Fans in Germany’s happiest city deliriously celebrated after victory over Freiburg, but even Toni Schumacher sees that feet must remain on the ground
Long before the final whistle, the crowd had broken into song, about the team, the club, the city and the immeasurable joy of a most magical relocation. As per usual, the 47,000 were gathered to worship at the cathedral to Kölsche self-love, the Rhein-Energie-Stadion, on Friday night, but the 3-0 half-time lead meant that everybody was suddenly somewhere completely different, out of their seats. In the stars.
In Germany’s happiest place, the citadel of carnival, people don’t need much of an excuse to have a shindig in the streets: for them, being from and in Cologne is cause enough for celebration. The rather undistinguished fare served by 1 FC Köln over the last couple of decades never spoilt the party – it only hardened the resolve of the locals to have a good time. On Friday, however, they were at last rewarded with something real to cheer about; a result that lifted Cologne “to the place that fits our wonderful city and its people, for the first time that I can remember” as their deputy keeper Thomas Kessler put it very ceremoniously. Köln were the best team in Germany, first in the table, “on top for one night!”, in the breathless headline of Express.
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