Berlin, Oct 30, IRNA -- Three weeks after Germany beat Iran 2-0 during a friendly match at Tehran's Azadi Stadium, a member of the German national football team still raved over the Iran visit, calling the Iranians' enthusiastic welcome "impressive".

photo: ISNA

"It was impressive to see what it means for developing countries when the German team comes. That people react so fanatically towards the team, have no fear to initiate contact and totally flip out," German national team defender Per Mertesacker told the online site of Der Spiegel magazine on Saturday.

photo: ISNA

"They (Iranians) followed us during each training session, during each sightseeing tour in the city and they idolized us. No one could have ever imagined such a thing beforehand," Mertesacker added. Almost all German national team players have said that they have never witnessed such a huge reception abroad like the one they saw in Iran.

More than 300,000 tickets could have been sold for the Germany-Iran friendly match, Iranian football officials said.

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