France-Germany International Friendly

After the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, I received a lot of emails asking whether I was okay. First, I'll say that I am okay and in good health. Second, thanks to everyone for their concern. I was touched by the number of emails that I received. Third, my condolences to the friends and families of the victims of the attacks.

This blog received a noticeable uptick in page views on the day following the attacks (the BlogSpot engine provides bloggers with several page view statistics). I'm assuming a few people checked this page to see if I had posted anything, knowing that I likely attended the France-Germany football match. However, to some extent, some of the page views probably came from random Google searches given that Paris has been the main news topic for the past two days. This blog's use of characters outside of the Latin alphabet might be triggering some search results, because some of the page views are coming from places that I didn't expect.

Since I attended the football match that was a target of two suicide bombers, I thought I'd summarize what I saw and heard that night. This will not only help me to remember the experience, but for anyone reading this it will dispel some of the sensationalized drama that the TV news outlets usually spin around events like this.

• As background, the match at the Stade de France was an international friendly between France and Germany. Both teams were using the game as a warm-up for the UEFA European Championships to take place in the summer of 2016. Since it was a friendly, each team had about two thirds of their key players in the match, with the rest of their rosters filled with players who are competing for a starting spot, bench spot or even just a roster spot depending on the quality and depth of that position on their team. (For example, Germany is still trying to figure out who their starting right back will be, so they've been rotating different players at that position in their attempts to find the right guy. No luck yet.)
• I entered the Stade de France about 20 minutes before kick-off. In doing so, I went through the usual security screening where I was searched for any banned items (fireworks, flares and other explosive devices are not allowed). The stadium fits over 81,000 people but there were some empty seats in the more expensive sections, so I'd guesstimate there were around 75,000 in attendance. After all, this was only an exhibition match.
• Both national anthems were played by a large band on the field. Five rows of 15 people makes it a band of 75. I missed the band introduction, but based on their uniforms it may have been a police or navy band. There was some brief whistling at the beginning of the German anthem but the whistling ended quickly. Flags were supplied for fans on every second/third seat, so there were a lot of French flags waving during La Marseillaise.

The opening ceremony of the international friendly between France and Germany.

• I sat in the north section of the stadium. At a little over 16 minutes into the match, I heard a loud explosion to my left. I assumed someone in the stadium set off a very powerful firework. However, I found it odd that I didn't see any smoke or lighting from the explosion, so I figured it must have occurred in one of the top rows behind me and to the left. The rest of the crowd must have assumed the same thing because there was no reaction except for a few people cheering. This was my second visit to the Stade de France so I know that some people are able to sneak smaller flares into the game (if they're lucky), so I also found it odd that such a powerful explosive could have made its way into the stadium, but I was more focused on the match at the time.
• At 19 minutes into the match, I heard another loud explosion to my left. This time, I could feel a slight thump in my chest (like at a loud concert). I again assumed someone inside the stadium set off a very powerful firework.
• During extra time of the first half, Martial (left winger for France) dribbled past a diving tackle by Rudiger (right back for Germany), and then past Ginter (I think he was playing as a right holding midfielder that night) in the box. Boateng (German center back) had to come across to prevent a clean breakaway, which left Giroud (French striker) open and he scored an easy tap in from Martial's pass. I know it's only a friendly and no one is playing at full intensity, but if Rudiger or Ginter want to stick with the national team, they have to make better plays than that. Rudiger should not have attempted the diving tackle, as there was much more value in standing up and keeping Martial marked outside of the box. 1-0 France.
• There was nothing unusual about halftime. There was the usual contest of selected fans going onto the field and trying to kick the ball into some sort of apparatus. This time it was a large inflatable KFC bucket. There was also a contest where fans could tweet selfies of themselves at the stadium and win a ticket to a Euro 2016 match.
• I thought I may have heard a third explosion, but if I did, it wasn't as loud as the first two and I would have ignored it altogether. It turns out this was the bomb at a nearby McDonald's. (Edit: it turns out the third bomb was set off on an empty street. It's still a mystery as to why the bomber went to that particular spot.)
• At some point in the second half, a bright light shines in my eyes, so I look up and there's a helicopter flying above with a spotlight. A bit out of the ordinary but not completely out of place.
• As the game is a friendly, the managers have unlimited substitutions and a lot of players are substituted throughout the second half. It was a pleasant surprise to watch a lot of good players that I normally would never see.
• At 85 minutes in the match, Matuidi (French midfielder) bursts down the left wing and sends a perfect cross to Gignac (French striker) who heads it for a goal. It was a beautifully executed goal and I don't know if that one could have been prevented. The German centre back Hummels drifted too far off his man but no more so than normal on a quick play like that. 2-0 France.
• France wins the match 2-0 but the crowd isn't as celebratory as I expected. I figured that because it was a friendly, no one took much from the match either way, especially since the players didn't look like they played at full intensity.
• A message was announced and displayed on the big screens that one of the exits was closed due to an incident, and that two of the other exits should be used. No further details were provided by stadium authorities, but in hindsight I think this was a good idea as it prevented any mass panic from occurring. It's only at this point, that I realized that something might have gone wrong earlier with those two explosions.
• A few minutes after the match, I took the top level walkway and headed towards the main stairwell exit on the west side of the stadium. Suddenly, a group of people at the bottom level (two stories down from where I am) started running away from the main stairwell. Several people on the top level saw this and started running away from the stairs as well. This caused a brief stampede in the walkway, but it didn't last long enough for anyone to get injured. During tense moments like that night, it's incredible how quickly panic can spread through a crowd. All it takes is a few people to start running in one direction and everyone else will quickly react and run the same way. Given the layout of the Stade de France, there could have easily been injuries with a panicked exit stampede.
• Before I left the stadium grounds, I noticed that the field had been opened up to the public, which I also thought was unusual at the time. I'm not sure of the exact reasons why the stadium authorities did this, but it was a very good idea, as it dramatically reduced the risk of stampedes exiting the stadium and also helped to reduce the overcrowding in the subways and regional trains (RER) that usually occur after major events at the stadium.
• When I visited the field, I still didn't know the terrorist attacks had occurred. Most people were in a relatively good mood, so I didn't really notice the few people that were crying. CNN has been continually airing a picture of a woman running in panic on the field, but that picture must have been taken completely out of context, because it was very calm there.

The fans on the field after the match.

• Before leaving, I took the opportunity to sit in the players' bench. There was a short wait to do this as a lot of fans wanted to get a souvenir photo of themselves sitting in one of the chairs.

Sitting at the player's bench in the Stade de France.

• My apartment is eight stations away from the Stade de France, with no transfers, so it was a quick trip home. I noticed that two of the stations had transit security personnel who were armed with handguns which, when combined with the events at the stadium, made it clear that something serious had happened.
• There are several restaurants in my neighbourhood that are busy on Friday night, but when I exited the metro station, the streets were empty except for the occasional police car or ambulance racing by with sirens blazing. I decided not to dawdle and went straight home to hear the news.
• After that, I was answering the emails some of you sent me.

It's still sinking in for me that I was at an event targeted by a terrorist attack. However, in hindsight, I think the inside of the stadium was actually one of the safest public places to be that night. With security staff searching all entrants and with the police patrolling the perimeter, there were layers of protection that prevented the attackers from getting close to the crowd (which is also indicated by this Wall Street Journal article: http://www.wsj.com/articles/attacker-tried-to-enter-paris-stadium-but-was-turned-away-1447520571). In light of the attacks, security will likely get even tighter for future matches.