During the Spanish Supercopa in Saudi Arabia, its soccer fans made it clear what they think of Germany. Even at the expense of respect for Franz Beckenbauer
Almost 22 years ago, Germany celebrated the greatest victory in its World Cup history against Saudi Arabia, but the Saudi fans who watched the first semi-final of the Spanish Supercopa between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in Riyadh on Wednesday evening probably hadn’t thought about that.
And yet there seems to be something at odds between the two nations. Between Saudi Arabia, whose financially overloaded professional league currently brings together a number of world stars and will most likely host the World Cup in 2034, and Germany, which had already attracted attention with its critical stance towards the 2022 World Cup in neighbouring Qatar.
With every touch of the ball, the clearly audible whistles at Al Awal Park, where Al-Nassr normally plays its home games with Cristiano Ronaldo, were primarily directed at substitute Toni Kroos, who had made his criticism of early player transfers to the Saudi Pro League public, particularly with the example of Gabri Veiga.
However, the fact that there currently seems to be a fundamental dislike of Germany in Saudi Arabia was demonstrated by the whistling during the minute’s silence for the deceased icon Franz Beckenbauer – even before Kroos had made contact with the ball. As a result, large sections of the crowd revealed themselves to be more fans of their country or culture than fans of world soccer.
Kroos reacts sarcastically – final on the spot
On the pitch, Kroos, who spectacularly won the “Derbi madrileño” with Real 5:3 after extra time, didn’t let on. Afterwards, however, the now 34-year-old was unable to resist a sarcastic “That was fun today! Great crowd”.
The strategist is unlikely to have calmed the waters before he competes again at the same venue on Sunday. The final of the Spanish Super Cup will then take place at Al Awal Park, in which the Whites will face champions Barcelona or cup finalists Osasuna.
