DORTMUND, Germany — In anticipation of the FIFA Club World Cup, the historic German football club Borussia Dortmund, also known as "BVB," invited me to Germany to experience a weekend of soccer and better understand how the game is played in their backyard before the team comes to ours.
From the moment I arrived in Dortmund, it was clear that one thing above all else matters: Soccer.
From the murals on walls to the stickers all over the city and even greetings from the windows, Dortmund is black and yellow.
On my first day working in Dortmund, we went to the Dortmund training facility.
As we walked around the grounds, it wasn't the beautiful practice pitches or state-of-the-art labs that caught my eye, but rather the bareness of the locker room. The locker rooms at the training facility mimic the style of the locker room at Borussia Dortmund's stadium— a complete contrast to American locker rooms. Players at this club are not supposed to see the locker room as a place to relax, but rather as a place to change and get back to work.
The prize jewel of Borussia Dortmund’s training facility is the world-famous “Footbonaut,” a state-of-the-art machine comprised of four walls through which soccer balls fly. Players are tasked with stopping the balls and scoring through the respective lit-up panels. You can watch an example of how that works in the video player later in this story:
“When you enter the Footbonaut, it's like entering a room of space and time,” Borussia Dortmund’s head of technical training, Marvin Mainoo-Boakye, said.
Later in the day, we visited Signal Iduna Park, the home of Borussia Dortmund, a massive 82,000-person stadium that has the German record for the most consecutive sold-out games. It’s famous for the supporters’ section, the “Yellow Wall” (more on that in a bit).
Fans are expected to be fans; even if you paid for access to the fancy pitch-side club, fans can only buy a beer there before or after the game. During the game, fans are expected to be in their seats, and loud.
Day two was match day. First, we went to the BVB offices for a Q&A with managing director Carsten Cramer, who spoke about the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup.
“To be really honest, it is completely different than a friendly or marketing tool. You can see how we prepare our team and whole club for this tournament; this is like a very, very serious tournament. It is like the Champions League for us,” Cramer said.
When it was time for the game, the Yellow Wall, a spectacle of more than 25,000 fans all cheering together in unison, gets loud. Tifos (or flags) wave while supporters reach a decibel level that is difficult to describe. Watch the Yellow Wall at 2:17 in the video player below:
Borussia Dortmund defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-2.
Following the victory, I spoke with players and the coaching staff, who are just as excited to take in the United States as American soccer fans are to welcome them for the FIFA Club World Cup.
“Something I’ve never really done before. Traveling that type of way, playing them type of teams that maybe we will never play again. I’m looking forward to it; I’m excited,” Borussia Dortmund midfielder Felix Nmecha said.
The next stop for Dortmund is the United States for the Club World Cup. The action at TQL Stadium kicks off Sunday, June 15 with fellow German powerhouse Bayern Munich playing Auckland City FC. FC Salzberg plays CF Pachuca on June 18. Borussia's first game is Saturday, June 21 against the Mamelodi Sundowns. They play a second game in Cincinnati on June 25 against Ulsan HD.
My trip was paid for by Borussia Dortmund; however, I was allowed independence as a journalist.
