On Saturday evening 81359 excited fans celebrated their Nr.17 at the biggest farewell game ever seen in Europe. They celebrated the 13 years where Dede put on his boots and gave it his all for their BVB.

And they also celebrated a get together of Borussia players from over two decades, something that does not happen every day and the atmosphere was noticeably full of humour and good feelings. Dede sent out the invitations, and everyone who could make it came along to give this very popular player a well deserved farewell.

The great players of the past have to get in line.

Jens Lehmann and Jan Koller, Marcio Amoroso and Stefan Reuter, Tinga or Alex Frei – a whole line of great players of the recent past. And everyone who still has BVB in their heart today or had BVB in their heart felt really good. Samba was already playing in the dressing room of “Dede’s World selection”, made up with a strong Brazilian flavour, amongst whom were Dede’s six brothers.

Head Coach Michael Skibbe, who works with his Assistant Coach Dede at Eskesehirspor in Turkey joked: “he really trained hard for this farewell game.” With all good intentions at heart, you could tell from one or the other ex-pro that their fitness levels are not exactly going upwards after their professional career. Sergej Barbarez has gone grey, Tinga has even longer dreadlocks, Thomas Häβler had a limited radius to play his football. However on a football level this mix of eccentrics had a lot of entertainment to offer.

Lap of honour right in the middle of the game

Not least the scene in the 39.minute, when Dede persuaded the referee Babak Rafati to give a free-kick after a spectacular fall to his knees way before he could have even made contact with goalkeeper Marc Ziegler. “The victim” took full advantage of this opportunity – “ole Dede” went on a lap of honour, right in the middle of the game. And the stadium sang “we are all Dortmund lads.” This crowd yet again confirmed its good reputation. As soon as someone opens the gates, they are all there. Just like in the best Bundesliga days, the Brazilian wave went from one stand to the next.

Stadium announcer Norbert Dickel joked before the second half: “the teams are dragging themselves back onto the pitch.” Barbarez revealed that head Coach Thomas Doll promised them two cases of beer in the dressing room if they win the game. No one knows whether the bottles were only opened after the game. Then it was all over after 89 minutes of fun. Then a lap of honour. Dede said: “I want to thank the fans for this support. This would only happen at Borussia Dortmund.”

The final result was 14-11, but the result was only peripheral on this nostalgic evening. Dede said: “it is always nice to play with all these friends again from all these years and to see everyone again. Dede has an absolute cult status amongst the BVB fans for his emotional and honest manner. This is not just down to his farewell game on Saturday evening.

Dede World selection: Teddy de Beer, Marc Ziegler, Evanilson, Miki Stevic, De Edson, Tinga, Nuri Sahin (o.E.), Levi (Dede), Ruis Marques, Jan Koller, Lincoln, Mohamed Zidan, Sundi, Ewerthon, Rafinha, Paulo Sergio, Alex Frei, Sergej Barbarez, Leandro (Dede), Lucas (Dede), Marcio Amoroso, Felipe Santana, Ailton, Luciano (Dede), Lucio (Dede); Head Coach: Thomas Doll, Ralf Zumdick  

Dede National selection: Roman Weidenfeller, Jens Lehmann, Knut Reinhardt, Christian Wörns, Thomas Hengen, Florian Kringe, Stefan Reuter, Giovanni Federico, Thomas Häßler, Heiko Herrlich, David Odonkor, Giuseppe Reina, Dede, Lars Ricken, Otto Addo, Kevin Großkreutz, Marc-André Kruska, Torsten Frings, Kevin Kuranyi, Patrick Owomoyela, Marcel Schmelzer, Francis Bugri; Head Coach: Michael Skibbe
Source: Ruhr Nachrichten, Author: Jürgen Koers