The September 11th attack
German fans, players show support for U.S.
Associated Press
German soccer fans waved American flags in stadiums yesterday and held banners saying "You'll never walk alone" in tribute to terrorist victims in the United States.
Associated Press
At games around the country, players formed a circle and held hands during a moment of silence before kickoff.
Soccer fans in Leverkusen, Germany, for a first division match hold banners reading: "Stop the terror." and "USA - We are mourning with you."
The advertising signs around the field at Munich Stadium were draped in white sheets that read, "Give peace a chance." A bomb scare, however, kept 46,000 fans waiting outside the gates until an hour before gametime.
"In the second half the mood lifted some," Bayern Munich vice president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said. "Soccer succeeded in diverting people a little bit from the current events."
Many players, coaches and league officials had protested the Bundesliga's (league's association) decision to play.
FC Kaiserslautern coach Andreas Brehme had trouble enjoying his team's 2-0 victory over FC Nuremberg on a day when a minute of silence was held in stadiums before gametime.
"After the terrible events of the last few days, I don't have any desire to speak about the match," he said. "I couldn't even celebrate or enjoy our goals today."
In the game between Schalke and Borussia Dortmund, fans waved U.S. flags. A banner read, "Soccer is secondary — even this match." Before the game, officials from the two teams held a prayer service at the chapel inside Schalke's stadium.
Andreas Moeller, who played on Germany's World Cup and European Championship teams, scored the only goal in Schalke's 1-0 victory but did not want to discuss the game "because of the situation."
League officials met for six hours Thursday and decided the Bundesliga would play this weekend as a step against terrorism.
Many players, however, had difficulty going about business as usual.
"I told my players if they have problems playing today, they could have the day off," said Wolfgang Wolf, coach of VfL Wolfsburg.
WORLD CUP QUALIFYING
• Saudi Arabia, China win: Saudi Arabia beat Thailand 3-1 yesterday in a 2002 World Cup qualifying game preceded by a moment of silence for victims of the terrorist attacks in the United States.
In the day's other qualifier, China defeated Uzbekistan 2-0 to stay on track for its first appearance in the World Cup.
At Bangkok, Sakesan Pituratana put Thailand ahead in the 28th minute, but Sami Al Jaber, Abdullah S.M. Binghehan and Obaid S. Al Dosari scored for the visitors in the second half.
Saudi Arabia (2-1-1) moved up to second place, one point behind Iran (2-0-2) in Group A of Asian qualifying. Thailand (0-2-2) is in last place.
At Beijing, China won with goals by Li Weifeng in the 62nd minute and Fan Zhiyi, who plays with England's Crystal Palace, in the 75th.
China (3-0-1) leads Group B in Asia with 10 points. Uzbekistan (2-2-0) is in second place with six points.
China has failed in six previous attempts to qualify for the World Cup.
