Knocked down in attack: FOCUS-online reporter on the worst night at the Club World Cup

Of course, as a sports reporter, you want to make headlines. Especially when you travel to the USA for a tournament like the Club World Cup. I saw nine games there: all eight here at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami and the Dortmund 0-0 draw at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The performances weren't always subject to entertainment tax. But that's the way it is at a tournament: you never know what you're going to get. And sometimes you get a slap in the face.

On Friday evening, a homeless man attacked and beat me on Miami Beach. His fist hit me in the face and back. Paramedics treated me promptly, and the police were able to arrest the attacker.

Since then, I've followed the Club World Cup with bruises, a bruised cheekbone, kidney pain, and the oppressive feeling that nowhere is safe. Not even in the tourist hub of Miami Beach.

I got off, I must say, with a black eye. What would have happened if the perpetrator had had a knife? The TV station WSVN (part of the Fox network) enlightened me about the man's extensive record of sins.

When the judge set $1,000 bail for the repeat offender on Sunday, he wished her "a thousand deaths" in court and was locked up. Because he failed to pay bail, he will remain behind bars for the time being.

For me, the Club World Cup in Miami is now over. I was always planning to leave, but I wouldn't have stayed a day longer. It's no fun sitting in the stadium wearing sunglasses (like I did on Sunday during Bayern's win against Flamengo ) so that everyone can't see what happened to you. After 35 years in the profession, I'm allowed a little vanity. Besides, as a journalist, I don't like being the center of attention.

On Sunday morning, the local TV station contacted me and wanted me to describe the attack on camera. This was less about my fate than about the perpetrator:

The man, 54 years old and "mentally disturbed," as the police suggested to me, had previously assaulted women and yet found favor with the law. Authorities allowed him to roam the streets of Miami Beach unhindered.

He ambushed me in Miami Beach on the popular beachfront path behind the luxury hotels, just two blocks from the Starbucks on Collins Avenue, where I founded my soccer newsletter Fever Pit'ch in 2018. Anyone who's ever been to Miami knows this beachfront path.

You can constantly hear Germans talking there. I heard it too, when the scruffy man appeared in front of me out of nowhere, yelling at me, "Bitch" and "Fuck" all the time.

Maybe I underestimated the situation at first. I just said, "Keep your distance!" Stay back! But the guy became more and more aggressive. Desperately, I begged passersby who walked past us for help.

Even the two Germans I had overtaken earlier. No one helped. I started to flee.

Then the first blow hit me—on my left cheekbone. I fell to the ground and received the second blow—on the back right kidney.

I got up and ran away screaming. The thug was after me. I don't even know what he wanted from me. I didn't have any money with me anyway. I found shelter on 27th Street: a group of homeless people, including a wheelchair user who seemed to be the main spokesperson, chased the attacker away, took care of my injuries, and called the police.

The search was immediately successful. I was taken there in a police car and was able to identify the perpetrator.

The leading local broadcaster was immediately alerted. The cameraman met me at the stadium before the Bayern game and relayed the questions from the WSVN editorial team, which I answered in brief English.

The story ran on the afternoon and evening prime-time newscasts in Miami and was the lead story on the website overnight. I'm not proud of the little media attention it received. I'm telling you all this for another reason.

In the hours while my wounds healed, I realized a few things. Firstly, football may be the most beautiful thing in the world, but it's actually a minor affair. Secondly, the TV station named the perpetrator by his full name and didn't spare the audience the details of why, given his record of offenses, he was a danger to the public.

There was nothing obscured by abbreviations of names or generalizations, as in Germany. It was about facts, information, details.

The local station was so specific about the details that there was never any risk of discriminating against a particular group in society in general (which would be nonsense anyway: it was homeless people who helped me in the end).

In a quiet moment in my hotel bed, I thought to myself: This is what local journalism should be like. The TV report was quickly and thoroughly produced and told more than just one individual story. But this really has nothing to do with the Club World Cup.

The next day, by the way, I visited the homeless wheelchair user on 27th Street who had helped me in my time of need and asked him how I could thank him. He replied: with breakfast.