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- Eröffnungsspiel Opel Arena
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- Eröffnungsspiel Opel Arena
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- Eröffnungsspiel Opel Arena
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- Eröffnungsspiel Opel Arena
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- Eröffnungsspiel Opel Arena
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- Eröffnungsspiel Opel Arena
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- Eröffnungsspiel Opel Arena
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- Eröffnungsspiel Opel Arena
Opel has been the exclusive partner of the 05 since 2012. This May, the Bundesliga team and Adam Opel AG announced that the soccer stadium in Mainz, Germany would be renamed OPEL ARENA. A total of 31,600 fans poured into the stadium for the inauguration.
2:35 p.m.: ALEV DAVES THE ‘CASCADA’
Which car looks best on a sunny summer day? The sophisticated Cascada, of course! It was a perfect match for the warm weather on game day. Alev Akgül shows visitors to the Opel booth her favorite convertible with a beaming grin – and keeps practicing a few dance steps in between conversations. How come? “I’m also taking part in the Opel performance in the stadium later on, and we’ve only had the chance to do two rehearsals.” A few minutes later she and her backup dancers put on a magnificent show on the arena’s lush green field – they had to practice so that they could get it right in front of 31,600 fans.
2:59 p.m.: MARTIN KIEFER WARMS UO WITH A PREDICTION
Stefan Kiefer (right), who is based at Opel Design in Rüsselsheim, Germany, is not only looking forward to the game, but also to finding out the extent to which the audience flowing into the arena is interested in the range of Opel models on display in front of the stadium. He brought his brother Martin along with him, who also worked at Opel in the ‘90s and now lives in Hamburg. Martin in turn brought along a few memories to share: “Ten years ago I watched an exhibition game between Mainz and Liverpool here – back then, Mainz won 5:0.” So that can give us hope for today, right. “Well,” Martin says, scratching his head, “Mainz didn’t qualify for the Bundesliga in the following season.” Well, Martin, we didn’t need to be reminded of that right now…
3:07 p.m.: FATHER AND SON
Frank Ebert, an Opel development engineer by day, is watching a game ‘live’ at a soccer stadium for the first time. He’s relying on his son Joel’s soccer knowledge: “Liverpool’s going to win 2:1 because they’re the better team,” bets junior. And Liverpool’s coach is now ‘Kloppo’ who Joel was already a fan of back in the day when he coached Joel’s favorite team, Borussia Dortmund. Joel’s number two favorite is Eintracht Frankfurt, while Mainz is only in third place…“But that could change today.”
The Opel goal-shooting contest is tricky: Each participant gets three tries to get the ball into the goal, and none of them gets all three. That is, until Vassilios Porporis steps up to the ball. He’s actually a pro, though; he’s a member of the Kickers Offenbach team in the U21 league.
The Sun King: In this weather the Astra Cabrio raises naturally the most interest among Opel models in front of the stadium.
Mokka anyone? Comfortable entry and exit are just two of the many advantages that it offers.
3:09 p.m.: SPOTS ON THE OPEL SOFA
There are two red Opel benches right at the edge of the soccer field, between the coaches’ benches. These spots are reserved for spectators who win special tickets from Opel Facebook, Warsteiner, and the radio station RPR1. These lucky fans not only get to experience the game up close and personal, but also get to enjoy a meet and greet with coach Jürgen Klopp afterwards.
3:18 p.m.:
MANUEL LIKES MOKKA
Wolfgang Dworschak (right) from Opel Technical Customer Support does it right: He’s just introduced his friend Manuel, whom he brought along to the game, to the Mokka for the first time. And yes: Dworschak will be coming back to the stadium often – as a passenger in Manuel’s new Mokka.
3:29 UHR: ‘KLOPPO’ IN THE OPEL SECTION
The O cheering section is filling up, spirits are running high, and all of a sudden, the Opel employees gasp in excitement: There’s ‘Kloppo’ in the flesh, climbing the stands – right? No, it’s just Martin Dodds (right) wearing a Jürgen Klopp mask. “I got it in London. That’s where you can cop them – or rather, ‘Klopp’ them!” laughs the Englishman, who has been living in Mainz for 25 years. “When Klopp came to England I just had to tell my family that he grew up in Mainz.”
