Nuri Sahin bleeds chicken and total darkness. In this aroused letter written for the Player ‘s Tribune by Sahin himself, the 28-year-old discusses his career, what it means to play for Borussia Dortmund and the worst day of his animation so far. Before Sahin ’ s worst experience came many of his best. Having been hooked on football ever since watching Gheorghe Hagi score a wonder goal for Romania at the 1994 World Cup, he soon became devoted to Dortmund.

“ I thank deity every day that Dortmund knocked on my door when I was seven years old to ask me to come play in its youth system, ” Sahin wrote. “ That like year [ in 1996 ] Dortmund won its moment straight Bundesliga title and I fell in love with the team. All I wanted was to wear yellow and black. ” Watch: The Nuri Sahin story At the age of 12, Sahin moved 45 minutes from the family home in Meinerzhagen in ordering to play at Dortmund ’ s academy. Four years after that, he made his league debut at the age of 16 years and 335 days – in so doing becoming the Bundesliga ’ randomness youngest ever player . His first home match was against local rivals Schalke and he says the atmosphere at the Westfalenstadion that day was flush more electric than common – chiefly because of Dortmund ’ s celebrated Yellow Wall. More than 25,000 of what Sahin terms the best supporters in the populace battalion into the club ’ s Südtribune to form that rampart each week and it has left a lasting impression. “ For me, it ’ randomness kind of like the Mona Lisa — like a great employment of art, ” he wrote. “ That day, the rampart was the first gear thing I looked at when I walked on the pitch. And even now, it ’ s still the first thing I look to. From sales talk level, you can ’ t even see where it ends. It ’ mho just… chicken, adenine far as the eye can see. “ It ’ s the greatest sight in sports. ” Watch: The allure of Borussia Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park After a lend move to Feyenoord in 2007, Sahin ’ s love for Dortmund grew deeper. But he still took the probability to join Real Madrid after he won the Bundesliga for the first time in 2011. That switch did not work out as plan and, on his tax return in January 2013 following a spell at Liverpool, Sahin was not surely how his beloved Yellow Wall would react. When the free-kick maestro was warming up for his foremost pit back, however, his coach Jürgen Klopp advised him to listen to the crowd. “ I turned to the Yellow Wall and closed my eyes, ” Sahin said. “ They were singing my list. “ ’ I truly thought they were going to hate you, ’ Jürgen said. And then he let out his authoritative booming laugh. He messed up my hair, pushed me out onto the pitch and the crowd erupted. ” The Turkey external sympathize then and there that his connection with the club ’ south supporters would never be broken. “ Echte liebe, ” Sahin wrote. “ It means true love — and to love without any conditions. That ’ s the Borussia spirit. That ’ s our strength. ”

Sahin said he felt that support in the days after the Dortmund team bus topology was attacked when they were on their way to play a UEFA Champions League quarter-final draw against Monaco. “ I had no theme what was going on, ” Sahin says of the turkey attack in Dortmund last April. “ I merely classify of … froze … I guess. But my mind was racing. In the cross of possibly two seconds, I thought of my integral life. I thought of dying — but I thought of living, besides. And then I thought of my family. I saw my five-year-old son, my one-year-old daughter and my wife. I could feel them there with me. Watch: Bartra’s emotional return to the pitch “ And then I snapped out of it … and I realized where I was. I turned around and saw my teammate Marc Bartra. His sleeve was bleeding … badly … and I looked astir and saw his eyes. I ’ ll never forget his eyes. They were dark and terrify. I saw other guys behind him start to stand up, but I screamed a brassy as I could, ‘ Stay down ! Stay toss off ! Get away from the windows ! ’ ” Bartra had suffered a interrupt wrist but thankfully no one else was badly hurt. The game was called off but the shock of the ordeal truly hit home when Sahin returned to his syndicate late that evening. “ I stopped — I just looked at them for a few seconds, ” he said. “ And then I started to cry. I cried like I never had before. I hugged my daughter. I felt her boldness against mine and I thought, I am so lucky. I am so lucky. I am so lucky.” He travelled to see spanish defender Bartra in hospital and was heartened to see television receiver images of Dortmund fans welcoming stranded Monaco supporters into their homes. The match was rescheduled for the following nox but Sahin, intelligibly, found it arduous to focus on football. “ That night, I saw one of the most beautiful things I ’ ve ever seen, ” he wrote. “ The fans had created a massive tifosi that read : BVB ,  which is our club ’ sulfur abbreviated diagnose. It stretched from the very clear of the stands all the way down to the pitch. It was amazing. And — even if only for a few minutes — it made me feel that everything was going to be all right. ” A second-half substitute, Sahin said that first leg of the Monaco tie was the most difficult game he had ever played in. While the fire had left its mark though, the response from Dortmund gave him potency. “ The concern of that moment will be in my take care everlastingly, but it ’ s the hours afterwards that I think about whenever person mentions that day, ” the midfielder wrote. “ The manner our golf club and our city responded made me so gallant. The welcome of the Monaco fans, the togetherness in the city, and the support in the stadium less than 24 hours after the approach — it was sincerely fantastic. ” Click here for more Dortmund news !

You can read Sahin ’ s full article on the Player ’ s Tribune here