On Saturday, Matchday 4 of the European Blind Football League was held in Dortmund-Kirchderne. The Borussia Dortmund blind football team cruised to a comfortable win over international visitors.
In their first match, Borussia Dortmund’s blind footballers faced the national team of Romania. In front of the eyes of the club’s president Dr. Reinhold Lunow, the first half was a hard-fought game in which BVB controlled proceedings and had a few dangerous attempts on target through Jonas Fuhrmann, Jörg Fetzer and Hasan Koparan. But the Romanian goalkeeper was able to make the save on each occasion.
In the second half, BVB upped their game a further notch, but Romania were able to hold their own with a fighting performance. Their goalkeeper made two excellent saves late on to deny Hasan Altunbas and Jonas Fuhrmann. The BVB defence, marshalled by goalkeeper Nick Leidecker and defenders Phillippe Berthold and Henning Ullrich, were also in fine form. Little surprise then that the game ended in a 0-0 draw.
The second game, played in front of a record crowd for the European Blind Football League, saw the Black & Yellows go head-to-head with AS Roma. BVB chief executive officer Hans-Joachim Watzke, who was joined in the stands by club vice-president Silke Seidel, gave the team words of encouragement prior to kick-off.
BVB took immediate control and made it 1-0 after a few minutes thanks to an individual effort by captain Hasan Altunbas. Amire Schwarz and Jörg Fetzer, who came on as substitutes in the first half, integrated seamlessly into the team and kept Rome under pressure. Jonas Fuhrmann soon added a second goal to give BVB a well-deserved 2-0 lead in the first half. Shortly before the break, Hasan Koparan’s free kick from 10 metres out was denied by the Italian club’s goalkeeper, who did well to dive to his left and divert the ball over the crossbar.
Both teams rang the changes after half-time. For BVB, this meant that goalkeepers Timo Leidecker and Jens Hälker, outfield players Phillippe Berthold, Hasan Koparan, Henning Ullrich and youth player Julian Paashaus entered the fray.
In the second half, the game continued in much the same vein: the Black & Yellows were dominant, putting the visitors from Rome under near-constant pressure. Hasan Altunbas scored his second goal of the day to make it 3-0, before Jonas Fuhrmann made it 4-0 with a shot into the bottom left corner.
At the end of the day, all the teams spent an evening together in the most beautiful stadium in the world.
The current season of the European Blind Football League ends on 10 June in Charleroi (Belgium).
Before that, however, Borussia will resume action in the Bundesliga with home games on 3 June (15:00 CET) against FC Ingolstadt and on 4 June (15:00 CET) against Hertha BSC. The games will take place in Kirchderne, Derner Str. 423b. Admission is free. The team hopes for a lot of support from the Black & Yellow faithful.