Octavio Gil is not originally from Germany, he is from Sevilla, but he turned out to support Leverkusen which won him over last year after he started following them due to head coach Xabi Alonso. "You know, it sounds a bit emotional but I lost my job last year and had a tough few months," said Gil. "Watching Leverkusen every week during the season last year was so motivating and gave me hope. Alonso has such a calmness. The Leverkusen games were really the highlight of my weeks while I was looking for work." Now Gil is back working at a job in sales and he says he wants to start the first-ever Bayer 04 Leverkusen New York Fan Club.
Micah Akin was in town from Atlanta and had a personal connection to Die Werkself. "I played soccer in the fifth division in Germany alongside a player that went on to later play for Leverkusen, so I was incredibly excited to come and support the team here." Aside from the 4-1 Leverkusen victory, Akin had other reasons to cheer on the day. His group of friends went home with the autographed Florian Wirtz jersey that was raffled off to fans after the final whistle.
"It was just an awesome way to start the day," added Akin. As fans slowly filtered out in the mid-day sun in Brooklyn, many were hoping that another Leverkusen gathering of black and red in New York would happen again soon.
