The line-up of the DFB-Elf for the game against Italy was full of gaps – numerous letters were missing on Twitter. There is a good cause behind the campaign.
Anyone who looked at the German line-up on the national team’s Twitter channel in the run-up to the Nations League game between Germany and Italy encountered a jumble of letters. The letters A and B and the O are missing from the names of the players. The reason: June 14 is World Blood Donation Day, the German Football Association (DFB) wants to mobilize people to donate blood.
Already last year, the DFB with the hashtag #missingtype and the slogan “Only if it’s missing, you’ll notice it!” promoted blood donation. Both can also be read on Twitter this year. The letters A, B, and O have been omitted to symbolize the different blood groups. This is how names like “NT NI Rüdiger” (Antonio Rüdiger) or “JNSH FM NN” (Jonas Hofmann) come about.
The DFB is not alone in this campaign. Among other things, Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach made a similar post today. The Rhinelanders shared a photo of player Florian Neuhaus, whose last name is missing the letter A.