team. – The football dean is excited. But the spotlight will not be on him tomorrow, but on the brilliant Lamine Yamal, who turned 17 yesterday. He is so young – as Dawid Misliwiak of the channel “Uwaga!” “Scientific gibberish” calculated – that he has lived 0.5% of his entire life on the German euro!

Luis de la Fuente, in turn, has the following recipe for success: We have to be ourselves, but better versions. I will ask the players to have a good time. I will tell them that I am proud of them whatever the final result. And I would like to add that they are role models for our entire nation.

Spain are the favourites for Sunday’s match and a guarantee of fireworks. The last final of the international tournament at the Olympic Stadium provided more than enough of them. The Italians won on penalties, in Zinedine Zidane’s farewell match, and had Marco Materazzi thrown to the ground and left the pitch in the 110th minute, his head down beside the glowing golden trophy. We won’t despise epic moments as much, but let’s not let anyone settle scores with violence this time in Berlin. Not on the pitch, not off it.

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