Der Ball ist rund - World Cup 2006 in Germany

Finally, the first day of the World Cup, and my first glass of beer after a teetotal period of four or five weeks now. Had to give that poor liver of mine a bit of a break. Unfortunately, I didn’t even lose any weight, which surprised (and annoyed !) me. I think this was due to creating non-alcoholic cocktails, which use a lot of fruit juice, and probably were more calorific than the beer I’m drinking at the moment – Jever light – which is low-cal and low-alc. I bought myself a crate of the stuff when I was over in Germany.
Now there’s a country with REAL football fever!! There was no way at all that you could have missed that the World Cup is upon us soon! There were flags and footballs in every shop’s display, whether it was a bakery or a pharmacist’s. And anything, from bikinis to foldable chairs, was available in Germany’s colours, Schwarz-Rot-Gold. (I was very tempted by a beach towel to drape over the best seat in the living room...). But just in case you now think that Germany is as flag obsessed and singularly patriotic as England – the Schwarz-Rot-Gold isn’t the only flag you can see. Wherever you went there were products with the flags of every other team that plays in the tournament, and a lot of the buntings were also a bright, multi-flag affair, which lends a wonderful festival atmosphere, as opposed to the slightly menacing air of only England flags everywhere, and nothing but white and red face paint...
My favourite item was a shirt with a little velcro patch and a variety of small flags, so that you could change allegiance, depending on which match you are watching or when your own team has been eliminated...
I’m very happy that it’s so international in Germany, and the only reason why I would like to display a Schwarz-Rot-Gold here would be to introduce a bit of variety (4 years ago on a campsite in Dorset, we put a Welsh flag up for that very reason), but this allegedly tolerant society really isn’t when it comes to football – time and time again, German cars are scratched after matches, and my Brazilian friend had a brick through her window when she displayed a Brazilian flag. So I shall keep it all indoors, with my selection of little flags and football inspired food. Today, for the Germany match: Black Tagliatelle, Red Sauce and Yellow Peppers.And as far as support is concerned: this time, for the first time, I really feel I have to support Germany, because Lehmann, their goalie, is from my home town of Essen and used to play (early in his career) for Schwarz-Weiß Essen (in the 4th league, I think), the team my Dad supported. But of course, I’ll be supporting England, when they play, we’ll also look out for Togo and Ghana and any other underdog who takes our fancy. And should Brazil win the World Cup for the 6th time, I won’t cry either – after all, we all know they play the most beautiful game!!