DORTMUND, Germany (AP) — The Germany-Denmark game has resumed after a thunderstorm interrupted the European Championship Round of 16 clash.
The teams resumed play after 24 minutes when referee Michael Oliver dismissed the teams following a brief warm-up session. No puddles were visible, although some turf loosened and players slipped after play resumed.
The score was 0-0 when rain poured down near the Westfalenstadion in the 35th minute, strong winds and repeated lightning sent the referees out. Just before the players left, a loud noise was heard around the stadium.
In stark contrast to the warm summer evening that had preceded it, the field was hailed during the interception.
“The match has been suspended due to bad weather. More information to follow soon,” read an announcement on the stadium screen.
Fans in the front rows of the stadium’s famous South Stand were left covered as rain pelted their seats and water poured over the edge of the roof. Some German fans sang: “Oh, how wonderful it is,” and a few Danish supporters danced in the water that fell on their stands.
Two large viewing parties in local fan zones were canceled due to the weather, local police said. “Please leave these places,” the police wrote on the X.
The winner will play either Spain or Georgia in the quarter-finals on July 5.
Severe weather events are a more regular problem for UEFA and European Championship organizers than for FIFA and the World Cup.
In 2008, co-hosts Switzerland played a group-stage match against Turkey in Basel through heavy rain in the first half. Puddles in the Turkey goalmouth helped Switzerland take the lead as Hakan Yakin stopped the ball in standing water to knock his shot away.
The rain eased and the puddles were mostly cleared by half-time, but the St Jacobs Park playing surface still survived only one game – another rainy affair between Switzerland and Portugal – that had to be relegated ahead of the quarter-finals.
It was reported at the time that the move to bring in a new pitch from the Netherlands cost UEFA 200,000 euros ($214,000).
Heavy rain affected another co-host team at Euro 2012. Ukraine’s match against France in Donetsk was stopped after five minutes by referee Bjorn Kuipers. When it looked like the teams would return the following day to resume play at the Donbass Arena, the rain eased and the teams resumed after a 56-minute break.
The effect on scheduled television was that the day’s match – Sweden vs England in Kiev – was pushed back by 15 minutes.
In France, Euro 2016 play was halted for several minutes by a hail storm in Lyon as Northern Ireland and Ukraine players left the field in the 58th minute.
One of the Euro 2016 stadiums received a new Dutch-grown pitch before the quarter-finals after weeks of continuous rain and little sun in Lille.
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Keir Moulson in Berlin and Graham Dunbar in Frankfurt, Germany contributed.
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AP Euro 2024: https://apnews.com/hub/euro-2024
