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Dejection in Dortmund as Bundesliga title dream collapses after Bayern late show
DORTMUND, Germany -- The T-shirts celebrating Dortmund's 2022-23 Bundelisga triumph had already been printed in their thousands, some already worn by fans before Saturday's match against Mainz had started. The title celebrations had been meticulously planned for Sunday as the city braced for 500,000 people to arrive. With a two-point lead over Bayern Munich, needing to win or match their result vs. Cologne on the final day, the script was perfectly written for Dortmund to end their rivals' 10-year stranglehold on the Bundesliga title. But it was missing the final page.
Dortmund could have sold out the Westfalenstadion five times over. All they had to do was beat Mainz, then it wouldn't matter what Bayern did. The fairy tale was 99% finished. But instead of the final page being signed off with a black-and-yellow flourish, they found themselves down 2-0 inside 24 minutes. And when hope returned via an equaliser for 1-1 in Cologne, it was torched by JamalMoukoko and Haller played on the offside line, Reyna prodded and probed, but whatever they tried, the Yellow Wall couldn't will the ball in. The German football gods dressed in red and blue were defiant and a party ruined.
"It's difficult to find the right words," Terzic said afterward. "We feel empty because we knew about the chance, you could feel the energy within the stadium and city. We all wanted it so hard. We were so close -- just one goal was missing, it was one goal in the other stadium that was missing, we knew we were 90 minutes away from lifting the trophy. This is the game we fell in love with as kids. Sometimes it's hard to miss a penalty, to conceded two early goals, and all of a sudden it feels so heavy. But we tried our best and unfortunately it wasn't enough."
In Dortmund, this will sting for months to come. Yet there are so many reasons for optimism. It was a season of inspirational figures such as Haller's debut in January after he had undergone chemotherapy for testicular cancer. It was nine months where 19-year-old midfielder JudeReus.
That appreciation will seep through in time, but it was a desolate place after full time. For 10 minutes, the Dortmund players sat isolated on the turf like a group of grounded, lost bees. Then the Yellow Wall re-found their voice, responded in unison in a symbol of defiance. Raphael Guerreiro's head hadn't risen from his chest, but as they sung, he peeked at the fans. Hummels stood, hands on hips, looking at the group who had hoped to be celebrating, while Reus picked himself up to join his distraught teammates. Others walked in a slow, mournful circle, but as Hummels took a step forward to the Yellow Wall, the rest followed him as one, rising, apologising and starting the process of acceptance.
Life will go on, the countdown to next season will start again. But the wait for another Bundesliga title also goes on for another agonising year.
   
This message was edited by Robinnho on 28-May-2023 at 5:07 AM
§§§ LIFE'S A GAMBLE & WIN or loose, LIFE HAS TO GO ON. Betting not always win lah, sometimes win sometimes loose like there is ups and downs in life §§§
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