For the first time in history, Berlin will host the soccer championship, the Champions League’s final play. It was announced last Thursday that the 2015 final match would take place in Berlin. While the game is known as soccer in Canada and the United States, Great Britain calls it football. Australia and New Zealand use both terms. Germans have a deep affinity for the game, which often brings together people from all walks of life.

The European Champions League of the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) is a seasonal soccer competition that was established in 1955. Teams play each other in a round-robin tournament. There are several divisions in which teams can gain points. Depending on the number of points achieved, teams are placed into tables. At the end of the season, the top team is declared the champion. Since the UEFA Champions League’s establishment, the Spanish team ” Real Madrid” holds the record for the most victories. A German team “Bayern München” has been runner-up several times.
Excitement ran high among Berliners last week when the UEFA chose their city to host the 2015 final soccer championship. Although Muenchen has already hosted two soccer finals, one in 1993 another in 1997, and Gelsenkirchen has hosted one in 2004, this is a first for Berlin. The UEFA announcement came two days before “Bayern Muenchen” and “Borussia Dortmund” both German teams, were competing at Wembley Stadium in London for this year’s Champions League title. And this year’s champion is…

…Bayern Muenchen, 2:1 over Borussia Dortmund.

The 2015 soccer final will be played in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, which was built for the 1936 Olympics. The stadium is the home of Berlin’s soccer team “Hertha BSC” and holds in excess of 74,000 spectators.

 

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on the home page of http://www.walled-in-berlin.com. Walled-In is a story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War.

 

 

 

Tags: 2015 Soccer Championship, Berlin, Olympic Stadium, UEFA

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