Fist bumps all around: Soccer returns in Germany

Professional soccer resumed in Germany after a twomonth break with four games in the second division on Saturday taking place behind closed doors.

South Korea midfielder Lee Jae-sung scored the first goal in the division to give Holstein Kiel the lead at Jahn Regensburg. He celebrated by giving teammates fist bumps.

The games were the first since soccer was put on hold March 13 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and they were being played in empty stadiums amid strict hygiene measures.

Goal celebrations in other games were also marked by fist bumps and elbow-to-elbow touching. Players had been warned to keep their emotions in check, and to desist from spitting, handshakes and hugging.

All players and team staff who didn’t start games wore masks. Substitutes took their positions in the stands, rather than beside the fields as customary. Balls and seats were disinfected, and players were handed masks as they left the field at half time.

The Bundesliga was due to resume later Saturday, also without fans, with the Ruhr derby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke the highlight.

The game’s authorities were keen to restart the country’s top two divisions with several clubs, including Schalke, facing severe financial difficulties because of the pandemic-enforced suspension in

play.

Numerous polls showed a growing majority in Germany was against the resumption of the leagues. Fans are also critical of games without supporters present.

“Soccer without fans is nothing,” read a joint statement from several Bayern Munich fan groups after the league decided on May 7 to resume.

Cologne fans accused authorities Saturday of prioritizing money over people’s health. There was criticism too from players.

Karlsruher SC midfielder Marc Lorenz, a substitute in the second division game against Darmstadt on Saturday, told the Badische

Neueste Nachrichten newspaper that the league hadn’t considered the health of the players “at all” in its rush to get back. He also warned of fatigue leading to serious injuries.

Teams in both divisions are allowed five substitutions instead of the usual three to help cope after two months without play.

Players and staff have been subjected to regular testing for COVID-19. There were three cases found at Cologne, while second-division Dynamo Dresden was ordered into 14 days of quarantine after two more cases brought its total to three last Saturday. Dresden’s game against Hannover on Sunday was called off, and the team cannot train during the quarantine period.

Augsburg coach Heiko Herrlich was due to make his debut in charge against Wolfsburg but will miss the game after leaving the team hotel in strict quarantine conditions to buy toiletries. He will only return after twice testing negative for the virus.

Bayern Munich visits Union Berlin on Sunday.

American teen Reyna’s first Dortmund start foiled in warmups

DORTMUND, GERMANY » Gio Reyna was set to make his first professional start when Germany’s Bundesliga resumed Saturday following a two-month break cause by the new coronavirus, but the 17-year-old American got hurt during warmups before Dortmund’s match against Schalke.

Reyna made his debut for Dortmund on Jan. 18, becoming the youngest American

in the Bundesliga at 17 years, 2 months, 5 days. Before the season was stopped by the pandemic, the attacking midfielder had 11 appearances as a substitute: eight in the Bundesliga, two in the Champions

League and one in the German Cup. He scored his first senior goal on Feb. 4 in a German Cup loss to Werder Bremen.

He is a son of former U.S. national team captain Claudio Reyna and women’s team player Danielle Egan Reyna.

Reyna left the academy of Major League Soccer’s New York City team, where his father was then director of soccer, to sign with Dortmund in July. Reyna had been set to join the U.S. national team for the first time in March, but the Americans’ matches were called off because of the pandemic.

The game, played without fans, was among five Saturday as the Bundesliga became the first major European league to resume following the coronavirus outbreak.

MATTHIAS HANGST — ASSOCIATED PRESS An employee measures the temperature of a person entering the stadium before the 2nd Bundesliga soccer match between Karlsruher SC - SV Darmstadt 98, in the Wildpark Stadium, Karlsruhe, Germany, Saturday. The German Bundesliga becomes the world’s first major soccer league to resume after a twomonth suspension because of the coronavirus pandemic.

ROBERT MICHAEL — ASSOCIATED PRESS Aue’s reserve players sit on the bench with space between them and wearing masks during the 2nd Bundesliga match between FC Erzgebirge Aue and SV Sandhausen on Saturday.

ROLAND WEIHRAUCH — ASSOCIATED PRESS A lone fan of Fortuna Duesseldorf watches from far the Merkur Spiel-Arena prior to the Bundesliga soccer match between Duesseldorf and Paderborn in Duesseldorf, Germany, Saturday, May 16, 2020. The German Bundesliga becomes the world’s first major soccer league to resume after a two-month suspension because of the coronavirus pandemic.