Xavi Simons no longer understood the world. Why was everyone against him? Why didn’t these people just let him take the corner kick? Why did they spoil the fun of his beloved football game? And where did all the hatred against him come from? The 20-year-old midfielder, son of ex-professional Reillio Simons from Surinam, is a child of limitless football: born in Amsterdam, raised in Spain, trained at Paris Saint Germain, matured into a top player at PSV Eindhoven and RB Leipzig . But now he was standing at the corner flag in the Müngersdorfer Stadium in Cologne and found himself in the middle of a controversy that he could not understand: the inner-German East-West conflict.
The German Football League has designated the current Bundesliga match day as an anti-discrimination match day. The teams of 1. FC Köln and RB Leipzig were the first to spread the weekend’s motto on Friday evening by presenting a poster with the slogan “Together! Stop Hate. Be a team.” contained. The DFL wanted the campaign to be seen as a “clear statement for diversity, respect and social cohesion”. However, the fans in Cologne’s south curve countered the amicable motto with their own motto, and it was anything but conciliatory.
Cologne fans chant: “We hate East Germany”
They weren’t content with booing Xavi Simons (because he celebrated his goal to make it 1-0 too much in front of them) and, as usual, using banners to castigate the unloved intruder RB Leipzig. This time they excluded an entire unpopular people by shouting “We hate East Germany” several times and in increasingly loud chants. With which the supporters of 1. FC Köln expressly make a statement against create social cohesion.
Leipzig’s Xavi Simons celebrates his goal to make it 0-1.
(Photo: Federico Gambarini/dpa)
Leipzig’s 5-1 victory soon faded into the background of reflection because of the affront. “We lost against an opponent who plays in a different league than us,” Cologne managing director Christian Keller summarized the sporting facts as briefly as possible before commenting on the curve’s provocations: “Such chants are of course not acceptable. I understand “It’s not what goes through people’s minds. It’s just a minority. But it’s a shame that this minority exists.”
Leipzig coach Rose: “There are a lot of cool people there. Like here. There are a few idiots. Like here.”
Marco Rose, who was born in Leipzig, also commented on the issue; he was asked to comment at the press conference – not without pointing out that he himself comes from East Germany. But the RB coach did not allow himself to be lured into complaining about the state of the republic and unity. “I’m here to connect, not to divide. That’s why it’s important to classify that,” he said. “Don’t read too much into it,” he recommended: “It’s 4:1, 5:1, football is an emotional game.”
And then Rose formulated a message that suddenly filled the prescribed anti-discrimination day with real life: “The people who don’t know it so well over there, they should come. There are a lot of cool people there. Like here. There “There are a few idiots. Like here. So in the end everything is actually very, very similar. That’s why we tore down the wall at some point, even in our heads.”
The Leipzig players took no notice of the chants. They celebrated their clear success with beautifully scored goals against a Cologne team that had defended the draw more happily than convincingly for an hour, but fell apart after Belgian Lois Openda’s 1-2. The RB professionals are used to antipathy from the stands when they play for so-called traditional clubs, but it is always only about the product called RB Leipzig and not about its East German origins. “We knew it would be a disgusting away game,” said national player David Raum, and even if he was just referring to the sporting conditions – floodlights, rain, an opponent in a relegation battle – he also had the evening in all other details aptly summarized.