German football team spent night at Stade de France amidst attacks

Published
0

BERLIN: Germany's football team spent the night at the Stade de France in north Paris after a friendly match against France rather than take the risk of driving through the French capital to their hotel following the attacks that left more than 120 people dead.

“The players were very worried, the information was not very clear and we didn't want to take any risk on the road, so we decided not to drive through Paris, (which was) not 100 percent secured and so we stayed in the dressing room,” said Germany manager Oliver Bierhoff.

The attacks at several locations in Paris had erupted in the middle of Germany's away match against France at the Stade de France, with three loud explosions heard from outside the stadium in the first half.

It later emerged that one of the explosions was near to a restaurant on the fringes of the restaurant, caused by a suicide bomber.

Bierhoff said the team had only learnt of the attacks when they were back in the dressing room, with players receiving text messages from worried family and friends.

Nevertheless, Bierhoff said the players “behaved like real professionals”.

“We are of course happy that we have landed safely, but our thoughts are with the relatives and the victims,” said Bierhoff, speaking after the team landed in Frankfurt early Saturday.

“The team is very affected, and therefore we decided to give them a day off today, for them to go home and be with their loved ones,” he said.

Asked if the team would be ready to play their next fixture against the Dutch on Tuesday, Bierhoff said: “The game stands but we will of course discuss it internally.”

Opinion

Editorial

Risks ahead
02 Oct, 2026

Risks ahead

ON Thursday, a day after the PTI leadership expressed its resolve to go ahead with its planned protest march this...
Exit from Iraq
02 Oct, 2026

Exit from Iraq

AMERICAN and British troops have once again shipped out of Iraq. On Wednesday, the foreign forces left the Arab...
Lahore’s ozone warning
02 Oct, 2026

Lahore’s ozone warning

LAHORE has received another warning that its air pollution crisis cannot be treated as a problem that begins with...
Fixing bond markets
Updated 01 Oct, 2026

Fixing bond markets

Pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds, retail investors, and eventually, foreign investors must become bigger participants in the market.
Call centre rackets
01 Oct, 2026

Call centre rackets

A NUMBER of recent raids conducted by the authorities in different cities point to the growing threat fraudulent ...
Homeward bound
01 Oct, 2026

Homeward bound

FIVE months after Somali pirates captured an oil tanker carrying a 19-member multinational crew, Somali maritime...