Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 7y

Hertha's Salomon Kalou: Victory over Darmstadt 'was for all of Berlin'

Hertha Berlin have dedicated the 2-0 Bundesliga win against Darmstadt to the city of Berlin, which was hit by an attack on a Christmas market on Monday evening.

Victory in Hertha's final game of 2016, played out in front of just over 30,000 fans, came courtesy of a Marvin Plattenhardt set piece and a Salomon Kalou header and means they are third going into the winter break.

"We feel the pain in the city. We feel with those who have lost loved ones. This win was for all of Berlin," Kalou told reporters after the match.

"It's important to show that we and all of Berlin don't fear. Those people only want us to have fear. But love is stronger than everything else. It hurts to lose your loved ones."

Only two days before the match, a truck was driven into a Christmas market at the Breitscheidplatz in the city's old west.

Earlier on Wednesday, Hertha's squad laid a wreath at the scene of the attack, in which 12 people lost their lives and a further 56 were injured.

And ahead of the match, fans at the Olympiastadion mourned those who lost their lives with a sea of light during a minute of silence, while a banner in the Ostkurve read: "Stay strong, Berlin!"

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