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Here is an audio post.  It is about my experience going to the France vs Togo game in the first round.

Well, I thought I would write more, but I have been lazy

So, the first round is over and the biggest surprise for has been that England and Brazil have not lived up to their expectation.  I would venture to say England has just been lucky.  They have not played well at all.  And Brazil, I keep waiting for the magic to show up on the field.  So far it has just been plain.  Maybe it is unfair to have such large expectations of Brazil.  Argentina still looks good.  But we did not get to see it in the Dutch game.  Italy has not been looking good.  After after watching them again today against Australia, there is no way they will win the World Cup.  You just don’t play like that and expect to win.  Spain also looks good with those two strikers of theirs.  Fun to watch.

I watched the Germany game against Sweden.  What a first 30 min.  If Germany can play like that throughout the tournament, we have a REAL good chance.  Argentina looked plain in their game against Mexico.  If they were to play like that against Germany, I think we have a chance.  I hope the game Germany vs. Argentina is going to become a classic — oh, who am I kidding.  We just need to win!!!

England continued their sub par performance against Ecuador.  They need to really lift their game or they don’t have a chance.  And then there was the little war that was played between Portugal vs Holland.  4 red cards.  Insane.  And the foul that was committed against Ronaldo buy the Dutch guy was criminal.  That should have been a red straight away.  I was glad to see the Dutch go.  Just because when the Dutch play Germany the Dutch still think it is WWII all over again and it comes a real difficult game.  And, England has to play Portugal.  I think Portugal will win that game.  But, the English have players that can pull off miracles. 

When France played Togo in the first round, we went to the Stadium.  We did not have any tickets, but thought we would go checkout the atmosphere.  And of course, it was great.  All the fans singing and just having a great time.  You would see the French fans jump in with the Togo fans, get their picture taken and then start singing.  I recorded some of it and will post it as soon as I can get my laptop running again. 

Every day Germany continues to be in this great party mood.  On Saturday when Germany played Sweden, they had a million people in the fan zone in Berlin.  Cologne had something like 70,000 people in the city watching it the big screens.  I am going to try and go on Friday to watch the Germany vs Argentina game with the ‘people’   It is so much fun to watch how everyone is so excited about our team.  If Germany does not make it, you are going to see a lot of crying in Germany.   They really want to see us get into the final. 

Finally I must say something about the refereeing.  Man are there some strange calls being called.  The US games comes to mind.  There are countless more examples.  And then you have the English ref who yellow carded a player 3 times.  Good referees are referees that at the end of the game you only notice them.  They don’t become part of the game.  That has not been the case and they have become integral in some of the outcomes of the games. Pity.

I have turned off the registration when leaving comments.  Would love to hear what others think of the WC so far.
 

I guess I need to write something about the World Cup games too.  So, let me start with my team, Germany.  If you think back to the way Germany played their game in the past, it was this very controlled game.  Move the ball around back and forth always possessing the ball.  And now and then attack the goal.  A very boring game.  Well, the German coach, Klinsman, has changed that.  It is a much faster game under is stewardship.  He has them attack much more.  If you look at the three results, 4:2, 1:0, and 3:0 you see a much more attacking team.  After the Ecuador game, he was saying that his team was not moving the ball fast enough and that they needed to attack more.  It is a much more enjoyable game to watch over the past teams.

Many Germans complained about the type of game that their team played.  The always envied how the Brazilians or Argentinians played.  Now, when you listen to the people in the street, they are saying that this is the first time in a long time that they can enjoy their team.  And with playing a more attractive game and the three wins, they are excited about the prospects of their team doing well.

But, we must not forget, Germany played much weaker teams.  When Germany played Poland, Poland had recovered from their opening game and played a much stronger team and Germany was able to get the win in the end.  But, Costa Rica was just a weak team.  And they scored 2 goals against Germany.  Those two goals came as a result of being very aggressive with the offside traps and four players still finding their rhythm together.  And also lets us not forget, Ecuador put out a B-Team.  (I can hear my friend Jay now saying, Joubert, half empty glass)

I do enjoy how Germany is playing.  Much better than the past years.  But, I am also realistic.  Lets see how they do against Sweden.  I would rather play the Sweden’s 1st half team in the England vs Sweden game than the 2nd half, but we will see.  If Germany get through there, they will have to play Argentina.  Needless to say, it will be a very exciting few day but also very nerve racking.  But for now, I am enjoying being here and being able to take part in this big party. 

I have now been watching the games in Germany for the past few days.  I had been watching them the US and here are some observations.

First, all of Germany is consumed by the World Cup.  The first thing you see is all the flags hanging from the windows and balconies.  Anyone who knows Germany will know, that is not something that usually happens.  Germany’s guilt about it’s past is still great.  But, slowly they are moving on. 

Then, the German team has been playing pretty well.  And a love affair between the public and the team has begun.  A few days ago, when you asked who would win the World Cup they would mention Brazil or Argentina.  Now, people are starting to say that Germany might win.  And they watch every step that the German team takes.  And all the criticism that the coach got has been replaced with what a great job he is doing. 

All the fans have been raving what a great time they are having and how inviting all the Germans have been.  Inviting and Germans in the same sentence is not something I would have ever used before, and I am German.  But, everyone is having a great time.

Today Germany played Ecuador.  Afterwards, England played Sweden in Cologne.  We decided to go into town to go watch the games on the big screens that they have setup.  While walking through town, we came into contact with German fans, English fans, and Swedish fans.  It was unbelievable.  They said there were close to 100,000 people in town to watch the game.  About 60,000 English fans and about 30,000 Swedish.  Oh, BTW, the stadium only holds about 50,000.  While walking around we were pressed body on body.  At one point we could not move for about 5 minutes.  In the end, we could not find a place to watch the game because there were so many people and we went home.  But, the atmosphere was electric.  We will be going again over the next few days.

Finally, I want to mention the TV coverage when compared to the US coverage.  The games that I saw, they always started real close to the start of the game and finished shortly after the final whistle was blown.  What is so much nicer here is that they show how the players enter the field, they show the national anthems and then how everyone in the stadium is singing along.  The game is an important part of the game, but all the fan participation is also something that should not be missed.  It is a pity that the US coverage does not cover some of the ‘extra’ stuff around the game.

I will try and report more and the days go by.