Borussia Dortmund beat FC St. Pauli 2-1 in a friendly played out under the slogan "Refugees Welcome" on Tuesday evening - © © imago
Borussia Dortmund beat FC St. Pauli 2-1 in a friendly played out under the slogan "Refugees Welcome" on Tuesday evening - © © imago

Refugees welcome!

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Hamburg – In a friendly match played out under the slogan “Refugees Welcome”, Borussia Dortmund beat Bundesliga 2 side FC St. Pauli 2-1 on Tuesday evening.

Hand in hand

A total of 25,731 fans filled St. Pauli’s Millerntor stadium, of which approximately 1,000 spectators were refugees who had been invited to watch the game alongside the volunteers who have been helping them.

It was an extra special occasion for a number of refugee children, who were selected as mascots for the game and were able to walk hand in hand with the players out on to the pitch prior to kick-off.

The tweet below reads: “An exciting evening for the mascots, who all come from refugee families.”

Januzaj scores on debut

Dortmund were deprived of a host of players on international duty but could still call upon a number of stars. The visitors dominated the match from the off and went in front thanks to an early goal from Gonzalo Castro.

New loan signing Adnan Januzaj made it 2-0 shortly afterwards with a deflected shot following a lovely piece of skill on the edge of the area. St. Pauli attacker Lennart Thy missed a penalty, but Fafa Picault reduced the deficit for the hosts before the break.

Tweet: “Welcome to the Millerntor!”

There were no further goals in the match but after the final whistle both teams did a lap of honour holding up a banner reading “Refugees Welcome”, a gesture that was greeted with heartfelt cheers from the spectators in the stands.

Click here for more on how the Bundesliga is helping refugees