Surprise at the World Cup: Kevin Großkreutz surprisingly flew to London to cheer on darts pro Gabriel Clemens.

One is, the other still wants to be: On Tuesday evening the streaming service DAZN published a surprising photo on social media. It shows Kevin Großkreutz and Gabriel Clemens shaking hands in the legendary Ally Pally.

The World Darts Championship is being played in London these days. The 39-year-old Clemens has sensationally reached the semi-finals, where he will meet the Englishman Michael Smith on Tuesday evening. The man from the Saarland still needs two wins to score – and he will have prominent support.

Großkreutz, 2014 World Cup winner and champion with Borussia Dortmund, is a fan of the sport of darts. Großkreutz had already cheered Clemens’ quarter-final victory against the favourite Gerwyn Price on social media. The visit to London was now apparently initiated by DAZN.

The once so disreputable pub sport darts experiences a real boom around the turn of the year in Germany, which Großkreutz could not escape. Clemens, the “German Giant”, has turned the game with the small darts into a real ratings hit for the TV channel Sport1, among others. “This is fantastic,” he said following his 5:1 sensational victory over the world number one Price from Wales.

Darts is suddenly THE sports topic par excellence in this country thanks to Clemens. In addition to the rights holders Sport1 and DAZN, much larger media are now reporting on the spectacle at Alexandra Palace. The man with the chin beard and the beer calm even made it into the daily news with his quarter-final victory over Scotland’s Alan Soutar.

Never before had a German professional ever reached the World Cup quarter-finals. Although thousands of German fans have been making the pilgrimage to Alexandra Palace for years, the hot phase of the tournament has almost traditionally taken place without German participation. The spectators are now celebrating their new hero all the more exuberantly. (fs with sid)