Diana Renke (left) and Jutta Schell
Put your hands in the air: The Opel section performs La Ola.
3:41 p.m.: CASSANDRA SINGS, THE BANNER UNFURLS
There’s a party atmosphere: Echo Award winner Cassandra Steen belts out the fan anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone,’ which first became popular in Liverpool and is now sung in stadiums all around the world. The O cheering section unfurls its Opel banner, which will be pulled across all of the seated rows. It goes very well, considering it’s the first time. Jutta Schell peeks out from under the banner because she wants to see Cassandra perform. She’s here with Diana Renke, who can usually be found crunching numbers in the Opel Accounting department. But who knows, maybe she’ll discover a new passion here.
4:35 p.m.: A COLOMBIAN WINS MEXICAN FANS
A mere 45 minutes later, the O cheering section is completely beside itself with excitement. Daniel Brosinski of Mainz scored for the host team after 15 minutes off a penalty kick, bringing his team into the lead, and offensive powerhouse Jhon Cordoba scored a second goal right before he left the field for a break. And how: The Colombian dynamo kept total control of the ball as he sprinted to the goal and drilled a shot into the corner. The cheering fans in the O cheering include four Mexicans: Mechanical Engineer Marcos Portillo, who oversees brakes in his everyday work, is there with his family. “We’re actually Leverkusen fans, because of their Mexican player Chicharito, but I think that now we’ll be coming to the OPEL ARENA more often.” Scoring goals is definitely a good way to win fans.
Marcos Portillo with his family
Let’s Party: Nicht nur während der 90 Minuten auf dem Platz geht’s rund – auch vor dem Stadion ist Stimmung angesagt. Let’s Party: Not only during the 90 minutes on the field – also in front of the stadium the atmosphere is great.
Let’s rock: The Mainz cult band „Jammin’ Cool“ performs on the RPR Radio stage.
Iconic motif: A selfie in front of the Opel banner.
Stefanie Menger
4:58 p.m.: LIVE AND IN COLOR – 3:0
Seeing a match live is different from going to a screening, discovers Stefanie Menger, who works in global Purchasing at Opel. During UEFA EURO, the Oppenheim, Germany native visited the soon-to-be OPEL ARENA three or four times to watch games being shown on the giant screen set up there. “But this here today is just fantastic,” she says. Yoshinori Muto just scored for Mainz, bringing the score to 3:0. And as for Stefanie Menger? She wants to come here more often now.
5:17 p.m.: JUST SOMMERTIME SOCCER?
Not everyone is getting emotional. It’s often said that northern Germans in particular tend to be reserved. “This is just summertime soccer,” says Opel Sales specialist Markus Müller (middle) dryly, while everyone else around him flips out: Yunus Malli just brought the score to 4:0. Müller isn’t a moper, though. The beer tastes good, he and his friends visibly enjoyed the earlier attractions, and, in his words, “Opel, Kloppo, and Liverpool are always a good thing.” When he’s asked why he’s not getting as excited about the game as others, he admits: “I root for Hamburg.”
Markus Müller
5:33 p.m.: STANDING OVATION
“A new fan is born,” said Jutta Schell. Her friend Diana not only (excitedly) took part in every chant led by the fans, but also stuck around after the closing whistle to cheer the home team as they took their glory lap, giving them – as well as Kloppo and his players – a standing ovation together with the rest of the O cheering section. Will she be coming back again more often? “It’s definitely possible,” she says with a wink.
WANT TO VISIT THE OPEL ARENA?
It might not be the easiest way into the OPEL ARENA, but one way to get a ticket is through the Opel Post Bundesliga betting pool. The winner for the respective game day will get four tickets for a Mainz 05 home game. Sign up for the betting pool here.
As Sepp Herberger once said: After the game is before the game … The Opel section will return for sure.