THE result of last night’s Europa League game between Arsenal and FC Köln is immaterial.
Instead many people will remember the occasion for the 20,000 Germans who tipped up in central London and stopped traffic. Much to the delight of social media and the surprise of police.
Belting out something in supposedly Rhine Valley accented German, FC Köln fans were recorded in a number of scenarios from marching through Soho…
FC Koln have arrived & theyve brought 70% of any atmosphere the emirates will have tonight. pic.twitter.com/wlm9sG1XHg
— EmanDaGoon (@EmanDaGoonn) September 14, 2017
…to doing a thunderclap outside the Oxford Street branch of Matalan.
Cologne Fc fans on Oxford street on the way to @Arsenal. More atmosphere in my meeting room than the Emirates #EuropaLeague #Arsenal pic.twitter.com/zF2zZmFL3f
— Jack Marczewski (@j_cheski) September 14, 2017
Fans then headed north to the Emirates to delay kick off by an hour. High spirits or hooliganism? It feels sensationalist to call it the latter.
But overall many will remember the game for the tremendous support.
The enlightened few, however, will remember it for number 24 on the FC Köln team sheet: Lukas Klünter.
There have been many outstanding names to emerge from Teutonic football. Stefan Kuntz, Julian Draxler and Pascal Zuberbühler to name but three.
Lukas Klünter though. It’s so delicious.
Even with limited knowledge of German pronunciation the umlaut on the ‘ü’ makes it sound like ‘Kloonter’.
Better though is saying it with the flat ‘u’ in English. Klunter.
Should the young defender progress to Die Mannschaft at a future tournament and be involved in either end of a career-ending tackle, surely his name will immediately pass into the English dictionary: ‘Ooh, that was a real Klunter.’
Marvelous.
Klünter has only made 12 appearances for FC Köln first team so far (last night he was subbed off for an attacker as his side chased the game), but we hope to see his name for many years to come.
Or at least until a cheap replica shirt is available on the internet.
Kenna League table week 4
Full scores available from The Rub.
