On Wednesday, Dortmund was awash in orange as an estimated 70,000 Netherlands supporters crossed the border to support their team in the European Championship semi-final against England. The Dutch fans vastly outnumbered their English counterparts, with most having made the journey despite not having match tickets. Instead, they planned to watch the game at one of the city’s two fan parks.
The Friedenplatz fan park reached capacity and put up “full house” signs seven hours before kickoff, with no more supporters allowed in from 2 PM local time, according to Dortmund police. The city’s center was packed with thousands of fans, filling trams, the underground, and areas around their team’s hotel near the BVB Stadion, where the match was set to start at 9 PM (7 PM GMT).
The famed ‘Oranje fan walk’ was scheduled to begin five hours before kickoff, with supporters walking several kilometers from the city center to the stadium. The walk has become famous on social media, with fans moving in unison to the dance anthem ‘Links Rechts’ (Left, Right) by Dutch artist Snollebollekes.
Traffic at entry points into Germany was heavily congested, the Dutch automobile association ANWB reported, as German police conducted checks. By 12:30 PM, there was a 13km traffic jam on the A12 motorway from The Hague to the border, causing about an hour’s delay. Dortmund is less than 100km from the Dutch border.
The Netherlands team was scheduled to fly back to their base in Wolfsburg after the match, regardless of the outcome, according to the Dutch FA. The team had attempted to travel to Dortmund by train on Tuesday, but plans were canceled after a blockage on the route. German television later reported that a train had struck an animal, causing delays. The Dutch squad arrived at their Dortmund base three hours later than planned on Tuesday evening.
